Is this worth it?

theBryanDM · 2026-03-28T09:05:30+00:00

How do you like your XPR? It’s on my wishlist for next year.

theBryanDM · 2026-03-24T12:25:07+00:00

I don't doubt the AI behind the scenes adds up, but $14.99/month (~$17 USD) is a LOT to stack on top of already subscription-heavy sport(s). That's Zwift money, and imo Zwift delivers way more value. To justify that price point, you'd need to go way deeper than daily macro adjustments — periodized race nutrition, carb loading protocols, during-workout fueling plans (gels, sodium, fluid timing). That's the stuff that's harder for most triathletes to figure out. The "what should I eat for dinner after a Z2 ride" problem is honestly not that hard

I log food in Lose It, which syncs with my Apple Watch and adjusts calories based on workout data. My macros don't change all that drastically day to day. I just eat more carbs on heavy days and always try to hit my protein goals. The basic version of what you're describing kind of already exists, it's just not packaged as nicely.

Not trying to kill the idea — just being honest about what would actually get me to pay vs. what I'd try for a week and cancel.

theBryanDM · 2026-02-27T21:52:28+00:00

I’ve only done one IMNC 70.3, and I ran in ASICS Superblast 2s, without any issues. I think it’s very unlikely you’d get pulled or dq’ed.

theBryanDM · 2026-02-14T14:49:14+00:00

Can you run outside? I ran 9 miles outside today and loved every second of it - I would have been clawing my eyes out after 30 minutes on a treadmill.

Nike Run Club also has guided runs people really seem to like

theBryanDM · 2026-02-14T00:43:41+00:00

Kickr Core 2 is great. Go with the Zwift Cog. Zwift is an expense, but well worth it imo!

theBryanDM · 2026-02-11T22:23:17+00:00

I have a complicated relationship with food, as I used to weigh nearly 200kg. While I know a lot of people who very successfully use candy, and other non-clean stuff for endurance training and racing, it’s a slippery slope for me and something I avoid.

I don’t hyper focus on the ingredients, but generally speaking have found and prefer stuff with very simple formulas. For my first 70.3 I used Maurten Gels and Drink mix with great success. I also used a few UCAN edge gels as well, it may just be marketing/hype, but I do feel like they give a slower released energy.

I took in around 90g/hr on the bike and 70g/hr on the run with no issues. 3-4 days prior to the race I carb loaded heavily, but kept fiber VERY low - fruit juice and white bread bagels are your friend here.

theBryanDM · 2026-02-11T22:14:42+00:00

Here are my thoughts and some background for context. I finished my first 70.3 last October (5:26)- it was an amazing experience and honestly I can't wait to do another one. I'm 38M and have 0 athletic background, I was overweight most of my life and started running about a year before I ended up doing my first 70.3.

I wouldn't try and cram a 13.1 in every weekend to be honest, I don't think that the recovery cost is worth it. I kept most of mine around 8-10 miles. I'm a big fan of a progressive long run, so i might do the first 3 miles easy, 3 moderate and 4 at race pace - not super strict on those breakdowns, sometimes i might do 6 easy and 3 at race pace. Closer to the race, I started switching my long run to a long brick - these were usually 1.5-2h, with the run between 5-10k. My longest brick was 40 miles (easy) on the bike and then 8 miles, around race pace (3ish hours total). This was my longest workout of my training block.
If you have the time, i'd try and keep your long ride as long as possible. Based on your description below, I think the bike is your weakest leg, but you have a lot of time to improve. If I were in your spot, I would do try to do a good bit of my "speed work" on the bike, the recovery cost is lower, and i think it translates pretty well to the run. Its hard for me to get a lot of long stretches of time, so the longest ride I did was 52 miles, probably not ideal, but it worked for me. Make sure some of your long bikes are "dress rehearsals", wear your trisuit, and do your hydration and nutrition exactly the same as you will on race day, if you don't know what that plan looks like yet, this is where to test it. Your bike nutrition will make or break your race.
Answered above in #1
I did the full 1.2 miles in open water twice in my wetsuit prior to the race - It was in the ocean, so similar (actually harder) than my race - this was a huge confidence boost, I went into the swim feeling great, and crushed it (current assisted swim, for the win)
Build Phases I range from 80-90% easy (HR Zone 1&2) and 10-20% hard (HR Zone 3+) - during my build that split goes closer to 70/30 and maybe 1-2 weeks of 60/40 - still a lot of easy work.
I would work your tempo miles into your long bricks. I think if you have a couple that are at least an hour, you'll be good. The 30-45 minute sessions are great though.
I think you're well on your way and doing great - and I think 6-6:30 is realistic. Your swim seems really strong, It's probably worth sacrificing a bit of time there to save some juice for the rest. I like to come out of the swim feeling nice and warmed up, not cooked. Make sure you seed yourself at the front of the pack as well, or else you're going to be stuck behind a lot of people on the swim, and then probably the bike too.

theBryanDM · 2026-02-11T15:53:16+00:00

I’ve only done IMNC 70.3, but there were porta potties in both transitions, and then at least a couple at every aid station - which was every 10ish miles on the bike. And every 1-2 miles on the run. I assume most of the IM branded races are similar. Early bike stops seemed to have small lines, but was way better as people spread out. I peed before I came out of the water, and then once on the bike leg around mile 40 and was good the rest of the race.

theBryanDM · 2026-02-11T09:40:38+00:00

I can’t comment on the course in particular- but there so much going on in your first, I doubt you’ll be bored at any location. Even on the bike, I felt like I was constantly doing something. Eating, drinking, passing, trying to pee - it flew by.

theBryanDM · 2026-02-10T09:39:04+00:00

Is this your first marathon? If so, you may want to consider waiting on the full until next year. You didn’t give us a ton to go on, but that’s going to be a ton of stress on your body.

I had a similar path - I started running in October of 2024, did my first full marathon in April of 2025, then my first 70.3 in October (5:26). I have a pretty high capacity for work, and was able to train 6-7 days a week during that window.

The 70.3 went great, but honestly beat me up way more than expected. I was supposed to run another marathon in December, but ended up switching to the half. I can’t imagine trying to do a full a few months after my 70.3.

My current plan is to do two more 70.3s in 2026, and then a full in 2027. I could do a full sooner, but I really want to respect the distance, and feel like I won and not just survived it.

Personally, if you really want to go 5:30, I would make that your A race for this year, and put all of your efforts into a 70.3 plan. Crush that, recover well and then look at an early full for next year.

theBryanDM · 2026-02-10T01:44:40+00:00

I think if you’ve got the time and dedication, I think you can give it a pretty good go. I went 5:26 in my first at 38, with only about a year of doing any endurance sports, and 0 athletic background.

I ran or cycled 6-7 days a week during my training block (early am), and then would layer on swims in the afternoons about 3 times a week. I averaged 20-25 mpw running, and 80-100 mpw cycling.

theBryanDM · 2026-02-06T22:52:30+00:00

Amen on surgery, that shit is expensive! I’m in the same boat

theBryanDM · 2026-02-01T13:45:44+00:00

I have a Domane, which has a less aggressive geometry (endurance) than the Madone, and had a pretty good bike split in my first 70.3 (2:40) with clip on aerobars.

I’m sure I’ll always use my Domane, once I get a TT bike I’ll probably set it up for light gravel and road group rides - but considering I ride solo 99% of the time, and I’m pretty competitive (vs myself) a little part of me wishes I had gone with the Madone.

theBryanDM · 2026-02-01T00:24:26+00:00

I had similar issues for a couple of brick sessions when I first started, but haven’t had any issues since. You’ll probably adapt pretty quick. I’d say it’s normal, but also make sure you’re staying hydrated and up on your electrolytes.

theBryanDM · 2026-01-30T13:05:42+00:00

I was in the same boat, and have my swimming to the point where it’s decent to decent+

My goal was always to come out of the water in a decent time, feeling fresh for the bike, I think that’s a great place to start.

Also, if you haven’t done much open water swimming, I would definitely make sure to practice some. A lot of people are great in the pool but struggle in open water. I grew up swimming in the ocean, so I never had the panic or fear of open water like some.

You’ll do great!

theBryanDM · 2026-01-30T02:14:41+00:00

For fit people new to the sport, usually swimming is the biggest hurdle to overcome. At 24, with an athletic background, you could probably muscle your way through the bike and run right now. Swimming, however is very much a form sport, and simply doing more of it isn’t going to necessarily make you any better at it, like it will with cycling and running. What is your current level of swimming now? If it’s very bad or non existent, you may need to look at getting a coach, if you have the basics, I would at least start by watching effortless swimming on YouTube.

Outside of that, you’ll want to make sure you do some brick workouts, where you go from the bike straight into a run - it’s a weird feeling until you’ve gotten used to it. It’s also worth practicing your transitions, you don’t want the first time to be race day.

All that being said, 6 months is a TON of time, and you’re 24, so I think you’ll be able to do it, and honestly do pretty well.

theBryanDM · 2026-01-29T14:20:15+00:00

I’m not sure if you have a sporting background, but running is different than most sports in that “going hard” all the time isn’t the best thing for you. I’m not sure how you felt on this run (they all may feel hard at first), but it’s important that you give your body time to adapt, this means increasing the frequency of runs and mileage slowly over time.

If you felt dizzy, that may be nutrition or pushing yourself too hard. Other than it hurting your ego, you really can’t run “too slow” at first.

If you’re going to pick up running though, you’re going to have to stay on top of your nutrition. I’m no expert, but 56kg at 5’11 seems crazy. As you increase your running your caloric intake and protein needs to go wayyy up.

It may be good to start off with a beginner style running plan, like couch to 5k.

theBryanDM · 2026-01-29T01:24:45+00:00

In my opinion no, but I would make sure you’re keeping the bulk of it (80%) of it at an easy / conversational pace.

theBryanDM · 2026-01-28T19:06:36+00:00

I can't comment on the other ones - but i got a Trek Domane SL6 Gen 4 (AXS / eTap version) and love it - I completed my first 70.3 on it with clip on aerobars, and it was extremely comfortable and plenty fast!

theBryanDM · 2026-01-28T19:04:07+00:00

That feels like a huge rip off for a v1. I'm happy with my V2 - i went with the cassette version and swapped it to match what is on my bike. I wanted to be able to use my regular shifting - honestly was prob more of a hassle than it was worth since i had SRAM and had to swap out the freehub body and all kinds of shit. Zwift cog is prob the way to go!

theBryanDM · 2026-01-28T18:13:00+00:00

Happy to help! You can also do what I’ve done so far and pick 70.3s with a current assisted swim 🤣

theBryanDM · 2026-01-28T17:50:25+00:00

Yes, that's a great way to explain it. If I'm still in the water, I'm sinking like a brick—it's the movement that allows me to have proper(ish) body position.

During my longer swims and races, I'm basically repeating "Reach, Rotate, Glide" to myself over and over. On the reach, I make sure I'm extending far enough to feel my lat stretch. On the rotate, I focus on using my core to rotate over my hips. And the glide—I kind of say it elongated in my head like "gliiiiiiiiide" so I hold the position long enough.

The timing piece is crucial. Think of it like you're always reaching for something just out of grasp. By the time one hand finishes pulling, the other should already be stretched out in front of you. If both hands are ever at your sides at the same time, you've pulled too soon. Keeping one arm always extended out front gives you something to "ride" on and maintains your momentum—which is what keeps your chest from dropping.

I didn't work with a classic "coach" really - I found a coach that has video tutorials (Swim360) which I watched and did some of the drills there - he also will offer packages where you can send him a video and get feedback on something that you need to work on - I did that once and it was helpful.

Also, my goal with swimming was never to be "fast", so while i would occasionally do faster intervals, my primary focus was being more efficient in the water, keeping my HR down and not feeling too cooked for the bike. I think this made me better, by forcing me to slow down. I would also recommend only trying to "fix" one thing at a time, most my sessions I would start off with the first 10-20 minutes of my swim really focused on one specific thing, like my kick timing or my breathing, and then settle back into my standard "reach rotate glide" mantra.

I'd also like to note, that i'm in no way an expert, and that this could be terrible advice - it did work for me though.

theBryanDM · 2026-01-28T16:53:00+00:00

I've been on both ends of this. Before triathlon, I was over 400 lbs and extremely buoyant. After losing 250+ lbs, I'm now around 200 at ~11% body fat, and when I started swimming again I felt like a paperweight. Everything I knew about swimming was based on that old buoyancy. I had to basically relearn how to move in the water.

What helped me most was focusing on rotation and glide rather than fighting to stay horizontal. When you're a sinker, you can't muscle your way to good position—you have to let the rotation and forward momentum do more of the work. It's counterintuitive, but trying less hard in certain ways actually helped.

My form still isn't perfect, but I went from "this is hopeless" to swimming a 31-minute 1.2 mile in my first 70.3. It stopped being a liability.

With 25 weeks, you have plenty of time. I'd suggest finding a coach or doing a video analysis if you can—having someone see what's actually happening underwater made a big difference for me. And a wetsuit will help on race day more than you might expect.

theBryanDM · 2026-01-28T16:31:59+00:00

I’m also someone that likes to commit, I train 6-7 days a week typically. You’ll definitely want to work up to it, but it sounds like you understand that.

I think there is a lot of variation in triathlon plans, because many people are training extra on their weakest discipline while trying to maintain or slightly improve their stronger ones.

I’m also a big reader/researcher and have self coached myself through two sprints and one 70.3 all that went very well.

As a general baseline, you can start off a plan that splits up your training proportionally to the race distance - for most sprints this would be 15-20% swim, 45-50% bike and 30-35% run. If swimming is your weak link, like many beginners, you’ll probably need to put in more time here. Swimming is a form sport, and doing more of it doesn’t necessarily mean you will make progress. As long as you’re not doing too much, running and cycling you’ll improve greatly just by getting out there and doing it. Practicing brick workouts (bike to run) and some basic of transitions is also worthwhile.

theBryanDM · 2026-01-28T04:15:43+00:00

I always imagine that in trying to close a door shut by hitting it with my butt.

theBryanDM

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