The #1 Mistake Triathletes Make When Moving Up to 70.3
My first 70.3 was back in 2010 at Ironman 70.3 Rhode Island and it was an epic day. Naragansett Beach had huge swells, the bike ride through much of Rhode Island was hilly and challenging, and the run was hot, humid, and had some huge hills. I completed the race sunburnt, hungry, dehydrated, and hooked. I made a lot of mistakes on this first 70.3: I wasn’t working with a coach, I hadn’t planned out my nutrition and hydration, my training was not race specific, I didn’t do any open water swimming before the race, my bike fit was horrendous, I didn’t know my heart rate zones, etc. You get the idea.
Still I absolutely loved the race and after the post race “I’m never doing this ever again” thought and devouring an entire pizza, I started thinking about how I could do it better. When I did my next 70.3 in 2012 at non-Ironman branded race in New York, I made a lot of the same mistakes and even new ones. Even though I thought about doing things differently, I didn’t.
The biggest mistake you can make when you move up to the 70.3 distance is trying to do it by yourself. There’s only so much help you can get from researching on your own and YouTube videos. There’s only so much you can figure out on your own about nutrition and hydration, race strategy, open water swimming skills, and proper bike fit, etc.
I get the appeal of trying to do it all by yourself. It appeals to the American work ethic and the idea of being a self-made man or woman, but to truly succeed at something, to be great in whatever way that means to you, requires the help of others.
Craig Alexander, 3-time Ironman World Champion and 2-time 70.3 World Champion, spoke to a group of athletes at Playtri about 5 years ago and said something similar: “Use all the resources available to you.”
That’s one of the reasons why I actually became a coach. I wanted to help other athletes reach their goals, to help them minimizing their frustrations/mistakes and flattening their learning curve, by being a resource for them. Thankfully, Playtri has a variety of resources available to you: Performance Testing, Customized Training Plans, Individual Coaching Sessions, Swim Lessons, Bike Fits, the Largest Inventory of Bikes around, etc.
I hope you don’t make the same mistakes I did. Rather, I hope you learn from them and the mistakes you have already made. Fail fast and fail forward! Don’t go it alone and use all the resources available to you as you strive to reach your goals.
And if you have any questions about anything in this article or are interested in learning about different coaching options, please reach out to me at jim.rowe@playtri.com. Happy training and racing this year!
Jim Rowe is a Playtri Level 5 Coach and Coach Education Lead, a USAT LI Certified Coach, an NASM Certified Personal Trainer, and an Ironman and 70.3 World Championship Qualifier who works with adult athletes who are chasing PRs, moving up to long course racing, or want to qualify for a world championship. Learn more about Jim at www.playtri.com/jim-rowe.