2023 Ironman 70.3 Indian Wells Recap

[@SimonShi]

A couple of things: 1. When I stated I was behind people, I stayed at least 6 biked length back. I follow the rules stated in Ironman regarding the drafting rules 2. I always calibrate my power pedals twice before races. And based on my effort levels, yes the power I think is very accurate 3. Next race: 70.3 Oceanside 2024 Thanks 🙏 🎉❤

[@daninhiselement5352]

Incredible bike split, lots of good takeaways from that. You're gonna be turning some heads in 2024 I'm sure of it! Indian Wells was my first 70.3 and I watched a lot of your training through mine for inspo. Keep it up brother!

[@SimonShi]

Can't wait! Thanks!! That's awesome! Hope training is great for you!

[@springschoolofmusic3246]

I’m Helam and you Definitely inspired to not give up and thank you so so much for the medal

[@SimonShi]

I'm so glad!!! 😊

[@3Max]

Thanks for sharing your journey and learnings, very inspiring and helpful for me too! Do you mean that you swam with your cycling socks on? that's smart!! Great bike performance, and best of luck next year.

[@SimonShi]

You're very welcome and thank you!! no no no lol, I had my socks in my bike bag with my helmet. So I got out of the water and I put on both my socks + helmets at the same time!

[@kevinstowe7803]

Great recap. I love the honest feedback. I did that race as well and as a regular age grouper I had similar issues, although at much slower paces, lol. Biked better than I expected, ran slower than I wanted as a result, and cramped pretty bad about mile 10. So interesting how we all deal with these issues and your openness in sharing them is inspiring.

[@SimonShi]

Thanks, and nice job!! haha we had a very painful experience lol

[@cluesclueless]

Amazing to see the improvement on the bike. As a fellow 65kg athlete, 333watts for 60 minutes is unreal! You are a real inspiration and I love watching your videos. Keep at it brother! ✊

[@SimonShi]

Wow, thank you! Keep it up brother!! Hope you have a great week!

[@MMichiganSalveRegina]

I like these in depth race recaps. Helps for us amateurs too

[@SimonShi]

Glad you like these, thank you!!

[@soccerguyhammers]

Hell yea bro! You're an inspiration, I love hearing your race breakdown, identifying what you did well, and where you want to improve. Keep on pushing!

[@SimonShi]

Thanks a lot!!! Have a great week!

[@82powpow]

grandparents very committed! that’s awesome!!!

[@SimonShi]

Yes! Thanks!!

[@Transsend_it]

Keep making progress! I was hoping to run into you at Indian Wells and was bummed I missed you. Love seeing this recap.

[@SimonShi]

More to come! I’m always an open book if you come up to me! Good luck at your next race!! Have you signed up for any?

[@brianwalter7053]

Thanks for the race recap Simon! Looking forward to follow your progression in 2024!

[@SimonShi]

Thanks Brian!! 🙏

[@GregJC]

Great work man. Recently found your channel and I’m a big fan already, you seem to have a great attitude. Keep it up.

[@SimonShi]

I appreciate that! Thank you so much!!

[@PeterVerschoote]

Great job, Simon! Fantastic progress on the bike.

[@SimonShi]

Thank you! Cheers!!

[@ImBozz]

Awsome!!

[@SimonShi]

Thanks!!!

[@nvdmcoaching]

Way to go Simon

[@SimonShi]

Thanks coach!

[@Efit__206]

Congratulations

[@SimonShi]

Thank you 😊

[@geoffbadger9597]

Great race Simon. I bet that bike hurt, but you learned what it takes to be with the top guys. All the best in 2024.

[@SimonShi]

Thank you!! 🙏

[@andrewdechamp8678]

Hey Simon, love seeing racing from the point of view of a "regular" pro. I used to only do sprints and Olympics but am trying some 70.3s now and these are great to learn what Im in for. My only 70.3 this year my neck was also dead and I also had major leg discomfort for the last 10km but once I got off the bike it cleared up and I did a 1:28 run. I'm hoping 2024 I'll be able to get results good enough for a pro license (even though I know I'll never make money from it) just as a challenge to myself

[@SimonShi]

Nice work! And thank you so much! That's a good goal, good luck! :)

[@josecarreno8272]

Nice video, thanks for sharing the experience.

[@SimonShi]

Thanks for watching!!!

[@josecarreno8272]

I got inspired with your watts numbers progress that i just purchased my first power meter. Hopefully i can move half of those numbers. 😁

[@wsoublo]

That was awesome Simon. Huge bike, and great experience riding with Jackson, Sam and BigMetz. It’ll be interesting to see how your bike and run will improve with cutting swim volume. I think that’s one of the most addictive parts of triathlon. It’s a huge puzzle trying to figure out the best plan to balance the swim, bike, run to put out your best race results. Go Hokies!

[@SimonShi]

Thank you so much! This is a well-thought out comment. Yes, swim should be fine. Now just working on my weaknesses! Go Hokies!!

[@joaoescher422]

good work! happy to see your content and bike improvement! keep it up

[@SimonShi]

Thanks, will do!!!

[@tonipaasiluoto604]

Thx Simon for sharing your thoughts! Noticed you are same weigh as me, how tall are you? I’m planning to buy Zoot kit and don’t want that “bubble” you mentioned about… all the best for the season -24🎉

[@SimonShi]

Thanks! I’m 5’8” tall. So Zoot size small should be perfect for me Good luck to you too!! 👍

[@bonn1771]

awesome bike i think you can hold that in 2024 as it it is getting faster solid race and looking forward to 2024

[@SimonShi]

Thank you!! Yes that’s the goal 👍

[@bigbattenberg]

Cool. Came here through Ari Klau. What ended up being your run time and your overall result?

[@SimonShi]

Thanks, still have to watch his video he just posted. My run time was 1:26 and time was 4:02, 31st pro male.

[@ApexPhotoandVideo]

I raise my computer/tv screen to the same level as I would be looking over the ski bars. No issues on race day.

[@SimonShi]

Ahhh good tip!

[@leegmann2282]

333 watts for 60 minutes! Serious progress, Simon!

[@SimonShi]

Yes! I was shocked!! But I guess it’s from all those 15 hour Zwift bike weeks 😆

[@MyWillbot]

Nice recap

[@SimonShi]

Appreciate it!

[@Mef637]

Hi Simon. Nice video and congratulations on the additional wattage. I am surprised that on a flat course that weight doesn’t matter. Wouldn’t someone pushing 250 watts weighting 160 lbs be faster than someone pushing same wattage but weights 200? Thanks.

[@SimonShi]

Thanks 👍 I actually heard that flat course, weight is almost negligence. I think there is a difference but it would be very minor. But for hilly courses, there's a big difference.

[@Jon-lf2dj]

Additional weight will impact you on a flat course in two ways: It will increase rolling resistance (but since that accounts for

[@mikedickerson3944]

Pretty level-headed take-aways. For us swimmers, it’s tough to swim less. Feels like throwing away our one competitive advantage.

[@SimonShi]

Yeah! But, let's see if it helps for my next race, 70.3 Oceanside! :) Thanks for your comment.

[@unk-xw8eh]

How did you get faster at biking coming from swimming?

[@SimonShi]

Lots and lots of biking! Check out some of my videos on bike training and my 30 hour workout week :)

[@andrewmetcalfe9898]

2:00 - open water skills is something to work on. You are a fast enough pool swimmer to be able to sit on the fastest of fast feet in the front pack all day, every day & hence avoid the issues of sitting at the back of the front back and then struggling to bridge when the inevitable surge causes a pack separation. You should consider coming to Australia one northern winter and hooking up with a surf swimming squad and doing some surf and ocean racing. Alternatively Tower 26 in Santa Monica …

[@SimonShi]

Thanks Andrew!! Australia for one winter does sound like a bucket list dream for me!

[@andrewmetcalfe9898]

@@SimonShi one winter? If you come once, you’ll be hooked & it will become an annual pilgrimage!

[@andrewmetcalfe9898]

8:40 - that extra swim volume is definitely NOT a waste of time. Please don’t think of it as such. I’m pretty sure that a lot of the gains you got in wattage output on the bike have their origins in the huge aerobic base dividend from swimming: just look at Lucy Charles-Barclay: it is no coincidence that her best performances and best years have been off her increasing her swim volume in the lead in - up to 60km a week: 2021 70.3 worlds was after she swam the olympic 1500M trials earlier in the year (and she came 6th in her ITU WTS series debut at Leeds just after that as well), and then this year in the 8 weeks leading into Kona: massive swim volume. EDITED to reply to your comment at 11:40 - I think you need to consider the benefits to your overall performance - especially on the bike - from increased pool swimming before you decide to scale that down. Another example - all the ITU guys seem to find their peak performance on the last 10km run when they are also swimming over 30km a week in the pool. The likes of Jan Frodeno and Alistair Brownlee (and the Norwegians) brought this discipline over to middle distance and long course racing. Swimming is your weapon, if you can do it, big swim volume has huge benefits across the board for a triathlete. I just think you need some more specific open water swimming adaptation (see my earlier post) to get all the direct benefits in the actual swim leg: you are so close. Observation: I doubt you would have bonked the last 10 miles of the bike, if you hadn’t burned those matches swimming solo BUT on the other hand, you may not have averaged over 300Watts without that swim block leading into the race.

[@SimonShi]

Well said. And thanks again for the very insightful tips!! 😊

[@trevorscott9319]

Next time you are in AZ reach out and we can do some aero testing.

[@SimonShi]

Thanks Trevor!

[@ReVoltaire]

Thanks for addressing the swim portion. I thought to myself, "WTF! This dude was an excellent D1 swimmer and is training to qualify for the US Olympic trials and still (somehow?!) gets dumped out of the top 10 pack!" Sounds like it was mostly a matter of self-confidence and poistioning. Through out your race narrative, each time you found yourself in a group, you drifted to the back of it leaving you extra vulnerable if a gap/split forms ahead of you. If you ever dabble in any bike racing, you'll experience the hazards of staying at the back of the pack.

[@SimonShi]

Yeah haha, it's my open water swim skills! And positioning, yes, 100%!!!

[@jeffgalloway5998]

Yeah, definitely don’t like to hear the words, “I was able to get onto his wheel.” A LOT of top pros complain about the drafting in their division.

[@SimonShi]

Check pinned comment

[@petergwynne3208]

Whooooooo?

[@SimonShi]

whooooooooo

[@emf6621]

I thought drafting was against Ironman rules?

[@SimonShi]

Pinned comment

[@Arn0ld96]

Wtf why the Oooh thank you... Seems like you were drafting 😅... It really is time for the RR race ranger. Many will fall through the cracks 👌🏻

[@SimonShi]

I was keeping my legal draft limit. There were some people that were close, but I stayed at least 6 bikes length back the whole time. Still a decent effect that far back.

[@Arn0ld96]

@@SimonShi alright if that's within the rules then that's good. But if you're still having drafting benefits with 6 bike lengths (12 meters) then the 12 meter rule isn't correct than that distance should be bigger don't you think? I'd say crank that up to 20 meters so everyone really has to bike on their own. So then it really is a fair race no?

[@bretzky9261]

Ballsy to admit being an illegally drafting wheel sucker 😂

[@SimonShi]

I was 6 bikes length back. Well far back