I completed IMTX in 16:22:04. It was a tough day! The swim felt like a boxing match at times especially when we had to funnel under the timing mat. The bike was hot and windy. I stopped at 5 aid stations to pour water on my head. The head wind was soul crushing and I was happy to finally get off the bike. I got sick on the run and threw up twice. Medical came over once and asked if I was ok. I tried to explain that it was like college. I just need to throw up and then I will feel better. 
I managed to survive doing a :30/:30 interval for the majority. Once the sun went down I started feeling so much better. The Texas heat tried to melt this girl from Ohio but I did not let it win. Also only 381 women finished this event! Such a small amount and I am proud to be one of them!
This is amazing!!! Congrats @Marjaana !!!
Holy Kathy, wow ! Loved reading your race report, and totally relate. Not sure about the college thing though- I was never able to vomit and keep going 
I was out for the day. Thanks for the giggle.
Girl, you’ve got strength! So awesome you didn’t give up to Texas heat. It’s tough, but YOU ARE TOUGHER! 
MJ
Not as exciting as an Ironman event, but I had a 12km road race. It was a huge event (for Perth, Australia, anyway) - with a total of 33,000 people across 3 distances. There were 14,321 people in the 12km, and it joins with the HM after a few kms - so it was plenty busy with lots of dodging and weaving the whole run. I quite enjoy that, as it gives me something else to focus on. Beautiful morning for a run, it was a bit warmer than usual - about 20 deg C at the start.
I didn’t have the best lead up to the race. I got sick a few weeks out and didn’t do much for a couple of weeks. I got a few runs in on the week before the run and felt good in the morning despite the normal poor night’s sleep.
Subjectively during the run I felt really comfortable with the pace most of the way. With about 4km to go I had to encourage myself a bit to keep the pace up, with some negativity sneaking in - but it wasn’t consistent. After finishing, I felt like I could have gone a bit faster if I wanted an all-out race effort. Athletica scored the effort as 93% FTI and -16% mWR, which both seem to indicate that I was closer to my capacity than I thought.
So, given the lead up, I was very happy to be able to match my previous few attempts at it on time, with an official time of 55:52. I got 17th in the old blokes category (50 - 59 yo). With a good year of training ahead, maybe I can try to beat 50min next year.
Well I had my 2nd 70.3 of the year this weekend and once again got a PB - this time at a UK branded Outlaw Half in Nottingham.
Great conditions if not a little hot (wasn’t expecting to be as hot as Valencia was last month!)
Swim was in a rowing lake so perfect conditions but I’m a little disappointed with my 41 mins as I swam faster in Valencia. Oddly I think it was because I found myself alone for over half of it, no feet to follow and keep my pace up.
Bike road conditions were typical for the UK, some dodgy parts with potholes everywhere but super happy with my performance. Fastest ever efforts over most distances and managed to keep a NP of about 210w which although below my target was still great. Plenty to work on but 2.47 was good for the day.
Out on the run and I felt good despite the heat. The course was half flat along the rowing lake but then took in some cross country sections with grass, hills and gravel which threw me a little. In hindsight I should have tried to keep a higher power (I run with stryd) along the flats and then just enjoyed the other section, but in the end I just enjoyed the whole lot and ran a 1.41, slower than last race but still good enough for a PB overall.
5.18 in the end, definitely believe with even more training (I’ve moved up to the mid volume plan) and more bike experience I can push that sub 5 hour target.
Shane my next events are T100 
Great race report, and congrats 
sub 5 in the horizon !
Well done, @kenc45 !! Matching your previous attempts after a challenging run up to the race is impressive! I’m curious about the “negativity sneaking in” comment. What do you mean? Doubts about your capacity to hold the pace?
Thanks @SimpleEnduranceCoach. I guess really my negative self-talk often sneaks into my head masquerading as a helpful, sensible voice. I think that I knew that I could maintain the pace, but the question was if I wanted to push myself that hard - or rather, because it was being helpful, whether it was wise to push myself that hard after just coming back from illness. It often uses the angle of taking the easier path because it’s a better descision. Sometimes it is right, so I can’t always ignore it. In this case, I didn’t have any injury worries, and I was coping OK, so I knew it (I) was just looking for an excuse to avoid the discomfort.
That makes sense. I’m reading “How to Run the Perfect Race” by Matt Fitzgerald. One of the things he says in the book about pacing is practicing pacing during training. What pace do you think you can do for your five-mile endurance-pace run? Check your pace about every mile on your watch to see how you’re doing so that you can do it by feel.
Training becomes practice in learning to pace by feel and get a sense of what you can do over the length of the run.
The self-talk is always a challenge because it can be come negative very quickly. Fitzgerald talks about talking to yourself about managing the pace as well as having a mantra of sorts like “you’ve got this” “You’re doing well” Those sorts of words.
So the self-talk can be about you managing the pacing, if that makes sense.
Race Report
Calgary Marathon – May 26, 2024
After four years of Ironman training, I decided to try something ‘new’ and train for a Marathon. I had run six “non-Ironman” marathons from the years 2000-2005, so it had been 19 years since my last one! I chose Athletica’s mid-volume plan and gave myself 15 weeks to train. I figured after Ironman training, Marathon training would be a breeze - I was wrong about that! I found it really challenging and loved the variety of run workouts that I hadn’t done before.
My biggest fear going into the race was that I was going to go out too hard, suffer and then end up running slower than my Ironman marathon times. 
I had a sub 3:30 goal which I knew might be a stretch and wasn’t sure if I could hold the required pace throughout the 42.2 km. I decided to start off conservatively closer to the 3:40 pacer and go off “feel” and hope to increase speed as the marathon went on. This strategy seemed to work and by km 32, I had caught up to the 3:35 pacer and was feeling really good. I upped the pace and gave it my all with hopes to reach my goal. Although I didn’t get my ‘sub-3:30’, (chip time was 3:31:39) I am really happy with how the race went and how I paced it with a negative split. I am curious to know what would have happened if I had started with the 3:30 pacer – would I have been able to hold on? 
I’ll never know, but it sure was a great feeling in those last 10 k, picking off runners and generally running faster than anyone around me at that point.
3:31:39 got me 2nd in my AG and 33/441 overall - a personal best! I had to go back into the archives to see what my times were during those marathons 20 years ago. In order they were: 4:32 (2000), 4:16 (2001), 4:04 (2002), 3:49 (PR) (2003), 4:11 (2004), 3:50 (2005). Once again, Athletica set me up really well to reach my full potential – and to be able to knock off 18 minutes from my previous best marathon time 21 years later is pretty satisfying!
Another highlight of the marathon weekend was getting to meet other Athletica fans - @Cubicfunction and @DaveBoyle the day before the race. Dave was running the half and Aron lives in the area so we all met for coffee. Looking forward to hearing all about your PR race @DaveBoyle !
So awesome! Wow ! 
young Cindy eating your dust !!!
So great that you made the cafe meet happen!
MJ
I don’t see myself as a great story teller, but I’ll give it a ago. I’ve never really been much of an athlete. I fact, I’ve been severely obese the majority of my life. In 2021 I decided as part of my transition to the big city in July I would start riding a bike. Based on the encouragement of a colleague who I mentored, I got Strava and started recording my rides on the fanciest CCM bike from Canadian Tire $200.00 can buy. I wasn’t super fast, but I was having fun in my shorts and cotton t shirts with a backpack on riding around. My big goal was to make it to the Walterdale bridge landmark and back home, an about 45km round trip. As my distances grew and I got closer, my colleague was a big champion of my changing life style. In August I convinced my wife to let me get a gravel bike. Then I got cycling kit and I was absolutely hooked. By October I rode my first metric century and registered for my first Fondo for 160 km distance for the summer of 2022 which I rode with my colleague who became one of my closest friends as I changed my life style.
By 2023 I also had bought a road bike and was riding a ton, but I decided I wanted to start running as I worked towards this idea that if I could be an average cyclist maybe I could also be an average runner. I registered for a half marathon in May. Training was going good, but I remember as I ran my first 14 km long run that my left foot felt really off. In fact some days after it would hurt to even walk. I wasn’t really sure what the issue was, but I tried to stay positive. However, it really impacted my ability to train. On top of that, the day of the race came and it was too smokey to safely run (though many did). So I took my tshirt and medal and the first clear day I left the house at 4:30 AM determined to run a half marathon before work. By the time I was done I was limping and finished with an average pace of over 7 mins finishing at 2:30:09. Due to issues with my foot I gave up running throughout the summer and thought I’d consider giving it a go later as the pain was too much. I am pretty sure I injured myself due to having cardio fitness, but the body not ready for the punishment of running. By the time fall came around I had gained quite a bit of fitness on the bike, and in the fall of 2023 I started running as well as cycling. Unfortunately, by being a “great” self coach I managed to overtrain completely and November and December were mostly awful. While I understood the basics of training for cycling, I couldn’t manage multisport training.
I looked for online plans as my buddy talked about the success he was having as a coached athlete, but the cost of coaching just wasn’t in the picture for me. I came across Athletica and decided I would give it an honest try for 30 days, starting the second week of January this year. Quite a pill to swallow my ego and run around developing aerobic fitness at 9min/km pace. Those first 30 days went really well as I didn’t feel overly fatigued at all so I decided to subscribe for longer and continue following the plan. As time went on both my bike and running fitness improved - in fact noticeably so while running. While I hadn’t raced yet, my Z2 pace has quickened over a minute from where I started, and my speed work I could go under 5mins for short bursts. Pretty wild to me.
Enter race day. I had registered for the half distance in Calgary and had a firm strategy of low tempo for the first 10 kms, then move to threshold for the next 10, and finish with an all out effort. My goal was to break 2:15:00, which would be a considerable improvement from the year prior. Well that strategy was great I thought, but I ended up coming out the gate in threshold (oops), but I managed to hold it for the entire race which really surprised me. I held my pace pretty consistent and not only beat 2:15:00, but according to Strava set a new PR of 2:11:44 (little quicker than the chip time) with a pace of 6:14min/km , a massive improvement from a year ago. Truly, a great bonus to meet some Athletica supporters in real life the day before.
I’ve kind rambled on a bit, and I guess I’ve told a little bit more than just a race day story, but I wanted to provide the background knowledge of why I am so happy and excited with the results I achieved. Athletica has really improved my training mindset, and the results are levels I honestly never thought could be possible for me. I’m really looking forward to seeing where I’ll be at the end of 2024 and into 2025.
Here’s a picture post race with the emergency blanket in the wind and cold rain.
Pretty moved by both those stories @DaveBoyle and @cmaloney… thank you for posting. You inspire us, and others, to keep going… 
Very inspirational and I’m so happy your race went so well! Great to meet you in person and hope we can connect again another time!
Wow @DaveBoyle so wonderful and stoked for you accomplishments - More to Come I am Sure! Seeing improvements AND feeling fit and healthy is the best feeling EVER!
Congrats!
Hello!
I had my first ever triathlon beginning of may, it was a S size with just 2 week and a half training (before that I was only running and did a semi marathon in 1h54min mid april)
I don’t have an amazing physical condition (a bit of weight to lose)
The morning of the race big surprise, a looooooot of official teams in the parking, I realized at this moment that I chose the big qualification race for the regional teams in France and it was the first of the year so everyone wanted to be there, very few amateurs like me haha
My target was to finish in the humble objective of 1h30min
The swim started horribly, it was the first time I swam out of a pool and with my swimming suit, the water was very cold (14° Celcius) and I just couldnt catch my breath, don’t know if it was because of the cold, the stress of the first race, the lack of warmup or all of the above but I had to breaststroke for 90% of the 750m because everytime I was trying to crawl I couldnt breath efficiently
Swim: 19min 52sec
Felt very demoralized coming out of the water but my wife and baby were there to cheer me up
T1 : 2min 36sec
Bike was 4 loops of 5km, went okay, it was half going up and the other half going down
Bike : 37min 09sec (32,3 km/h average)
T2 : 2min19sec
Run went ok, same as bike first half was only going uphill and then coming back
Run: 27min34sec
Finish time 1h29min34sec!
Objective succeeded (I didn’t think it was possible after this swim start so i didn’t even look the time at my finish line, it’s my wife who said “congrats you acheived your target!” and I was like really?
Very nice feeling at the end, totally want to do more and asked the coach to train me for a 70.3 like i have a bit of freetime and want to lose that extra weight, I’m confident my body will manage the load
Definitly need to improve the swim part, train more in open water with a suit, and my transitions aswell, I was close to last of the race in transition times haha
Excellent work @Ellowinowh ! The first tri is always a tester, but you’ve got some good times in there especially the bike!
I remember my first open water triathlon, nothing prepares you for that experience. The amount of people who breaststroke in any distance race is always high, nothing to be concerned about.
Love your story @Ellowinowh. Great job and keep going with your next set of goals!
Hi everyone
Last weekend I swam at the Canadian Masters Nationals Swim Meet in Windsor Ontario.
The pool in Windsor is a great facility and this yearly meet was really well organized and attended.
I had listed the 1500m free event there as 1 of my B events and did it and the 50, 100, 200, 400, and 800m free events over the course of the 3 day meet.
After a 10 year swim racing hiatus I started training with Athletica this past January with distance events and open water events in mind. I’ve only done distance freestyle events in a pool a handful of times.
I was so very nervous for my first event, the 800m, the first event of the meet. I was wretching in the bathroom prior, worrying about if I was going to be able to pace it properly and actually drop my time from the last time I had done it in April at a local meet. I was worrying about being tired from training and not really tapered and that all the training wasn’t going to add up. I talked myself into getting up on the blocks by telling myself to just swim conservatively and build in the last 200 if I was feeling ok. Well it all worked out and I dropped 19.7 seconds!
I was more relaxed for the rest of the meet and had success with dropping times and feeling good about my performance in the 1500m, an event I’ve only done a couple times, last time over 10 years ago.
It was such a great event, met so many great people and heard so many inspiring stories. I talked my daughter, who does triathlons, into coming and it was great to do the meet with her.
Looking forward to more training with Athletica and upcoming open water swims. The AI coach wrote back to me in my log after I logged the weekend and said “keep up the fantastic work and let’s continue to build on this momentum”
What a fantastic story @Swimfast… congratulations and thanks so much for sharing! Stoked for you