u/MrRabbit

It's almost time! First things first- your options to watch, here they are from Ironman.com.

• Globally: YouTube (free worldwide — coverage starts 4:30 AM HST, pro men 6:20, pro women 6:30), ironman.com/proseries, DAZN

• France: L'Équipe

• Germany: HR

• Spain: RTVE Play

• Latin America & Caribbean: ESPN via Disney+

• China: iQIYI

• South Africa: SuperSport

And as always, the IRONMAN Tracker app on your phone / mobile device will be your best bet for live info.

I'm really looking forward to hearing from a great commentary team tomorrow: Carfrae, Ryf, Frodeno, McCloy, Siddall, and Appleton.

Some great race previews below!

From TRI 247:

> A formidable field preparing to chase triathlon's most coveted full-distance title though the defending champion Casper Stornes will be missing following his training crash.

And Triathlete.com's pro preview:

> Løvseth "came to Kona last year as a World Championship rookie and left with the title" — while Laidlow "owns the Kona bike course record and the fastest time ever over the full distance."

And from Ironman.com:

> "with Kona exclusively hosting a reimagined event format with men and women racing together on the same day" — "nearly 3,000 of the most competitive and committed triathletes in the world," because athletes want "to race together, and do that at the beating heart of our sport in Kona, Hawai`i."

> "Norway dominated last year's IRONMAN World Championship in 2025, sweeping the podium with Casper Stornes, Gustav Iden and Kristian Blummenfelt" — the hype train is back minus one. Official men's start list (55 pros): M2 Iden, M3 Blummenfelt, M4 Van Riel, M5 Laidlow, M6 Lange ("final appearance racing in Hawai'i"), M7 Schomburg, M8 Thompson, M9 Marquardt, M14 Foley, M20 Hanson, M22 Von Berg, M26 Long, M36 Wurf, M40 Ditlev, M53 Furuya.

Some other great sources for previews race day news:

• Women's start list, bib numbers and absentees (via TRI247)

• Kona 2026 betting odds: Knibb and Blummenfelt the favourites (via TRI247)

• Julie Derron ready to chase Kona rivals — without a watch (via TRI247)

• Men and women reunite on the Big Island (via USA Triathlon)

• Who will win in Kona? (via 220 Triathlon)

• Contenders and picks: can Taylor Knibb win Kona? (via RG)

• "Everything You Need to Know About the IRONMAN World Championship — Special 2026 Edition" (via Triple Threat Life)

• The hardest endurance race on earth is decided by one variable, and it is not fitness (via Men's Fitness)

Who are your favorites? What will you be watching for? The field is stacked and I think this might be one of the most exciting World Championship since the last one, at least.

And of course if you're there, how are you feeling? Ready to race? We'd love to hear about it! And I'm incredibly jealous.

Hi r/triathlon, it’s Gustav Iden and Kristian Blummenfelt. We’re professional athletes for On and long-time training partners, both prepping for our return to Kona. Ask us anything! 

Curious about pre-race rituals? How about training plan breakdowns? Send in your questions, and we’ll answer as many as we can. 

Drop your questions here and we'll be back with our answers on September 25, 2026.

And we're back! An upfront reminder- We'll be live all weekend! Eric will be checking in periodically to answer questions. So if you see this post pinned, you're here in time!

As promised, today we have something slightly different- a fellow Age Grouper! But not just any AGer… we’re speaking with Eric Engel, a former M35-39 IRONMAN Age Group World Champion, 24-time Ironman finisher, 6-time Kona qualifier, and an alumnus of the extremely competitive 2021 Zwift Academy Tri Team.

After taking an 18-month break from the sport, Eric has returned to us with a truly massive goal: breaking the 8-hour barrier at IRONMAN California. A journey he is documenting on his blog: Sub8Stack. 

I’ve been watching his journey very closely, if not jealously, as I’m also going to IM California with the paltry goal of sub 8:20! I’ll be rooting for him the whole way, and I know a lot of you will be too. He’s a great guy, and along with being one of the best amateurs in the world, he’s an accomplished coach and great ambassador for the sport.

And thanks to a suggestion from the sub yesterday, Eric shared an awesome walkthrough of all his training and racing gear! To all the gear nerds in here like me, check this out before you ask any questions. You'll love it.

• Eric Engels Complete Triathlon Training and Racing Gear Setup

So let's get to it! Just a reminder for how we do things: I’m posting a few introductory questions so we can get to know Eric a little better. But I’m holding back and saving the good questions for the community. So please, fire away!

1. We gotta start with the boring one. How did you get into triathlon? Did you play a lot of other sports as a child or were you always drawn to endurance sports?

>I grew up playing soccer throughout my childhood and into high school. To stay in shape for soccer, I also joined the swim team freshman year of high school and ended up being team captain by senior year. I was never a great swimmer until joining the swim team.

>Once I got to college at the Univeristy of Wisconsin-Madison, I felt a void in my life. I no longer had a sport to keep motivated to workout and exercise. Luckily for me, I woke up one morning (or should I say afternoon) in my dorm room to the sound of cow bells outside my window. It was IRONMAN Wisconsin. The next semester, I enrolled in a 2 credit Triathlon Training course. One day each week was a classroom lecture on physiology, nutrition, and the ins-and-outs of the sport. The 2nd day was a training day at the pool, track, or on the roads.

>The class “final” was completing an olympic distance triathlon. After that, I was hooked. I signed up for my first IRONMAN the next year. Here I am, 18 years and 24 IRONMANs later.

2. You've been out of the sport for 18 months. What is it that brought you back to us? And at what point in the journey did you decide to set such an ambitious target?

>I took a much needed break after Kona in 2024. I was burnt out physically and mentally. I had been grinding the last few years and lost my joy in the sport. After over a year off the bike and out of the pool, I started training for a marathon. When I got injured, I started cycling again. That’s when the motivation started to return. I mean, I can’t end my career on 24 IRONMANs, I feel like I need at least 1 more to make it 25. 

>As far as my Sub-8 goal, the motivation started in early February. I’ve won a handful of races, I’ve podiumed at the World Champs, but I was still hungry for more. I wanted to do something I’ve never done before. Throughout my triathlon career, I have had ambitious time goals. My first IRONMAN was 12:06. The next one was 11:15, then 10:10. I broke the 10-hour barrier at Kona in 2014 with 9:31. Finally, in 2021, I went 8:38 at IRONMAN Arizona to break the 9-hour barrier. Over the last few years, most of my IRONMANs have hovered around the 9-hour mark. So why not set a goal to try and drop another 38 minutes and go Sub-8.

2. To achieve something like this you need to be dialed in**. Knowing how much you scrutinize every detail of your plan, recovery, and surrounding life, what are some of the key things you look at to gauge if you’re on track for that next performance goal?**

>This is a great question because there’s so many factors that can come into play during an IRONMAN, let alone an attempt at a specific time. 

>I have a few tools I’ve been using to help analyze where I am, and what I need to do to get where I need to be to go sub-8.

>Breaking down the race, I’ll need to swim around 40 minutes for a down-river swim. This is probably the discipline I feel most confident with. Although, there’s a lot out of my control with how fast the current will be. In 2023, there was fast current, but last year the current wasn’t as strong. I’ll just play the cards I’m dealt there.

>The bike is my 2nd most confident discipline. I actually used Best Bike Split to help project what my time will be based on my power output and weather conditions. Right now, I’m pretty dialed into my race day power goals—Best Bike Split projects a 4:15-4:25 based on the final power number I go with. If you haven’t used Best Bike Split before, I’d suggest giving it a try. Especially if you like to nerd out. Keep scrolling down for a discount code off a Best Bike Split subscription. 

>The run. Yes, the run. This is the most challenging discipline to gauge my fitness at. I know I can run a decent open marathon, but putting together a solid 26 miles after a 2.4 miles swim and 112 mile bike is another thing. My best IRONMAN marathon to date is a 2:58. To make sub-8 happen, I’ll need to be at or under 2:50. 

4. I need at least one from the past (leaving the rest for the community) but what was the most memorable part of the Zwift academy? And how much did that contribute to your 70.3 and 140.6 success over the years?

>The Zwift Academy Triathlon was the peak of my triathlon career. Yes, the bike, gear and the experiences were amazing—but I  met some lifelong friends through the process. We did a training trip to Morgan Hill (Specialized HQ) and St George leading up to the 2021 IRONMAN World Championships. This trip was such a cool bonding experience, being able to train with athletes from around the world. I even won $150 at a slot machine at the Vegas airport.

5. And I always have to ask a fun one. I know you’ve got some hot takes on triathlon, so what are some of the worst triathlon influencer trends you’ve seen lately?

>Yes, at times I can get a little “hot” under the collar with some of the things I’m seeing in my social feed these days. When I first started the sport, there was maybe a handful of “influencers” in the triathlon space, but today I see more and more. 

>I think overall, its good for the sport to have these influencers bring my attention and following to the sport, but the problem I have is the way some of them go about it.

>Take for instance Matt Johnson. He just attempted to complete 7 IRONMANs in 7 days. Not an easy feat by any means. Triathlon and physical accomplishments aside, he raised a crap ton of money for charity which is great. Hats off to him. But, he’s also loading up on tons of different peptides, cigarettes, chewing tobacco, and getting IV transfusions (illegal in our sport). All things I wouldn’t recommend or encourage for someone who’s looking to get their body to perform at its best. 

>I think we need more influencers in the sport who are working full time jobs, performing at a high-level, and offering insights on how to make it all work. 

If you want to follow Eric’s journey and probably learn a thing or two along the way, you should absolutely follow along at:

• @ eric.r.engle
• www.sub8stack.com

He’s also a coach! If you’re interested, contact him at:

• DM me on IG or email eric.r.engel@gmail.com

And Eric would love to thank some of the brands that have helped him along the way:

• 15% off Altred
• 25% off Best Bike Split with code: ENGEL2026
• 30% off KetoneIQ
• 20% off Intake Breathing 
• 40% off The Feed (new users)

Okay everybody the floor is yours! Eric will be jumping in throughout the week to answer all your questions between (maybe during?) training sessions. So let him have it!

​

On Sunday I raced the craziest and most beautiful triathlon I've ever been a part of, the Survival of the Shawangunks (SOS) Triathlon! And I won!

​Here is my post about it from the finish line.

I'm gonna tryyy to keep this short because I tend to ramble on in these reports, but if I left anything out, fire away.

​The Season Buildup

​I've had some good races this season. I won the Jim Thorpe Marathon. I Won the Escape the Cape Triathlon. I ran 134 miles in a Backyard Ultra through Times Sq and got the assist. 

And I’ve had some less awesome races. Second place in the AC Triathlon, 2nd in Supertri NJ. Second place in the Medford Lakes Tri. Second in the Gaudreau Memorial 5k. Third place in the Squatch North Trail Half Marathon. Second in the New Years Day Half. You see the trend. More losses than usual!

I've been trying to tell myself that I'm not winning the short stuff this year because I've been Ironman focused, and NOT because I'm 42. (And I've been telling other people in podcasts this theory too). But either way I was looking forward to a longer one!

The Event

I signed up for this one pretty last minute, about a week ago. But I'd been looking at this race jealously for years, so I wasn't going in completely ignorant to what was ahead. Just mostly

TLDR, it's a Bike, Run, Swim, Run, Swim, Run, Swim, Run. Covering 30 miles on the bike with the last 5 being a hard climb, 19 miles of trail running with lots of elevation, and 2.1 miles of lake swimming. All through some of the most beautiful locations I've ever raced in. But I knew this was going to be hard, especially as a first timer.

The Report! 

• 30 Mile Bike. I wasn't really sure how to pace this. I knew the distances that were to come, but I wasn't sure how the switching between sports and trail climbs would hit me later. So I decided to take it out somewhat conservatively at 260-75 watts, then climb hard for the last 5 miles at 300-315 watts, but still metered. I got off the bike in first by a few minutes, but still felt fresh.

• 3 Mile Run. (Shortened from 4.5 due to construction, I had missed that) I ran well, but my mind was on the final long run. I have heard stories of people falling apart there, so I was very set on saving enough energy to finish hard. Speaking of energy, there was a lot of fuel at the aide stations, but I wanted to make sure I was set up well here. I took in almost 200 grams of carbs on the bike and was carrying enough for well over 100 per hour running. I had the fastest first run split, extending my lead a bit. 

• 1.2 Mile Swim. (Lengthened to make up for the construction). The classic decision! How to swim with your shoes and nutrition… in the chest? Back pockets? Buoy? Most of the fast swimmers I know chose a buoy, but I went with the back of my suit shorts over my quads. It was strange because they were pretty buoyant, and it definitely slowed me down, but I'm happy with the decision. I like simplicity and fast transitions. And I just kept all my gels shoved in the side of my zipped up suit. I was still in the lead after the swim but by about 5 minutes less! Not my discipline. 

• 5.5 Mile Run. I ran controlled again. Had the fastest split in again too. But I was running miserably. Remember the shortened run I didn't know about? Well I spent this run thinking “that definitely wasn't long enough. I missed an out and back somehow." Luckily the RD was right at the run finish to hear my confession as I tried to DQ myself, and he told me it was shortened and I didn't have to head home early, whew!

• 0.7 Mile Swim. Nothing fancy same plan. Gave back a few minutes but I still think I was out of the water around when the next person was getting in. most of my swims I was top 15 or 20 I think? I haven't looked too deeply at that and I likely never will.

• 8 Mile Run. So scenic! They all were, but it was tough not to get distracted. I had saved enough. Even though my stomach was cramping for the first few miles it never really slowed me down. Had the fastest split again and had a pretty good lead that I did not know about at all. I just knew that I'd been alone up front since 10 meters into the bike, but no idea by how much. 

• 0.5 Mile Swim. The big decision! It's so short.. shoes on and save the transition time? Or does that make you so slow it's not worth it? During the previous run this was mostly what I was thinking about. And I think just because I like fast transitions and because I wanted to try something new, I just dove in with my shoes. Honestly, still not sure if it was the move! Feels like a wash TBH. Definitely slowed me down. Definitely has faster transitions. 

• 0.7 Mile Run to the Finish. The legendary "Survivor Line" climb. Straight up! Just relentlessly up. It was everything I had just to not walk, and I think I did around the tight turns actually. But it was a wave start and I started in Wave 1, the open wave. So I was just imagining someone catching up to me the whole race and I'd never know it. I actually had the fastest climb here too, securing the very cool segment awards (backpack and a plaque) for everything but the swims, obviously.

The Finish.

I found out at the top that the next fastest person hadn't entered the water for the last swim yet so I was likely gonna hang on. And I did, but if you saw my post at the top you'd know that 2nd overall finisher was a torpedo of a woman. She came in about 13 minutes behind me and had absolutely smoked me in every swim. I'm glad I got the win this year because she was was younger than me and only going to get faster. She'll win overall one of these years for sure. I can't wait to see it. 

Overall, I'm so proud of this one. The SOS Triathlon is a truly legendary race. This year was the 40th anniversary, and I just can't say enough good things about the crew, the volunteers, the fans, and the whole community surrounding the event. They really worked hard to make it yet another unforgettable day. 

Yep that was long again…but it's 8 stages!

>Welcome to the biggest long distance triathlon in the world!

>Whether as a triathlete, as a supporter on the course or as one of our 7500 volunteers - dreams come true in the triathlon dream factory.

>3.8 km swimming, 180 km cycling and 42.2 km running through the triathlon district of Roth. Emotions and goose bumps are guaranteed, for example at the mythical swim start at the Main-Danube Canal, at the legendary Solar Hill or at the magical finishline party in the triathlon stadium.

>The sports festival in the triathlon stronghold has been home to triathletes from all over the world since 1984.

>DATEV Challenge Roth will take place again on July 5, 2026.

Thankfully, plenty of great options for live streaming and tracking!

• Live Stream

• Live Tracking in the app

• Live Finishline Cam

• Live Finishline Party

• Live Ticker by Tri2b

• Live Tracking

2026 Challenge Roth Preview: Speed, Stars, and the Ultimate Clash for World Records - Triathlete.com

>Challenge Roth 2026 features a pro start list that includes Kristian Blummenfelt, Kat Matthews, Sam Laidlow, and Lucy Charles-Barclay, fueling speculation that triathlon world records will drop this weekend. (They didn't mention Ditlev in this teaser so I'll add him myself)

What a stacked field! It's going to be an amazing race to follow. And I'm so jealous of everyone in Roth racing this weekend. Absolute bucket list race for me. And I can't wait to watch during a long bike ride tomorrow.

I'll keep this up all weekend as the race day thread. So how do you think it's gonna go down? Are records going to fall?

Good luck to everyone tomorrow, and enjoy watching!

Interesting news for all the indoor trainers among us, as repaired by Ray:

> Zwift has announced they’ve acquired Rouvy, including the FulGaz platform that Rouvy acquired previously. Likewise, Rouvy had previously acquired Bkool last summer, but ultimately folded that very similar platform into Rouvy last month and shut down Bkool.

> However, unlike the Rouvy/Bkool combo, Zwift says that they plan to run the two companies as-is with separate roadmaps and subscription services. In fact, short of a few hardware compatibility tweaks, there’s almost nothing meaningful changing for either side (including both employees and users).

> Essentially, one main thing is changing going forward, which is full support for Zwift hardware within Rouvy. This is specifically focused on the Zwift Click/Cog, as well as the Zwift Ride platform. At this point the Zwift Play isn’t included, since it’s not technically doing Zwift Protocol (Zwift said it’s unclear if that’ll change down the road).

I didn't see that one coming!

Race Information

• Name: Jim Thorpe Marathon
• Date: April 26, 2026
• Distance: 26.2 miles
• Location: Jim Thorpe, PA
• Website: https://runjimthorpe.com/
• Strava: https://strava.app.link/uJUu4CZ7H2b
• Time: 2:33:32

Goals

• A - Win Masters Overall: Yes
• B - Sub 2:35: Yes

Training

My primary sport is triathlon, so I don't often get to try to run an open marathon fast with a dedicated training block. My last PR was a 2:36 a few years ago, but that was before a big bike crash that broke my femur, tore my hip labrum, broke my shoulder and a couple ribs, tore my back muscles, yada, yada, yada. So I really wasn't sure if I could still go for something like this.

I'm pretty low mileage, 25 to 30 per week usually with a lot of biking and swimming. But for this I had one block where I was closer to 40 mpw and spiked to 60 & 70 for two weeks just to get some panic training in. Then I went right into the taper, keeping some speedwork but dropping the volume back to normal levels.

Pre-race

I don't get to do anything too fancy here. My wife and I were both racing and had our toddler and some family with us. More of a vacation with a race in the middle! Hectic, but helps keep our mind off the race at least.

Race

I'll skip the boring parts. Went out at 1:15:15 for the first half. Quicker than planned but it was just me and one other really good runner off the front. We chatted for a while and I found out he's a 2:30 flat guy, uh oh lol.

I came here hoping to win the Masters Overall, but I wasn't gonna let the overall win run away without a fight if it was in my sights. I race on the edge anyway, always fine with a blow up. The only result that would have bothered me was an okay day. I was there to have a great day or to die trying. Crawling over the line for an epic loss would have been completely acceptable. #PRorER

It got a bit more real around mile 20. I started thinking "if he makes a move, I'm forked." But then I thought "he's 27 and he'll have more shots to win one of these, I (at 41) won't." That locked it in for me. I was ready to really suffer. So I made the move at about mile 21.

Got about 15 seconds up and I hoped that would break his spirit a bit. I'm happy to say it didn't. It was going to be a battle. I stretched it out to about 30 seconds over the next 5 miles but I was right on the edge of my quads cramping at any time. And the trail we were running on was getting muddy so I almost bit it more than once. I never felt safe at any point until I was in the finish chute and saw my toddler cheering for me. I looked over my shoulder WAY too many times.

Here's a Reel of the finish chute if you're interested!

2nd place came in 40 seconds behind me and I thanked him for making me run scared for so long. He pushed me to a PR by about 2.5 minutes and way under my goal time. He's definitely gonna break 2:30 this year as he wasn't even supposed to race that day! He was going to pace his friend to a BQ but his friend dropped out so he just decided to go for it. Wild. Can't wait to see him go REALLY fast once he's in race shape.

Post-race

It was probably my only shot to win a marathon at the mid-level I'm at, so that was pretty cool. My only real goal in any given race to to be able to say "I couldn't have suffered any more than that," and I think I can say that today. I dug REALLY deep those last miles.

I knew I was taking a risk that had a high chance of failure, and I'm proud I was willing to take it. And I'd feel the exact same way if I cramped up and lost the lead. It's that choice I'll remember from this race, even more than the result.

Lastly, I loved the whole Jim Thorpe race vibe. The RD is an awesome guy, the crew and volunteers were great. The race was very well organized. The running trail was very well maintained. And the town was really fun to walk around in with my family, and there were some great hikes around that we took our dog to the next day. Can't say enough good things about the whole experience.

Made with a new race report generator created by /u/herumph.