BT Forum

What does your weekly training look like? How much volume are you putting in on the bike?

If you're biking at 13.5 MPH it will take you 8:17 to finish the bike course. You should be targeting a pace that you can maintain and follow with a marathon run.

I guess the big question is probably related to the swim. How much training are you getting in? Are you comfortable in the water? If you're gassed coming out of the water the bike is going to be a very long day and you may not end up averaging 13.5MPH. In order to be allowed to finish the race you'll need to swim to me the 9:37 cut off (I think) and bike fast enough to meet the 5:30 cut off.

As for the run I don't have any advice other than find a pair of shoes that don't hurt your feet and run.

Marin county seems to be a little hillier than the vineman course.  I swear everytime I ride in Marin I'm either climbing or descending.  Since you seem to be so close, I suggest going out to Guerneville and riding the course.  You might be surprised.  If you're able to climb the Bolinas Fairfax Rd or up to Mt Tam, you certainly won't have any problem with the Vineman course as there are no climbs of this difficulty.   what gears do you have now?

Thanks for responding!

I'm between jobs, so have a bunch of time...  I've been doing about 175 miles per week on my bike.  I try to get in 3-4 30 mile rides and a 50-70 mile ride each week.   I'll either run or swim on the same day of each ride.  Running a 15 mile long run, and a bunch of 5 mile runs each week.  Swimming 2-4 miles each week.  I haven't really done any interval training yet.  I wanted to just get some miles in and get back in shape first.  A million years ago, I was a nationally ranked swimmer, so less worried about that leg than the biking and running.  I should be able to complete the swimming leg in less than 1.5 hours without too much difficulty.  But the rest has me worried.

I guess what I'm wondering is what is a reasonable average speed to complete the biking in?  I do better with a tangible goal to aim for. So If I knew that a 16 MPH average is a decent, but not fast speed, that would help me know how hard to push in training...

And running is not my strong suit. I'm doing 10min/miles on my long runs.  But in truth, I think I'd be psyched if i could come even close to that on race day.

Don't worry about speed on the bike.  Just don't.  Won't really help you as a novice cyclist trying to complete an IM.  Just get comfortable with finishing rides of over 6 hours in a condition where you feel like you could cover 26.2 miles on foot.

This will be my 2nd time doing VM (plus once doing the VM 70.3), so I know the course very well.  It isn't as hilly as parts of Marin, so you may find that you might average a higher speed on race day than you have in your current training, but what you want to be aiming for is understanding how hard you can work sustainably over a ride of that length irrespective of how many hills you face.  The MPH will take care of itself.

Personally, I hate to hear that someone is changing their footstrike.  For most people, IMO, it is a mistake and just an attempt to shortcut basic run conditioning that is going slowly and not feeling terrific.  If your feet hurt, then put the new shoes aside until after you get through the epic run you've signed up for.  Run in comfortable shoes in a style that feels natural for now.  If you want to toy with minimalist shoes and a new footstrike, do it when you won't jeopardize a big race like this with an Achilles injury or a bout of plantar fasciitis.  Just my two cents, but that's two cents from someone who's been running off and on since the '70s.

Amen!  To all of it!  Very wise advice.

And to the OP, you want to bike fast enough so that you can finish within the cutoff time, with a bit of cushion.  You don't want to be one flat tire away from not making the cutoff.  Lots of riding will help with speed, but I would worry much more about just getting time in the saddle.  175 miles per week sounds awesome!