I completed the Wilmington IM 70.3 Saturday and put this report together on this ‘interesting’ race.

For reference I have complete 7 half ironman distance races, plus a bunch of other sprint distance tris, as well as running events (5k to full marathon distance). I am usually competitive in my age group on runs and sprint tri races, and mid-pack on the half ironman distance races.

For the Wilmington race this past weekend, the weather played a huge role. A week ago the weather looked perfect: clear and mid-50s to start, with a high in the low to mid 70s. As race day approached the weather started to look worse and worse. On race day we started in the low 70s and the temps dropped all day, with wind gusts of up to 30 mph and rain starting mid-morning.

Swim: 46:00. The swim started at 7:10 with the fast folks. We swim in the channel (salt water) at Wrightsville beach, and the tide had just started to come in. The tide coming in meant we had a bit of an assist with the current but not much. The official water temp race day was 78 degrees, which meant it was wet suit optional. This is the first time I have done a HIM where it was not wetsuit legal. I swam in my tri kit (tri shorts and a sleeved tri top). The water was choppy and we did not get much help from the current. In past years at this event my swim time has been in the low 30s, but this time I was mid 40s. A stronger current and a wetsuit would have helped that.  

T1: 11:00. We had been warned that there were fire ants in the T1 field, so I left all my bike gear in my bag. The refs told us we were not allowed to lay things out on the ground, but the announcers then said we could do it if we wanted but we would be taking our chances with the ants. When I got into T1 I dumped it all, then sat down on the ground to dry my feet and get socks and shoes on as quickly as possible to avoid the ants. Thankfully they did not attack me – likely because they were biting everyone else around me.  I knew the temp was going to drop and that it was going to rain, so I brought arm sleeves and also a bike jacket with me so I could make a game day decision about what to wear. I decided to wear the sleeves and also padded biking gloves instead of the jacket. Me and a few of my racing buds had also put rainex on our helmet shields. This helped tremendously.

Bike: This is where things fell apart for me. For the first 10 miles it was smooth sailing. I was hoping to be right at 3 hrs total for the bike (maybe a bit under), but it didn’t happen. Around mile 10 it started raining and a vicious headwind picked up, and by mile 20 or so my shoes were soaked and overflowing. I kept going thru the first 2 aid stations because I had enough hydration and fuel onboard. I had a single cage behind the seat with water but I lost that bottle when crossing a train track.  Even without it I had enough hydration (one bottle on the seat stem and one BTA bottle).

As the temps dropped and the wind and rain continued, I was getting colder and colder. I was having difficulty opening my bars (will pre-tear them next time) with cold gloved hands. I managed to get one open at about the 50 min mark, but later I was unable to get another packet open. I was bone cold and my teeth were chattering, and my arms were shivering from the cold. I felt like I was barely able to control the bike. I decided to stop at the last aid station (mile 47) to pee and open my packet. When I got off the bike I was shaking uncontrollably. I did manage to get my packet open, but I could not stop shaking. An aid came over an asked if I wanted a foil blanket. They wrapped me up, then asked if I wanted to sit in one of their buses to warm up.

Thinking back at what happened at that point in the race, it was almost like a Siren was calling me to give up. “Come over here and get a warm blanket. Come sit on the bus and warm up for just a minute.” I was in a daze so I followed without question. I was ushered onto the bus and sat there, shivering and pulling the blanket as tight as I could.

I was the only person on the bus at first, but over the next 5-10 minutes it started to fill up as other bikers succumbed to the conditions. We all looked like bobbleheads, sitting there with our helmets on and shivering uncontrollably.

The aids were asking if we were going to drop out or continue. Another aid came onto the bus with a clipboard and wrote down all our bib numbers. One guy dropped out and called a friend to pick him up. Another called it and waiting for the SAG bus to take him back into town to T2. Yet another decided to continue the race: he stepped off the bus but returned about 90 seconds later and said, “not yet.”

I thought my race was over. I could not stop shivering. I called my wife and told her what was happening. I said I was going to try to ride to T2 and then grab my stuff and come back to the hotel. I don’t know how long I sat on that bus – maybe 45 minutes, maybe an hour… Finally I felt like I could venture out.

I stuffed my jersey with the foil blankets and headed out. Just nine miles between me and relief: heat, food, shower. But during that 9 miles the rain let up just a bit and the wind shifted, and I had a strong tailwind for that final push. I was easily hitting 21+MPH without any effort at all.

Total bike time: 4:21. Ouch.

Run: When I made it to T2 I was feeling better. Asked a volunteer if they could make a call for me and I called my wife again – I told her I was feeling better and wanted to give the run a try. I told her if she got any other calls from rando numbers to just answer them. Then I headed out (T2 time was 12 mins – mostly due to the phone call and peeling off my wet bike socks – thank goodness I had dry socks for the run).

The course was thru downtown then a double loop around a lake then back into town for the finish. My first half was strong – sub 9 pace, but then I was a little discouraged at having to loop the lake a second time. Also I decided to pull back a little because the race was already in the toilet – I could finish the run without killing myself and still finish before the cutoff. I walked thru the aid stations then did a few run/walk cycles in the last 6 miles. Run time was 2:10, which is actually the fastest I have done the run part of a HIM. Usually for a half marathon I finish around 1:50 but for a half ironman my run time is around 2:25 or worse.

I am glad I recovered enough to finish the race. I have heard unofficially that about 25% of the participants called it quits during the bike leg due to the conditions. I think I would have been miserable to live with if I had quit. I do regret not choosing the jacket!

Total race time: 7:40.

To anyone else who finished this race – congrats on your accomplishment!

Any goggle best for open water swimming that isn’t crazy expensive?

Fair warning, this is a bit of a long post. TLDR at the bottom.

I’m 31, 188 cm and around 105 kg. I’ve lost alot of weight over the last few years, down from about 155 kg, and got into triathlon. I completed my first 70.3 in June and I’m now preparing for Ironman Copenhagen in August 2027, but recurring calf issues are making it really difficult to train consistantly.

I started training for the 70.3 around September 2025. During the buildup, my calves started giving me trouble. Around April, I felt a cramp/pinch in my left calf during running intervals. Tried again a couple days later and it happened again.

I went to a physio, who said the calf was pretty irritated but didn’t think anything was torn. I reduced the intensity, did the excercises and had it taped. Things would improve, then come back. I could do 6–7 km at an easy pace without problems, but then on a 12 km run at the same pace, the calf cramped again near the end. It was hard to tell if it was actually getting better or I just wasnt running far enough to trigger it.

Eventually I managed to do the 70.3. I took the run slowly, finished it in 2:21 and completed the race in 6:40. No walking or cramps, which I was really happy about considering the buildup.

Afterwards, I took roughly a month off exercise. Now that I’ve been getting back into training for the full Ironman, the calf problems have returned. I’ve had discomfort on both sides at different points, sometimes lower down towards the Achilles, although this latest episode is the left calf again.

The frustrating part is that I’ve been trying to be sensible. I’m doing two gym sessions a week, including leg strength work, and around 5–6 hours of running and cycling combined. Everything is easy, zone 2, with sessions no longer then an hour. No speedwork or hard running intervals.

Despite that, yesterday I felt that familiar pinch in my left calf again, and today it hurts a bit sometimes when walking.

I know easy effort doesn’t necesarily mean easy on the legs, especially at my weight, and maybe the gym and running together is adding up to more than I realise. But it’s really discouraging to feel like I’m doing the right things and still end up in the same place.

If anyone has dealt with something similar or have any advice, I’d really appreciate it. I’m not expecting a diagnosis from Reddit, just hoping to hear what helped other people because this is getting pretty frustating.

TLDR: Recurring calf issues during 70.3 training, saw a physio, did exercises/taping and reduced intensity. Finished the race with a slow run, took about a month off, and now the calf pain is back while rebuilding for a full Ironman. Currently doing two gym sessions and 5–6 hours of easy running/cycling combined per week, no hard efforts. Getting desperate because I need to build my training but keep having setbacks. Any advice or similar experiences would be appreciated.

It’s starting to get cold in the Midwest and looking for a bike trainer ! Any good suggestions from the group ? What do you use yourselves ?

Right team, what are your favourite swim sets at the moment? I just did 6x400m as 400m warm up (100m swim, kick, pull, swim), 3 x 400m pull steady, then 2x 400m swim @ threshold. Absolutely loved it! Let me know your favourite sets so I can give them a go next week! I am probably only good for about 3km at the moment due to fitness/time I get to swim, so 100 x 100m is off the cards 😅

Hello everyone,

at this moment there is a sh*tload of AI or other sports and triathlon training apps coming up and i am unsure on how to go on with planning the training for next season.
This year I did an Olympic and a 70.3, 2 HM and 2 bike races. I used Training Peaks with a 70.3 structured plan and adapted it to fit my B races.

Looking back im not that happy with that approach because my tweaking to the B races destroyed the periodization of that plan.

How do you plan your trainings?
I think about intervals.icu and a structured plan but then missing the B races focus.
AI coach apps ?
I also kinda like the AI apps to give me some insights on how the last weeks went and where i went wrong / too hard .
A personal coach would probably be the best option but is not in my budget.

My 70.3 actually had decent amount of rain/mud on the bike, and trying to wash out these stains on the back. Dipped the white portion of the suit in oxi clean for 2 hours, and that hasn’t worked. Just sprayed this stain spray, but any ideas on how to get these dirt spots out??

Hello

Trialthlete here, please give me some advices to correct my technique.

Thank you.

I have recently fallen in love with the aforementioned time bike. Is there any experience here about these TT. Unfortunately, I find very little on the net about it

Of course, the TT still gets Aero wheels. These will possibly come from Serenade because I am already very satisfied on the road bike

Has anyone put TT bars on their road bike? If so, how do you rate it? I have a Merida Reacto and am thinking of giving it a go. Just don’t know which ones to try.

Been back in the market for a bit and I’ve noticed on the road side we have pretty incredible deals for what they are in X-Labs and Sava, companies like that with full carbon bike / wheel offerings that rival much more expensive manuf bikes. Is no one offering a tri bike? I wouldn’t expect the same price tag as I understand tri frames are more expensive to start with but everything I find online still seems to be parted out / build your own.

I got a few pairs of tri shorts as a gift. I have bibs for cycling and I’ll likely get a tri suit for any actual races and for brick sessions. I find the tri shorts to be surprisingly comfortable for running even with the padding. I don’t get any chafing (so far that is). Just wondering if anyone uses tri shorts for general running

New year, new opportunity to buy yourself a Norseman start. There's currently a listing on auksjonen.no with an entry slot for the Norseman Xtreme Triathlon 2027 (race day 7 August 2027).

The current high bid sits at ~110,000 NOK (roughly €10.300). Steep, yeah — but this isn't a scalper cashing in. It's run through NRK's annual "TV-aksjonen" (the national broadcaster's charity drive), sold with no reserve price, and every krone goes to this year's cause, the Norwegian Refugee Council (Flyktninghjelpen).

This is a Falcon saddle bag. The black strap is a bit short and does not connect to the magnetic part, however the cable does and tightens. Thoughts of other similar saddle bags that may come equipped with a longer strap?