Tim Synowiec

Tim Synowiec of Salisbury, Md., already has three 70.3 triathlon wins on his resume. His plans include turning pro so read about it here and follow his developing career. Gain insight into what it takes to perform at his level and how much time is spent in training.

When did you start running? I think you were playing soccer first? 
I played soccer my entire life and it turns out soccer was a good avenue to becoming a collegiate runner because track/cross country is a very injury prone sport (especially at higher level where 110+ mile weeks are required), but running around in soccer cleats for four hours a day will make you pretty durable. I only started running my junior year of high school and started taking it more seriously my senior year. 

Tell us about running for Bennett High School. 
Running for Bennett High School was super fun and I loved my teammates, but to be completely honest, the team was very much a social club and running or trying to become great at a sport was secondary (which is completely fine and made for a pressure free atmosphere). Running is a sport that requires a lot of discipline to become great at because the training can get monotonous. The team was meant to give students an outlet and to try to make the sport more fun (but running was always fun for me because I had always loved type 2 fun, which others may hate). As a senior, I got second at cross country states and won the 2 mile during outdoor track. 

You hold the record for the fastest marathon by a high school student, setting that in 2022 at Salisbury Marathon with a time of 2:22:50.
Were you chasing the 49-year record or did it just happen? 
I was unaware of the record until my friend told me about it after the race. The marathon suited my strengths since I was a very high-volume runner. It was only after this race that I got noticed by bigger Division 1 running programs because the result was bigger than anything I had done on the track. 

You have three 70.3 Ironman triathlon wins since December, two of them in the last five weeks! (Geneva in NY, Eagleman in Cambridge, Md., and Florida). What is your training like for those events? 
The training varies based on the time of year, but in school I’m generally focused on the run training which means higher run volume and more specific run workouts to what I would race in college such as a track 5k. Then I fill in more volume with swimming and cycling (only what I have energy for and it is not a priority). During the summer, the training plan gets more triathlon specific. So the focus goes away from the run and onto the swim/bike. The training is planned backwards from the goal race based on how the last race went and what I need to improve upon.

Usually, I work on improving one discipline while maintaining the other two and do blocks of that rather than trying to improve across swim, bike, and run all at the same time. So three weeks may be trying to not let swim and run level drop (minimal effective dose) and really focusing on the cycling, followed by three weeks of minimal effective dose on the run/bike while really pushing the swim. 

I think you just graduated from Oklahoma State with a degree in mechanical engineering and ran for them all four years. Care to share some accomplishments? What’s next, career-wise? 
I still have one more semester until I graduate in mech engineering. I chose mech engineering because it is very broad and I am not sure yet what I will end up doing. I was on dean’s honor roll all four years and was part of the national championship winning team in 2023 and 2025. I’m not sure what I will do for work; I have the criteria to accept my pro tri card and race professionally, which I will try to do, but racing professionally is a big difference from making a living in the sport so I will just play that part by day and see what happens, but I will race professionally.  

Your parents are both accomplished athletes, your dad – multiple Ironman 70.3 Championships and Boston Marathons, Ironman All World Athlete, USA Triathlon All-American) and your mom, a two-sport athlete in college. How have they shaped you as an athlete? 
My parents have always been my biggest supporters and I couldn’t be where I am without them. Through my soccer career and switching into endurance sports, they have always supported me, gone to all of my races, and helped me in every way they can to chase my passion and goals. 

What is a typical week of training like for you? 
Weeks will vary a lot depending on whether I am focusing on the swim, bike, or run. But it’s generally 25-30 hours of training across swimming, cycling, and running. Weekends all generally look the same with a long ride on Saturday of 4.5-6 hours followed by an hour run and an optional swim in the afternoon (which usually I do). And then a long run on Sunday which is usually 15-25 miles depending if I am in a running-focused block or if I am focusing on the bike/swim and need to put more energy into those. And then also on Sunday, I have a mid-day swim and an hour ride later in the day which is optional.

The weekdays depend on what I am focusing on at the moment but everything has structure – usually two key workouts per week for each swim/bike/run with the focus on executing the hard sessions well, whether it be tempo, threshold, or Vo2 and then filling in easy or zone 2 volume wherever I can while still adapting and absorbing the intense days. 

What are your goals? Do you have plans for a full Ironman? 
I want to race professionally (which I will after college) and see how far I can take my career. Qualifying for world champs in the professional field in the near future and representing the USA is the goal and I think is possible. Maybe make an attempt at the Olympic trials qualifying time for the marathon (which is 2:16) and will do that in the next 2 years. I have plans for a full IM but I won’t do one until I think I can race the full distance and not just survive it to the finish line. I probably accumulate the training stress equivalent to doing two full Ironmans every week of training, so I’m not worried about finishing, nor would it be a goal just to finish. I will race one when I think I can properly race the distance start to finish and race for the win or if in the professional field then maybe a top 8.

How can people follow you? 
“Tim Synowiec” on Strava (I post some of my training)
tim_syn on Instagram