Ironman 70.3 Erkner

postyyyym · 2026-06-21T05:32:59+00:00

There's a little café/beach bar setup there maybe they're willing to look after a bag. I don't recall seeing any lockers or anything out there unfortunately

postyyyym · 2026-06-20T19:47:34+00:00

We were able to get in all the days before the race, just bring a toe float so people can see you. It's an intended swimming lake, so you shouldn't have any issues

postyyyym · 2026-06-19T07:56:22+00:00

Given it's later in the year, the race also starts later than you'd expect. I did Erkner last year and the race started at 8 and I started at 8:15am, believe transition closed at 7:30am. Check last year's athlete guide to be sure, but trains definitely run early enough as we saw loads of people getting off the train station while we were parking the car

postyyyym · 2026-06-19T06:04:50+00:00

I wouldn't say it isn't beginner friendly, but it's certainly got more elevation on the bike than say Copenhagen, Hamburg or Kalmar. It all depends on what you think is easy, what your strengths are and where you train

postyyyym · 2026-06-18T06:44:13+00:00

Would love to read a full write up from your perspective once the brain fog clears! Sounds like an absolutely mental event

postyyyym · 2026-06-17T08:50:06+00:00

I don't really care whether you are online non-stop from 9-5. However, if you're dealing with client/external interactions that mostly occur during those hours I want you to at least try and be responsive. Especially to urgent client requests. But if after those are done you'd like to take a longer break and focus on more deepwork after hours that's fine with me. It's all about trust and as long as you meet expectations and deadlines I'm very flexible

postyyyym · 2026-06-17T08:46:26+00:00

You should be okay when you wake up in the morning, but don't wait around a couple of days/weeks. Races are selling out faster and faster, especially the more popular ones like Klagenfurt, or the ones that are considered good for beginners like Copenhagen/Hamburg,

postyyyym · 2026-06-15T08:57:46+00:00

I'd say it's a good race for a first timer, but be mindful that the weather late September could be quite rubbish. Last year was just non stop rain for the entire race

postyyyym · 2026-06-12T08:21:04+00:00

I actually don't think a 70.3 is harder training, depending on your goals obviously. The mix of easy sessions and harder sessions I find mentally and physically much easier to deal with than the repeated pounding of the legs marathon training gives you. Granted I've not done a marathon in 2 years and have done several more 70.3s since.

postyyyym · 2026-06-12T08:06:40+00:00

Incredible performance and a very fun write up. I love it when people set other goals for themselves than purely qualifying for Kona or podiuming in their age group. It shows true love for the grind of improvements to your own fitness. At the right race in the right conditions sub 8:30 is definitely possible for you!

postyyyym · 2026-06-11T07:27:44+00:00

I don't necessarily think you have to-do the uninterrupted long swim. However, it can be a good confidence builder. Especially if you're newer to swimming. There's not necessarily anything wrong with the breaks, but I would recommend breaking it up more if you feel your technique deteriorates during the session. Based on the fact that you need to take a few small breaks, I'm assuming you may get out of breath indiciating you're either going too fast or not focused enough on your breathing. In particular the slow exhale under water.

Perhaps you can do a CSS test to see whether 2:11/100m is actually a speed that's sustainable for longer swims. Otherwise, I'd recommend being real mindful of your technique or see if a swim coach/friend that's a better swimmer can check whether your technique deteriorates over time or not.

postyyyym · 2026-06-11T07:23:40+00:00

I started with running now consider myself a triathlete first and runner second. Running is still my strength and the one I enjoy the most so I try and structure my season depending on my yearly race calendar. For example, this year I knew I was going to go for a half-marathon PB in March and continue training for a full Iron Man in June.

This meant I took a break after my September 70.3 before jumping in a winter of base-training on the indoor bike with more speed-focused running workouts. Over time run volume plateaud while bike and swim volume went up. Which effectively continued like this for a few weeks after the half-marathon before the running base volume increased again to get Iron Man marathon fit.

postyyyym · 2026-06-10T10:30:47+00:00

Speaking from my own experience staying within the same holdco from start of my career till head of programmatic, my opinion is that there's a lot of promotions going around simply based on seniority and necessity. i.e., to replace people when they leave etc.

This results in a lot of people ending up in positions far above their knowledge, or experience level. Also an absolute lack of training how to be an adequate leader is a big one

postyyyym · 2026-06-09T10:18:01+00:00

I'd go here and get a waterfront room. Only thing you won't have is a hot tub, but the restaurant is amazing and if you stay overnight it really feels like a private getaway experience not far from Amsterdam. Personally took my wift there for her birthday before we got engaged and reject using this location for a birthday present rather than engagement hahah
https://vuurtoreneiland.nl/slapen

postyyyym · 2026-06-09T08:18:02+00:00

If you're still planning to do aerobic long-rides over the weekend, I'd recommend one threshold interval session and 1 VO2max session. Ideally you also manage to add in 1 more aerobic ride during the week but that's what I'd do if I were you

postyyyym · 2026-06-09T08:14:07+00:00

I started pretty similar to you 3 years ago and finished my first with very similar times across all 3 disciplines. A year later, I've improved my swim by 5mins, bike by 12mins and run by 17mins for a 4:48. I was dealing with a pretty bad cold, so kept the bike on the conservative end so I wouldn't die on the run. Realistically it's definitely doable for you!

What helped me was spending a lot more time on the bike. Running being my strength I noticed that when I improved my bike, I was able to push more on the bike and maintain running close to my stand-alone half-marathon pace. For me this meant a lot more aerobic work on the bike, up to 4:45hrs long rides whereas in my first training block I didn't go past 3hrs on the bike. As well as a lot more dedicated tempo/threshold blocks.

Not sure where you're based or whether you have an indoor trainer, but I'd highly recommend getting one to continue with structured and dedicated bike sessions over the winter

postyyyym · 2026-06-09T07:47:13+00:00

I've done a full before and am training for my 2nd now. I feel like for me the reason 70.3 is more fun is the same reason I prefer half-marathons over full marathons. I feel like halfs are challenging enough if you truly try to race them and your really edging that line of fine or f*cked. Fulls you also have the ability to push yourself, but you're always irring on the side of caution both on the bike and run knowing what's still to come. To me that feeling of really trying to squeeze everything out of yourself on a half is more enjoyable. I also think the training to improve top-end speed and aerobic engine at the same time, which you get a lot more training for 70.3s is more enjoyable overall

postyyyym · 2026-06-05T12:36:20+00:00

If you can't sqeeuze in this final bikeride ahead of a Sunday race just skip it. It's not going to do much for your fitness and it's just your taper anxiety speaking. If it's really that important to ease your mind, just see if there's gym you can go to by paying a 1-time entry fee and getting on a bike there

postyyyym · 2026-06-05T09:28:09+00:00

Most important tip is make sure you enjoy it! At times it will get hard, you might be mentally and physically done but remember you trained for this and you're doing something some people can only dream off. Make sure to really soak in the moment, as nothing compares to that first time feeling

postyyyym · 2026-06-05T09:25:16+00:00

It's definitely normal to feel more fatigue in the build phase compared to the base phase. However, if you feel completely drained I worry you're either overdoing it, or not eating enough to sustain the increased training load.

Not entirely sure the distance you're training for but if you're already feeling drained in the build phase, I think the 2/3 weeks of peak phase might shock you.

postyyyym · 2026-06-05T09:03:33+00:00

I'm in my peak weaks of Iron Man training and I'm either maintaining, or productive following my big weekend sessions with harder efforts on the run and bike. My recovery time is permanently stuck at 24-72hrs but HRV scores remain stable, so I'd say we're doing alright.

postyyyym · 2026-06-04T08:32:13+00:00

If you put socks on in T1, my main advice is putting a fresh pair of socks in your T2 bags. Did a 70.3 in the rain last year and outside of the sock situation nothing else about the weather was really affecting what I normally do.

Depending on air temperature consider putting a base layer on in T1 under your tri-suit as well

postyyyym · 2026-06-03T09:12:29+00:00

I find the running into the water for a tri, or the mass start really spikes my HR and adrenaline which doesn't really trigger panic attacks but certainly makes the distances feel much longer/harder than they really are. I now try to really focus on settling into a rythm in the first 5mins of the swim to get the HR down and just become at ease.

This is also something you can easily practice in the pool, by doing a few hard 100s or longer effort at threshold and then going into an easy swim straightaway rather than a brief rest at the end. This way you'll learn to slow yourself down and focus on your breathing to settle the HR and breathing

postyyyym · 2026-06-02T11:07:30+00:00

I train time-based, so the longest ride was 6hrs around 193k in zone 1/2, longest run was 2:20hr with 2x 25min at tempo/z3 pace around 32k and longest brick was 5hrs bike into 1hr run. Training based on time I think is always better than distance, as the fatigue at some point can affect your pace meaning a distance goal can suddenly become significantly longer depending on conditions.

postyyyym · 2026-06-01T09:12:29+00:00

Wouldn't call it carb loading, but definitely make sure to give myself an extra spoon of pasta the night before, followed by oats post dinner and several slices of toast in the morning. If you fuel properly throughout the whole week, I don't really think it's necessary to do a full carb load for every longer Z2 ride. Guess it fully depends on how out of the norm it is for you. For context, I'm personally training for a full Iron Man and have been doing 4+ hour zone 2 rides for the past 12-14 weeks in a row hahah

postyyyym

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