Last year, I finished my first 70.3 in 5:37. This year? 4:58. I took nearly 40 minutes off my time across the board.
Yes, I am in better shape, but the main difference was executing better nutrition. A lesson that I learned the hard way in my first 70.3.
The Training Block That Did It
After Musselman, I committed to training for my first marathon… so it was a different kind of prep.
You can read about it here.
After that I was obviously in better run shape, but I needed to get back to the bike and swim.
I laid out a 12-week block, starting slow with single sessions each day to rebuild, then ramped into two-a-days as time went on.
It kind of becomes a lifestyle and I really love it. Training is one of my favorite parts of life. Stretching, balancing loads, listening to the body, strength work, mobility.
It’s such a fun game.
Goals early on
Swim Focus: I was already a naturally strong swimmer because I had been diving my whole life, so last year I didn’t do much training here. 1 day a week with some extra days leading up to the race.
This year I wanted to get faster and get out of the water with low fatigue to set up for a great ride. I was doing more than just laps. Real sets to push myself, higher yardage. More swim days each week.
My catch and line got way better—even if the race conditions made that hard to see.
Bike Focus: Similar to the swim, last year was mostly aerobic base building. Not a lot of target pace work.
For this training block, I built it around actually increasing my power for the first time. And my FTP began to climb because of that. I did 1 key session every week for threshold work. Those workouts included 4×8 and 5×5 @240–260W. On my long rides, I worked in 20 minute sets at target power.
Run Focus: Surprise surprise… last year was mostly aerobic running. This is because most people ramp up speed too fast. I made that mistake a few years ago and got hurt so I played the conservative game for a while.
After my marathon prep my body was finally able to handle workouts at faster paces, so for this block I added in a speed session each week.I ran long, I ran fast, and I listened to my body.
When my foot flared up mid-block, I pulled back a bit and it resolved itself (with some rehab of course).
Track sessions like 6x800s at 3:10–3:30 pace and race-pace 1K repeats kept my speed up. Long runs built confidence and aerobic base.
There were moments I was overtrained. A few skipped sessions. But overall, I stuck to the plan. I visualized. I stayed consistent.
I’m playing the game for the long run, not necessarily killing myself to squeeze out every bit of potential today. Optimizing for 5 years from now and beyond. The compounding is where the magic is.
Race Week Vibes
The final taper was pretty dang good.. I felt like I should be doing more. That’s when you know you’re ready. My body felt springy, my mind calm, and I was hitting race pace easily in simulation sets.
Coming into race day, I had one clear goal: sub-5. My stretch goal was 4:50. Here’s how it played out:
| Leg | Time |
| Swim | 34:17 |
| T1 | 2:46 |
| Bike | 2:38:44 |
| T2 | 2:42 |
| Run | 1:39:43 |
| Total | 4:58:13 |
The Race:
Swim: Choppy, messy, a tough current—but I stayed calm. The time was the same as last year, but the effort was lower. That’s a win.
Bike: 55 miles, 3,000 feet of climbing. I averaged 213 watts and held steady. Nutrition was dialed (mostly, I lost half a bottle), and after the climbing was done at mile 40, I flew downhill, splitting back-to-back 12-minute 5-mile sections. I missed a turn late in the ride, but still managed to recover quickly.
Run: Started with a steep hill—heart rate spiked but settled fast. I averaged between 7:30–7:50 miles and stayed composed. Around mile 9, I started to feel a cramp coming, likely from losing a nutrition bottle.
Lesson learned: always bring backup. I adjusted my gait to avoid pulling with my hamstring and getting the cramp fully so I think I left some time on the table there. My energy felt great so I think I could have settled into some faster miles.
But I’ll save that for the next race.
I saw my dad on the course multiple times and cheered on other racers. It’s a beautiful thing to be out there pushing everybody along. So much fun.
This Is Just the Start
I love this sport.
I love endurance—and that all three sports push me in different ways. I love the structure it gives my life and how training teaches me more about myself than most things ever could.
This block was a huge turning point. I still have newbie gains to uncover, Most of all, I’m hungry. I want to get to that next level.
- 1:25 aerobic swim pace? Let’s get it.
- 300W FTP? In striking distance.
- Sub 3:10 marathon? This fall.
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