Fitness Tests: Am I Ready For A 70.3? | GTN Coach's Corner

Replacing running with swimming, or strength work after a broken leg? Why don’t the elite athletes breathe bilaterally? How do I know I’m ready for a 70.3? Do I still need carbon shoes? How do you do sessions in 91m long pool? James & Heather answer your latest #gtncoachescorner questions!

0:00 Intro
0:30 Returning To Training & Racing After A Broken Leg?
2:38 Should I Breathe Bilaterally? #60seconds
4:20 70.3 Fitness Tests
7:43 Do I Need Carbon Running Shoes?
10:30 Swim sets in a 98m pool?!

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[gtn]

Have another question you need the answer to? Leave your questions under any GTN vid with #gtncoachescorner and we will try to answer them in an upcoming episode 🙌

[TheHutch]

Just did the Mallorca. Ironman no 5. What I learned - Do more BRICK sessions, stick to your numbers on the day. To improve Get A Coach!

[mioszmaciejczak]

I’ve been also using the 91-meter lido (100 yards Lido by Tooting Bec) and I was mostly using it for endurance training and for drills/technique sessions I would go to the different pool. I think swimming in such a long lido my boost up the confidence of covering the triathlon distance (as there is no wall every 25m) and also help you adapt to the cold water and to test out your wetsuit 🙌

[davidjenkins]

Thank you for answering my question, I completed the aquabike and am looking forward to eventually doing a full triathlon when I'm fully fit 👍🏽

[bluesparrow-hxqf]

For 70.3 fitness test, I worked several times with the 2/3 to 1/3 method, so do a 60-70km bike ride (can be easy) and then run about 7-8km. If you can do that run with a steady pace and no pause, and are not too sore or even destroyed the day after, 70.3 should work in terms of finishing the race (if the 2km swim is without any problems).

[dbo]

You can absolutely run 21km at a decent pace in the lead up to a 70.3. It’s only 21km. It’s not a full marathon.

[civiSapper]

Just completed the ironman 70.3 Morro bay with a 6hr 26 min finish. Wanted to finish sub 6 but first go I’m happy. Thanks for the info.

[deepblueoceanchild]

Thank you, Heather and James! That was very helpful, as were some of the comments from other people swimming in 91m pools (no, they're not heated 😅; yes, I did swim over the winter). Your answers make sense, I'll work with that. Really appreciated, thank you so much!

[nickc]

I went to that Cambridge Lido once when I was in town for work. A great facility, but yes, it was pretty cold.

[lizzobeach]

91 meters sounds like a 100 yard pool (technically 99.52) so finding USMS yards based workouts should be easy as there are thousands. Agreed on everything you guys said and yes, very lucky to train there. Love LCM so a 100 yard pool would be super fun!!!

[SBoots]

Excellent advice. I use bilateral breathing but change to single side when speed is required. Also single side when open water and wave action is on a certain side. Speaking of open water the ice is off the lake. Wetsuit and here we go. Lets see how the sighting is going to go and as I try to keep a straight line. Everyone else does 1500 meters and I do 2000. LOL. Cheers

[marie-louisekarlander]

Thank you for this video. Yes I’m also a strong runner with not so fast speed. 😉The carbon shoes make me faster, and also less fatigue (?). I don’t like to slow pace with them just my competition speed.
Swimming and length of pool. In our small town in Sweden, we got 4 swimming clubs since many years. You could say that three of them are “farming”clubs to the biggest club in central. Those smaller clubs who swim in just 16 m pool they got the best butterfly swimmer.
As a x music teacher I understand why - they did not loose their technique before they reached the other side of the pool. My violin teacher said-never play wrong. That is what happens with those kids . They don’t “play wrong “ butterfly. The kids who swim in 25 m pool get tired and loose their technique.
So - drills not too long and rest enough before next drill. That’s what I think and you seem to agree.

[wojciechbusz]

Thanks so much James! Makes a lot of sense. Will use this tip this weekend at the Outlaw Half in Nottingham. All the best

[ZeroCarbIronman]

A couple of comments I hope are of use, regarding carbon plate shoes I can run at almost any pace with the Nike Vaporfly Next % 2 model but in the Saucony Endorphin Pro 3 I can only run at tempo pace or faster. At easy pace they don’t react well and cause a bit of discomfort. So I think you’re right that it’s down to the individual to find what works for them. With respect to 70.3, I think it’s extremely useful to build up to running the full Half Marathon in training as your long Z2 run. This is great psychologically and for mechanical endurance. Cheers and hope to see some of the crew in Lahti perhaps!?

[michaeliorg]

I have only done 1 full Ironman and one half Ironman. Both I did with little training. My two main goals were to finish and have fun. Their advice about doing at least the full distance swim and bike is spot on. The week before the full I swam 4500 yards and three weeks prior I biked 100 miles. It really helped my confidence because I went into the water knowing that I was capable of swimming that distance.

[markhamilton]

#gtncoachescorner I’m 57 and have completed a few Sprint Triathlons. I’m a strong cyclist and average runner. I swim 3/4 times a week but only breaststroke. Will this mean I can’t do a full triathlon? It’s only for fun and fitness, not to win! Should I learn front crawl? Old dog new tricks! Thanks GTN 🏊🏻🚴🏻‍♂️🏃🏻

[maple]

Hi GTN! I'm training for my first triathlon (super sprint distance) later this summer and have loved watching your channel for motivation and tips! I want to wear a wetsuit for buoyancy but in August in Minnesota it will be hot air temperature and the lake will feel like bath water I'm told. Will I overheat in a sleeveless wetsuit? Thanks! #gtncoachescorner

[CoelhoSports]

It's possible to measure if an elite athlete is receiving 5% improvement because of equipment because elites perform at such a consistent level where 5% is a significant difference. It is not possible to measure if average joe marathoner is receiving 5% improvement from equipment because their performances from one day to the next are outside that 5% margin. It's statistical noise. Train harder for 6 months, and just about every average joe can improve by 10%+. A 4 hour average male marathoner who trains hard for 6 months only needs to cut 24 minutes to 3:36 to improve by 10% and still not come anywhere near making the starting line for boston. How would it be possible to tell if that same guy realized "up to" 12 minutes (5%) improvement just from a shoe? If he finishes 12 minutes slower do you blame the shoe? Weather conditions, course, number of participants, race management, diet, attitude, and many other variables can easily swing a 4 hour marathoner's finish time by 12 minutes. Odds are, it wasn't the shoes.

[sarjannarwan]

Noticed Heather and Mark at the end of UTS on Saturday, I was too dead after the 50 to say Hi after the race. Hope it went well, Are you releasing a video on it?

[AlastairScarlett]

Will any of you guys be at Holkham in July?
Based on your advice here I think I am 'ready'! 😊