IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong is on Sunday 21 March 2027, and if you’re reading this in late October you have about 20 weeks. That’s enough time to build properly on 8 to 10 hours a week around a full-time job. I raced Geelong as a pro in 2015 and finished 3rd, behind Craig Alexander and Sam Appleton, with the fastest bike split of the day. Here’s the plan I’d give an athlete starting now, and the 2 things about that course I’d want them ready for.
The race, in facts
The swim is 1.9km in Corio Bay, out from Eastern Beach. Average water temperature is about 18°C, so plan on a wetsuit. The bike is 90km over 2 laps through countryside, the salt flats and part of the city, rolling. The run is 21.1km over 2 laps along the Geelong waterfront, also rolling. IRONMAN lists the March average as 21°C high and 11°C low.
Two laps on the bike and the run is good news for pacing. You see every section twice, so the second lap is where a good plan pays out.
The 2 things I’d prepare for
The wind comes up while you’re on the bike. In 2015 it was a calm, warm morning at the swim start. By the time I was out of T1 the wind had picked up, and the front group broke apart on a headwind section. That’s where the race split, and where Craig Alexander made the move I had to chase.
So in training, your long rides want some headwind work at goal 70.3 power. Ride the windy road on purpose. Hold the number when it feels slow, because that’s what it’ll feel like in Geelong too.
The finish can be colder than the start. I wrote in my 2015 report that it was warmer at 6am than at 11am, and I still don’t fully understand how. Melbourne weather. For you that means 2 things: don’t overdress for the swim start temperature, and have your race fuel plan set so you’re eating on schedule even when it doesn’t feel hot. Cold days hide how much you’re burning.
20 weeks on 8 to 10 hours
Here’s how I’d split the build from the start of November. The hours sit inside the band I give most of my 70.3 athletes, who train around 40 to 60 hour jobs (the full hours breakdown is here).
| Phase | Dates | Weeks | Hours a week | The point of it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base | 2 Nov to 27 Dec | 8 | 8 | Aerobic volume, mostly easy, swim technique |
| Build | 28 Dec to 21 Feb | 8 | 9 to 10 | Race-pace bike work, longer long ride, bricks |
| Race-specific | 22 Feb to 7 Mar | 2 | 9 to 10 | Goal-pace sessions on race-day timing |
| Taper | 8 Mar to 21 Mar | 2 | 5 to 7 | Keep the intensity, drop the volume |
Christmas lands at the end of base, which suits most people. Holidays are where a working athlete can bank a couple of bigger weeks. If yours is the opposite (family, travel, no bike), take those weeks easy and let January carry the load.
What never gets cut
Weeks shrink. A work trip, a sick kid, a deadline. When I rebuild a week around fewer hours, 2 things stay.
The long ride stays. It’s the session that decides whether your half marathon has a back half. In the build phase it sits around 2h30 to 3h, with goal-power blocks inside it once you’re 10 weeks out.
Run frequency stays. 3 shorter runs a week beat 1 long one for injury risk, and running is where limited-hours athletes get hurt. When run time has to shrink, the runs get shorter before they get fewer.
The middle-intensity stuff goes first. Those sessions that feel productive because they’re hard, but sit in neither an easy bucket nor a race-pace one. I’ve written about that trap in the zone 2 guide.
And the key sessions matter more than the hour count. I went back through 86 training blocks across my roster: athletes who completed 80% or more of their key sessions progressed 93% of the time, and under 50% it was 24%. The data is here. Protect the 2 or 3 sessions that matter each week and the rest can bend.
Pacing the day
Ride the first lap a touch under your target and the second lap on it. You’ll know the course by then, and you’ll know where the wind is.
Then don’t chase the run start. In 2015 the 2 guys ahead of me went through the first 4km at 3:10 per km. That was too hot for me, so I let them go and ran my own race. I was 2 minutes down at halfway with a fast-finishing Jeff Symonds 2 minutes behind me, and the gap I’d built on the bike was enough to hold 3rd. The same applies at every level: the first 5km of a 70.3 run is where people spend money they don’t have. I wrote up three race files from one weekend that show what an overcooked bike does to the run.
If you’re racing 70.3 New Zealand two weeks earlier
70.3 New Zealand in Taupō is on 6 March 2027, 15 days before Geelong (the full New Zealand season is here). Doing both is possible. Treat Taupō as your last big race-specific session, raced controlled, and keep the 2 weeks between them easy apart from a couple of short goal-pace efforts. Travel to Geelong early enough that a flight isn’t the hardest thing you do that week.
Common questions
When should I start training for 70.3 Geelong 2027?
About 20 weeks out, which is the start of November 2026. That gives you 8 weeks of base, 8 of build, 2 race-specific and a 2-week taper before race day on Sunday 21 March 2027. Starting later is workable if you already have a base, but the build gets squeezed.
Is 70.3 Geelong a fast course?
It’s a good one for a quick time. The swim is in calm, protected water in Corio Bay, and the bike and run are both rolling 2-lap courses. The variable is wind. When I raced it in 2015 the wind came up during the bike and the headwind sections decided the race.
Do you need a wetsuit for the Geelong swim?
Plan on one. IRONMAN gives the average water temperature in March as about 18°C, which is well inside wetsuit range for age-group athletes. Check the race-morning ruling, but train and race-rehearse in your wetsuit.
How many hours a week do I need to train for 70.3 Geelong?
8 to 10 hours a week gets a working athlete to Geelong in good shape. Base weeks sit around 8 hours, the build around 9 to 10, and the taper drops to 5 to 7. Competitive age-groupers chasing a podium usually need more, mostly on the bike.
What’s the weather like at 70.3 Geelong?
IRONMAN lists the March average as 21°C high and 11°C low. In 2015 it was calm and warm at the start, the wind got up during the bike, and it was colder at the finish than at 6am. Pack for both, and eat to your fuel plan even when it feels cool.
If you want this built around your actual week, that’s what I do. See how coaching works, or start with the 70.3 training plan if you’d rather run it yourself.
Mark Bowstead raced professionally from 2012 to 2020 and has coached endurance athletes since 2017. He won IRONMAN 70.3 Buffalo Springs in 2015. Earlier that season he finished 3rd at IRONMAN 70.3 Geelong. He runs Bowstead Performance Coaching from Auckland.
