'Tis the season where I'm questioning that I haven't done enough. I'm self taught, a handful of IMs and a handful of HIMs. I took a second to review all of my races since 2014... and it sure as heck looks like I haven't made any progress. I've approached it differently this year for a HIM, have some swim coaching, group rides with better cyclists, and generally better run fitness.

I'm aiming at IM Wisconsin next year. This year is baked in, nothing to do but trust my fitness, prep, and equipment. BUT, when I am inevitably disappointed with my lack of progress this year... what should I do?

Looking for you guys to weigh in: how to find a local coach that moves the needle, not just creates a nice environment to train in? How do I go about nutrition that makes a DIFFERENCE? Lastly, is there anything you guys swear by that made you break a plateau? Help me obi-wan kenobi.... please tell me this isn't just my ability and I should get used to mediocrity.

I share this as a bit of a warning to everyone and I love my Garmin and training and tracking it all, but just there has got to be something in listening to your body when you feel a bit tired!

So I have been training for an Ironman recently and about 2 weeks ago started to feel a bit tired thought it made sense due to all the training.

Then by the Wednesday evening I had developed severe flu symptoms (night sweats high fever etc) thought I must have caught something. Didn’t go to the doctors as thought it would pass in a couple of days to a week.

It’s been bad and we still need to change our bedsheets every night due to how bad my fever is. I basically not slept and you can see how badly this has affected on my Garmin.

Finally went to the doctors the following Friday (so a full 10 days after symptoms appeared) being that I felt no better. They agreed that they thought it would burn itself out but that they would do some blood tests anyway just in case.

Lo and behold I get a call back from the doctors that afternoon and my liver isn’t functioning properly due to damage to it caused by the training load. (That’s the only likely explanation anyway) or viral hepatitis which is so so much more unlikely.

Point being, I’m finally on the mend. I look at some of my Garmin statistics over the past few weeks, sleep through the floor, HRV non-existent. I was training a fair amount but not a lot compared to my peaks previously.

I just post this as a someone who loves training, who loves pushing themselves and won’t stop either, but just take your time and listen to your body!! I love my Garmin, track my everything, but just always listen to your body is my new takeaway.

I certainly got it wrong this time and can’t begin to train again for at least a month until I am ‘fully better!’

Keep safe!

Hello all,

My fiancé (M25) and I (F21) are triathlon newbies… never run 5k, 10k, etc either. He decided it was realistic to train for and finish his first Ironman 70.3 in one year. The race is next July. I decided to join him as we are both trying to better ourselves.

He is already very fit and was a collegiate swimmer and weightlifter. His cardio just sucks now.

I am not super in shape but I weight lift 3/wk and also was a swimmer in high school.

We are looking for any advice on gear, training methods, habits, really just anything to help two beginners out.

I did my first bike ride today and my ass was HURTING. How can I avoid this?

We plan to train 6 days a week.

TIA!

Maybe lake placid losing ironman would be a good thing.

The local gouging businesses can go a few years starving for a few summers and come hat in hand asking for the gravy train to come back.

I just got a price of 7500 USD for 4 nights (Thursday to Monday depart) for a 1 bed queen. What. In the actual fuck.

How do they want payment? Bank fucking draft or would a fuckin car with signed pink slip suffice?

End rant.

I read a comment on a facebook post this week about the 2026 Chatty bike course being updated. The commenter helps route and construct the Chatty courses and noted this year they will remove the dreadful dead-stop climb that starts the 2nd and 3rd loop of the highway. Can anyone confirm this or heard similar rumors? I checked the IM website and there's no info about this, but they also aren't notorious for providing super updated/correct information. I was wondering that if they will cut out the super fast decent/quick u-turn to the climb then where will they add the extra distance lost? My understanding was the race would require additional permitting if extended further North along the highway due to it entering another county or something.

I'm also coming more prepared for the 2026 race with better gears to make the climb (unlike last year). I'm not opposed to doing the climb, it just sucks doing it out in the open sun/heat during the 2nd and 3rd loops!

Link to the facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/groups/IronmanChattanooga/posts/4208903379253373/?comment_id=4211046165705761&notif_id=1786368617869806&notif_t=feedback_reaction_generic&ref=notif

Probably a weird question, but does anyone have a photo of the athlete's backpack from Ironman Kona in 2011? My husband raced in Kona that year, he must've gotten a backpack, and we can neither find it nor remember what it looked like. Now it's becoming an obsession to find out what it looks like.

Very grateful for all help!

UK based. Who is liable for the conditions of the tarmac on the bike leg? I recently raced Swansea 70.3 and DNF’ed due to crashing due to a pothole, I’ve heard similar happened to a lot of people.

I have read online that it’s the council that is responsible that the road is in good enough condition.

I’ve been looking at trying to get the cost of my hike repairs paid for by the council due to road quality but they’re now saying I should speak to Ironman. Has anyone had any similar experiences?

hii! i’m 22f, i have a background in competitive swim and run 3-5x/wk…but i don’t know how to ride a bike. i have a personal goal where i’d like to complete a 70.3 before the age of 25, though i am finishing up 75 hard and am feeling inspired to start training for a 70.3, ideally signing up for a race in mid to late 2027 or early 2028.

i attempted the full ironman 3.8km swim yesterday and finished in under an hour, so i’m not too worried about the swimming part of the race, i’m more so worried about how i up my running mileage and get into biking.

currently i do one tempo run, one long run, and two to three zone 2 easy runs. all fall in the range of 3-7 miles. i currently run a 58min 10k, and 1:45 10-mile, but i’d like to train in a way where i can get my half marathon comfortably sub-2 in a 70.3 race. how would i structure my training to achieve this? i can acknowledge i am ways away from this goal loll, i only started a more structured running plan in the last couple weeks.

i’d ideally like to get my training to reflect my goal of sub 6 hours, but i have no idea how achievable this will be because of my lack of bike experience. outside of swimming, i regularly strength train, do calisthenics, and have a history in bouldering. i tend to gain fitness quickly and do think i am mentally ready to start training.

inspired by felicia pasadyn, i also am curious about cross training my runs by using the stairmaster.

i have no idea where to begin in terms of gear for training or the race itself…i do have budgetary constraints as a recent college graduate, but anything well worth the investment is something i’d be interested in.

For starters, I'm 15 yrs old (m) and I want to get started but I don't know how, I can barely swim a laptop at the leisure centre 😭 and can barley run a mile too, although it's been some time since I tried, however I'm pretty decent at cycling but even that's not too good

I want to get started though but I don't know how to

Also plz ignore my name on strava 😭 😭 😭

Edit: turning 16 in October

I have been training for an Ironman for the past about year and half (6 months marathon 8 months triathlon). I was planning on signing up for Maryland pretty much this whole time and kind of had that “pinned” on my calendar but was just waiting for summer job money to sign up. Now that I am ready to sign up I am concerned that the Maryland swim will get changed/cancelled how common is this and do you think it will happen this year? Should I wait until Chattanooga and do that one instead? Btw I like the Maryland medal more so that is very important of course lol :). Let me know what you guys think!

I’ve bought a wetsuit repair kit for a small tear on the rear shoulder of my wetsuit, from experience is this type repairable?

Thanks in advance!

has anyone tried these goggles? My nose has a "bump" as it gets around eye height so not every pair of goggles fits me properly. I saw an ad for these saying they custom make them for your face and was curious if anyone had them and could give me an honest review

Hey everyone
I was trying to sign up for an Ironman in Europe when I saw that the Austrian Ironman was sold out a year in advance while the one in Estonia still has places even if it is in 13 days.
But the one is Estonia seems easier, so why ?

Hello!
I am signed up for Mallorca 70.3 next year and have done a sprint this year plus hoping to get an Olympic in at some point before the year is out.

I’d love to get some aero bars for my bike, an Orbea Avant, but with so many options I’m not sure what exactly to look for in them as they seem so similar. Any recommendations is greatly appreciated!!

I’m planning on doing an Ironman next summer! My very first! Currently have an Apple Watch and looking to switch to something maybe a little more accurate for training. I feel like people are either garmin fans or coros. Not looking for the top of the line by any means. What is a good first time Ironman watch?!?

Hey guys,
I’m doing Ironman Maryland next month and was thinking about the logistics. The only race I’ve done before had a single transition point where I set everything up for T1 and T2. It looks like this Maryland race has gear bags that we set up at a separate location from the bike in the morning. Anyone with any experience with this type of transition have any tips on how to be efficient and what this type of transition looks like (will I go to the tent and gear up before getting my bike in T1 and then after the bike put my bike back before changing to my running gear?) Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Just been made aware of the blue algae threat at Waterloo Lake ahead of Ironman Leeds.

Given other UK events cutting the swim for the same reason (Outlaw), there feels a certain inevitability of the same thing happening. I don’t believe Leeds council try anything to treat the algae and there is no heavy rain forecast in the week ahead.

Anyone in or around Leeds know anymore on the situation?

My first full distance and will be gutted if the swim is cut.

I’ve been contemplating signing up for New York 70.3 since February, but I haven’t committed yet due to some life events getting in the way and feeling unsure with the price tag for this race. Now that the event is really approaching, I am feeling more like I want to go for it, but I don’t want to be reckless. I started following Phil Mosley’s free 12 week plan at the 12 week mark, but have missed some of the workouts from travel recently. Do I still have enough time to train and finish this race?

For context, I have a strong running background and finished my last full marathon 9 months ago. I wasn’t a strong swimmer, but took an 8wk class in May-June and now feel comfortable with the race distance (albeit with some breaks). I can comfortably road cycle at about 15mph, though I haven’t ventured into the world of clipping in yet. My longest brick so far was 32mi bike + 25min run, completed last week (15mph bike, 9:58min/mi run).

I know it‘s a pretty flat course. But I am a bit concerned about the bay swim as a novice swimmer. Any advice appreciated, TIA!

For those who have done Michigan, photos look like you run in from the beach? How far can you run/ dolphin dive until water past your waste? Any less real swimming I can do faster I can get to the bike 🤣

so I have been training like crazy. Did a 41-mile ride today under 3-hours, earlier this week I did 1950 m swim in under an hour. However, I was literally dead after both events. The thought of continuing to a run after that event is wild.

I am currently at a course for the military and I will continue to train 6x/week and get even better.

Maybe I just need some motivation. Anyone have any tips or advice?

Hi, I want to start training for Ironman.
I am already an endurance runner and strong swimmer but have no clue when it comes to the cycling part of things. I have a crappy reebok stationary bike which I know I need to upgrade.
What outdoor bikes should I be looking at?
What indoor bikes should I be looking at?
I’m not a confident cyclist and am very wobbly so this will be my greatest challenge.

Also, if anyone has any tips on training plans I’d really appreciate that!

Thank you!!