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It was great to meet you at the Runners World Target 26.2

Congrats and good luck with the marathon training.

See you at the Races!

IronMate Mark Kleanthous

75 x marathon finisher & competitor of 1,050 races world wide

Hi Steve

It was great to meet you at the Runners World Target 26.2

Congrats and good luck with the marathon training.

See you at the Races!

IronMate Mark Kleanthous

75 x marathon finisher & competitor of 1,050 races world wide

Hi Mel It was great to meet you at the Runners World Target 26.2

Congrats and good luck with the marathon training.

See you at the Races!

Marathon Mark

75 x marathon finisher

Hi Dustboy

Try and learn why it took you 17 minutes. Can you change to thinner rim tape to make it easier to remove and replace your tyres or do you need different tyres. I can change a tyre and use a mini pump all within 4 minutes. Tyres with Kevlar are more puncture resistant but are harder to remove and replace. deflate tyres before a race check for tiny flints that are working there way through the tyre to cause a puncture (Flats) then inflate and ride. Keep out of the gutter and avoid pot holes. It can take more than 30 miles for a flint or glass fragment to eventually cause a puncture, I know I once did some experiments to find out

Concentrate on what you are doing during a race if you puncture not those that are going by you. Make sure you do not pinch the inner tube between the rim and the tyre by trying to save 15 seconds

Don't forget that not drinking or having calories (gels are bars) during fixing a flat tyre in a competition will further hinder your performance. Do not start off again in the biggest gear you have instead spend a few seconds putting it into an easier gear. Triathletes who have had a puncture or mechanic problem have still gone onto win or do great if they have minimised the time lost. Cat Morriosn broke her chain and although she lost 35 minutes by the side of the road with official help from the race mechanics she still won Lanzarote.

Avoid going off to hard after getting back on the bike. There is never a great place to have a flat tyre but on a hot day change it in the shade or stop half way down a hill to make it easier to get going and get momentum before the next hill..

See you at the Races

IronMate Mark

Author of the Complete Book of Triathlon Training.

Hi KittenKat

The long and Short of it

This is actually easy to answer from my 29 seasons in triathlon.

You go Easy to Steady for your long swims and bikes or just add a longer cool down at the end of a session.

With time at a premium this is more time efficient.Train on time not speed or distance for the longer sessions. 2 hour bike don't get besotted by average or max speed

Need to improve endurance without losing speed run twice on the same day. (One could be a brisk run the other run after a bike)

You simply will not lose speed unless you run long and slow down because you started too fast.

Less races and replace with more longer sessions gives you consiscancy which helps you in short and long events.

The more endurance you have the better your all round fitness will be.

Being a Jack of Swim Bike Run will not help you as a triathlete you are not a heptathlete who needs to be good at single events.

You need to be at combing all three together. That needs more endurance and economy of effort. Train just below your threshold will give you great results.Avoid going hard in the long sessions otherwise you will lose speed.

To be the best you can avoid training when you have sore muscles.

I should know - Top 3 in GB age group Sprint Triathlon championships while training for an IronMan

33 X IronMan Finisher

Author of the Complete Book of Triathlon Training. www.ironmate.co.uk/shop.htm