That’s so great @Swimfast! See you at the pool and Williamson Lake soon 
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Dave, that’s an amazing story. Thank you for sharing!
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Ironman Conquered!
Hi there!
This weekend, I crossed the finish line of my first Ironman! My time was 10:41:03, though I had aimed for a slightly faster pace. The swim went flawlessly, the bike section was slower than expected, and the run was brutal. The heat was relentless, and I pushed through the pain.
Despite the challenges, I’m so incredibly proud to have finished. This accomplishment fuels my desire to improve even further.
First and foremost, a huge thank you to Athletica for the invaluable support during my training journey, not only for this Ironman but also for previous events like the half Ironman, two Olympic distances, one sprint, and one cross-country bike race.
I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t mention a point of reflection. It’s not a complaint, but rather an observation. In my experience, the zones in my Athletica profile seem a bit ambitious compared to my actual race pace. For example, the prescribed power for the Ironman was 229-249W, which felt too demanding for me. My FTP is 287. Similarly, the recommended long-distance run pace (Ironman) was 4:45-4:53. I believe that’s unrealistic for my current level of fitness, as my Critical Pace is 4:11.
Knowing I wouldn’t be able to maintain those targets throughout the race, I opted for a lower power output (170-200 watts) on the bike and a slower pace (5:15-5:45) on the run.
I understand that training plans are highly individualized. Looking back, my actual race performance aligns more closely with my capabilities than the initial projections in Athletica. Perhaps I should have built my training plan around less ambitious numbers.
Thank you again for the fantastic training tool, for the ongoing communication with athletes through the forum and podcast. I’ll continue using Athletica, recommend it to all my friends, and am excited for the upcoming updates. Wishing you all the best in your continued valuable work.
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Sub 11 on first IM is a huge accomplishment.
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Great job listening to your internal voice and following it during your race in regards to pacing. Well done! Sounds like you nailed it! sub 11 on first IM! 
Excellent!
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Congrats - great racing!
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I just finished my first race of the year, a local half marathon that was 80/20 road/gravel. I’m fairly new to racing and never ran as consistently as I have with Athletica, so I was very excited about this race to see where I was at before my A race which is another half marathon in November. I’m fairly new to racing as well having only done two HM before this. My PB was from two years ago when I did 1:45, and last year my goal was to improve on that but I ended up bonking and finishing at 1:48.
This year however my training with Athletica has been amazing, I’ve done 70-80km a week and don’t think I’ve missed a session since March. In spite of that I did feel some doubt creep in as the race date got closer, both in regards to the race intensity and my fuelling strategy. I usually do my easy runs fasted first thing in the morning, and my intervals fueled around 9am. The race actually started around 9am so I finally went with a fueling strategy that was fairly similar to my interval days, with a tad more carbs and with a pre-race gel around 30 mins before the start.
My goal was to finish sub 1:40 with an eye to 1:37, and at the finish my official time was 1:35:56 so I’m superhappy about that. I felt good throughout and was amazed at how fast I was running, and if the course had been flat the last 5-6 km I think I would’ve finished sub 1:35. All in all I’m extremely pleased with how Athletica helped me prepare for this HM, and already looking forward to my next race in November
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Wow 
that is amazing!
I picked up two major pieces you absolutely nailed:
- Consistently clocking good volume of runs
- Your fueling strategy both in training (combining fasted aerobic runs and fueled intervals), and in racing. Becoming fat burning beast!
You are crushing it! So stoked for you! Maybe share a photo for us to share on socials?
Now have a great recovery before getting back at it!
MJ
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Congrats! Great racing!
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2025 Nice Slot
I got my Nice slot Yesterday at Ironman California. I finished 2nd in my AG and 194/2427 in 10:15:37. The swim was descending 
.
- Swim (6th) 47:33 - with. favorable current
- T1 8:39
- Bike (1st) 5:14:26—flat but windy. In the first loop, I reached 40% WR; the second loop was windier, and I reached 5% WR. (I did not get it on my computer as it is not yet supported on the Edge 1050, and it did not work on my Garmin Ecp Gen 2.) Anyway, I estimated OK.
- T2 5:23
- Run (2nd): 3:59:38 I started suffering badly from mile 17 … when WR reached 0%… what a coincidence
We cannot train running 26.2, so how can we train and avoid reaching 0% as soon as we hit our long run max? Should we do our long run with more intensity than the race, i.e., not at Z2 but at Z3a/b? I know it is not the answer, but I wonder what the answer is. I did long runs, HIIT on the track, hillish run and I wished I could have sustained my ~8:30 initial pace.
By the way, my pace zones on the run were inaccurate, but my HR zones were good, and I relied on the latter. If I had followed the pace zone, I would have reached 0% WR at mile 5!
It was a great event, well run as usual, with food trucks at the finish line and great food to celebrate! The area was open to friends and family who could buy from the food trucks. It is a great idea; I wish they did that everywhere.
I did not mention that I did Santa Cruz 70.3 six weeks ago. I also finished second in my AG, but there was only one slot for Malaga/Spain. It is okay, as I did not want to make multiple trips to Europe at the end of next year.
I managed my nutrition much better on the full, with an average of 60g/carb/hr (Mainly tailwind on the bike and Maurteen and Coke on the run)
Next Taupo WC NZ on Dec 15
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Amazing job @Jerome Nice will be a great trip.
I had my last race of the year last week - Ironman Cascais, Portugal. Fantastic race set-up would really recommend.
Swim went very well (1:17) - quickest I’ve swam and held that pace over the full 3.8km - keen to see if I can now push shorter distances harder and faster
Bike was a challenging but fun course (5:54) - hilly first part of lap, then flat out and back with some head wind on the way back. Felt I’d pushed as hard as I could at the time but when I look back at my power for the ride I’m a little disappointed - definitely something I need to work on in the future. Definitely need to be more confident on the down hills or push harder on the uphills
Run was a nice 3 laps with rolling hills (3:49) - I’d kidded myself before the race that I could run a 3:30 but looking at it now I think that was very ambitious considering my PB is only 3:19 and I’d only done a few long runs between August and the race (late entry)
Overall 11hrs 22 - Exhausted at the end but left with a feeling that sub 11 hours is definitely in my grasp — If I want to do another one next year???
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Well done both of you, @Jerome and @jockefc23 !
@Jerome…(sensing a CA focus…) what are the chances you are planning a trip to Wildflower next year? We’re looking to gather a gaggle of us to make it an Athletica.ai group event.
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@SoCal1x Yes, I signed up for Wildflowers 70.3 under my club SVTC. I will be happy to participate in any athletic activities there.
@Prof any comments regarding
We cannot train running 26.2, so how can we train and avoid reaching 0% as soon as we hit our long run max? Should we do our long run with more intensity than the race, i.e., not at Z2 but at Z3a/b? I know it is not the answer, but I wonder what the answer is. I did long runs, HIIT on the track, hillish run and I wished I could have sustained my ~8:30 initial pace.
Hey @Jerome ,
Thanks for voicing. I think I have a solution for you and it will indeed involve more Z3a/b work. Its reserved for high volume athletes like yourself but should solve the WR issue. I can see you’re building up again so I’ll make some changes to the templates in the backend and you should notice some differences appearing. Please report back after your next build.
Best,
Paul
@Prof @Jerome If you wouldn’t mind sharing some of the workout/days that this affects I think it would be of interest to me.
I felt that the brick sessions I had for the 70.3 training I did this year definitely helped and I only gave myself 8 weeks full distance training so didn’t see much different.
I came off the bike and felt ok for the first 10k but after that struggled, not just due to fatigue but also a little niggle in my foot and some stomach problems. But would love to see what sort of workouts might be of advantage if I decide to do another full next year.
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BTW, my wife also competed. It was her first and she finished 20 over 97 in her age group in 12:49:13. She was mainly following the athletic plan.
My daughter was here, and she created some fantastic signs on her own to motivate us and also advertised Athletica. People asked her what it was! I shared a few running and swimming workouts with her.
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That is awesome @Jerome … so happy for you both!!!
@Jerome Amazing! Congrats to you and your wife! Do I have your permission to post on socials? Please share your photo as well with me if ok to share? Thanks, MJ
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That’s awesome - congrats to you both! Love the posters!
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@Jerome I’ve made a change within the high volume long distance tri plans to address this in the build phases only. These are advanced sessions that combine moderate and high intensity pieces. I’ve used these successfully in some of my elites and I think if you’re able to do the high volume program like yourself then they would apply. I believe this should also address the workout reserve issue. Please take a look at your convenience.
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