[Rorieclarke]

Hi all,
As I’m sure a lot of athletes have been dealing with the ever moving goal posts.
I am 4weeks away from completing my lvl 1 70.3 triathlon program but my event has been cancelled 🙁
The new 70.3 I have booked is in 13weeks. What are my options? should i finish the last 4weeks of my program? should i take a week or 2 rest? start a new 18week program but from week 13?

Also to add to my goals I would like to complete a marathon run in 8 weeks. I have completed about 6 half marathons in the last 8months but have never completed the full. My quickest time is 1:42 and that was part of a zone2 interval training session. I am confident that I am fit enough to run for 3.5-4hrs duration but i also know that my legs aren’t conditioned to run that long.

Would love some advice on programs and how to tick of both goals injury free 🙂

Thanks,
Rorie

[David Warden]

R,

Thanks for posting on the forums! My answer was easy…until you threw in the marathon 5 weeks before the 70.3. You can do both, but be prepared that like Solomon splitting the baby, you’ll end up with poor performance at both events instead of stellar performance at one.

Ok, the 70.3 won’t be totally disrupted, but the Marathon will be as you suspect: just a slog fest easy run to get to 26.2 miles.

So, the best (least-bad) option is to re-load the 70.3 plan with your new event end date, just pick up where the plan is for that new end date (about Week 5). This does extend your total 70.3 training to 27 weeks, but that’s not so bad. We like to cap formal training 24 weeks, but a bit longer is OK.

For the week of your Marathon, I need the exact dates of your 70.3 and marathon to make the correct recommendation on how to adjust the plan.

David

[Rorieclarke]

Hmmm new question I need to ask myself. Am I happy with 2 poor performances? I know I’d be happy with 1 poor performance and 1 Stella.

Anyway if I was going to do both the marathon would be on the 10th October and the 70.3 is on the 14th November.

Thanks David, I Appreciate your advice.

[David Warden]

R,

Your marathon will occur on Week 13 of your 70.3 Level 1 plan. To accomodate for the marathon:

– Switch Week 14 and 15
– Drop the RAe6 and RSP12 in Week 13, move the CAe37 to Thursday
– Drop the RT12 in Week 15 (now Week 14).

David

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