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Slowtwitch Forums: The Womens:
first IM, how many century rides prior?

squesen

Jul 12, 08 17:33

Post #1 of 22 (882 views)

first IM, how many century rides prior?	Can't Post

IMFL is my very first, and I am trying to get my training in check. How many century rides did you do before your first IM?

I am heading out for century #2 this season tomorrow. I have a few more coming up on my calendar. This got me wondering how many century rides other people did leading up to their first IM. Did you think it was enough training? What would you have done differently?

sphere

Jul 12, 08 17:51

Post #2 of 22 (876 views)

Re: first IM, how many century rides prior? [squesen] [In reply to]	Can't Post

I did two century rides, two two-point-four open water swims, and two three-hour runs in training for my first IM (also Florida). Apparently it was all I needed; I finished well under my target time of 12 hours and never felt like I was in over my head or undertrained. And I'd much rather show up on race day undertrained, healthy and strong than overtrained, stressed and burned out.

Provided your training is well-balanced and your total volume is sufficient, I wouldn't worry about cramming in many more long rides. If you can do two comfortably in the latter stages of your training - and you can run sufficiently well off the bike - you should be fine.

Just my non-professional personal experience. Good luck & enjoy your race-

"The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." - George F. Will

Tessy

Jul 12, 08 17:52

Post #3 of 22 (875 views)

Re: first IM, how many century rides prior? [squesen] [In reply to]	Can't Post

I did 3 centuries prior to my first IM in CDA in 2007. I did a LOT of 80 or so rides though.

squesen

Jul 13, 08 12:27

Post #4 of 22 (809 views)

Re: first IM, how many century rides prior? [sphere] [In reply to]	Can't Post

Good to hear since my ride today got rained out. :( Seems like over half the rides I have planned have been shortened or canceled due to T-storms.

jeanneroth

Jul 13, 08 13:12

Post #5 of 22 (797 views)

Re: first IM, how many century rides prior? [squesen] [In reply to]	Can't Post

i did one and it was not enough for IMLP. I now have done 3 IMs and like doing an 80, 100 and 116-120 ride. I like the 120 ride about 4 weeks out from the race.

Remember to run off these long rides, even if its only 30 minutes or so.

Going in with 1 century is great and probably all you need. Being undertrained is better than overtired. Since you are doing IMFL, I hope you are training a lot in aero position. You won't be needing to do much of anything else on that bike course.

Good luck!
--------------------
Jeanne Roth
Team Timex 2007/2008
http://jeannejeannie.blogspot.com/

dupeetriclub

Jul 13, 08 14:20

Post #6 of 22 (779 views)

Re: first IM, how many century rides prior? [squesen] [In reply to]	Can't Post

Two. IMFL was my first as well, and I felt very prepared. The course is flat as a pancake- nothing technical about it. I have actually never done more than 100 or so miles in IM training, and I've been okay (I've done Wisconsin as well). I do know people who do 120s and more, but I don't really see the point. Then again, I am a rather "lazy" triathlete, so I do just what I need to... I suppose I could have better times if I trained more... but that takes some of the fun out of it... IMHO.

You have plenty of time to get more miles in :)

Good luck in November!!

squesen

Jul 13, 08 14:59

Post #7 of 22 (769 views)

Re: first IM, how many century rides prior? [jeanneroth] [In reply to]	Can't Post

The last century I am doing is in Oct on the MD coast. It will be flat, and I plan to break away from my riding peeps and ride solo and stay aero as much as I can stand -- it tends to hurt the "soft tissue area" as they so politely put it during my bike fit. I am doing a few others prior around here (SW PA) that are hilly as heck. I am not a fan of hills. I am from the gulf coast of FL originally so I know what to expect at IMFL -- pine trees, humidity, and flatness.

Thanks to all for the advice/encouragement.

hj-rockstar

Jul 14, 08 9:02

Post #8 of 22 (676 views)

Re: first IM, how many century rides prior? [squesen] [In reply to]	Can't Post

I did 3 last year before my first IM and I plan to do at least 3 this year. I am doing IM FL this year too =) see you down there.

jojo

Jul 14, 08 11:26

Post #9 of 22 (646 views)

Re: first IM, how many century rides prior? [hj-rockstar] [In reply to]	Can't Post

I did 3 before IM CDA this year, my first, and it was fine for me. I did a lot of 65-80s also. And always ran off the bike, which really helped my confidence. I've tried a few saddles so that I can stay down in aero here in So. Fla., and finally found one that works for me. You might try that too. I rarely come out of aero now :-)

KWTriGrl

Jul 14, 08 12:10

Post #10 of 22 (624 views)

Re: first IM, how many century rides prior? [squesen] [In reply to]	Can't Post

I did 1 before my first IMAZ and 4 before IMAZ this year. Truthfully, I'm not sure that doing 4 made a huge difference. I will probably include 4-5 in my plan for any IM's in the future, knowing I'm still good if only 2-3 of those actually happen.
_________________________________________
Kathleen
http://kcwoodhead.blogspot.com/

Gazelle

Jul 14, 08 15:24

Post #11 of 22 (598 views)

Re: first IM, how many century rides prior? [squesen] [In reply to]	Can't Post

I did several, and I thought that was enough. I think it's important to go that distance at least a couple of times so you know what it's like. But other than that - doing a lot of 60-80 mile rides is probably sufficient. I don't think there's a ton of incremental benefit from doing a lot of centuries. I also did one 130-mile very hilly ride about a month out from IMMOO last year, and that really helped reassure me that I was in a good spot as far as training was concerned. Sounds like you're on the right track with your own training.
--------------------

http://thethighmasterroutetokona.blogspot.com/

http://www.bschoolessays.com/

squesen

Jul 14, 08 16:14

Post #12 of 22 (587 views)

Re: first IM, how many century rides prior? [jojo] [In reply to]	Can't Post

When you run off the bike for a century, how far did you go? I try to always do at least 2-miles when I finish a bike ride, just to get that rubber leg bike-to-run thing worked out.
Did you do any/many long runs off the bike?

jojo

Jul 15, 08 8:42

Post #13 of 22 (528 views)

Re: first IM, how many century rides prior? [squesen] [In reply to]	Can't Post

After a century or more, I only go out for about 30 minutes running. But we also did at least 2 long bricks: 20 mile bike, 4 mile run, 20 mile bike, 4 mile run, 20 mile bike, 8 mile run. Another was 60 miles biking followed by 12-15 mile run. Those were brutal but really worked for strength and confidence building.

NamssoB

Jul 16, 08 7:20

Post #14 of 22 (468 views)

Re: first IM, how many century rides prior? [jeanneroth] [In reply to]	Can't Post

Remember to run off these long rides, even if its only 30 minutes or so.

But be careful of that advice if you start to do what I did - "Oh - 30 minutes is enough". SO all my t-runs ended up being 30-minutes. Bad news. My first IM ride was fantastic and easy, my run started to fall apart - at exactly - 30 minutes, and was completely gone after about an hour.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2009 Races:
TTT, Muncie Endurathon, IMMoo

trackie clm

Jul 16, 08 8:20

Post #15 of 22 (464 views)

Re: first IM, how many century rides prior? [jojo] [In reply to]	Can't Post

I like the bike/run/bike/run/bike/run workout as a change of pace from a long ride.

clm

http://ironclm.typepad.com

jeanneroth

Jul 16, 08 11:03

Post #16 of 22 (433 views)

Re: first IM, how many century rides prior? [NamssoB] [In reply to]	Can't Post

In Reply To

Remember to run off these long rides, even if its only 30 minutes or so.

But be careful of that advice if you start to do what I did - "Oh - 30 minutes is enough". SO all my t-runs ended up being 30-minutes. Bad news. My first IM ride was fantastic and easy, my run started to fall apart - at exactly - 30 minutes, and was completely gone after about an hour.

I never ran longer than 30-45 minutes off the long bike ride and I was fine in my races. It sounds more like your race was a "nutritional bonk" than due to lack of proper training.
You still have to get in your long runs in training. I like to do them the day after the long bike ride.
--------------------
Jeanne Roth
Team Timex 2007/2008
http://jeannejeannie.blogspot.com/

jeanneroth

Jul 16, 08 11:06

Post #17 of 22 (431 views)

Re: first IM, how many century rides prior? [squesen] [In reply to]	Can't Post

The lady bits are going to be sore from being in 1 position all that time. I highly recommend Tylenol and chamois butter. Get up every 15 minutes and pedal to keep blood flowing to the crotch and feet.
--------------------
Jeanne Roth
Team Timex 2007/2008
http://jeannejeannie.blogspot.com/

NamssoB

Jul 16, 08 12:48

Post #18 of 22 (415 views)

Re: first IM, how many century rides prior? [jeanneroth] [In reply to]	Can't Post

In Reply To

In Reply To

Remember to run off these long rides, even if its only 30 minutes or so.

But be careful of that advice if you start to do what I did - "Oh - 30 minutes is enough". SO all my t-runs ended up being 30-minutes. Bad news. My first IM ride was fantastic and easy, my run started to fall apart - at exactly - 30 minutes, and was completely gone after about an hour.

I never ran longer than 30-45 minutes off the long bike ride and I was fine in my races. It sounds more like your race was a "nutritional bonk" than due to lack of proper training.
You still have to get in your long runs in training. I like to do them the day after the long bike ride.

Definitely NOT a nutritional bonk - I had energy out the wazoo, felt high as a kite, and wanted to run hard. The problem was muscular endurance in my legs. I lost all power and strength in them, as if I just never put in enough running miles after a long ride. But I agree that a nutritional problem can contribute to that. My schedule was long ride + t-run on Saturday, then long run on Sunday.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2009 Races:
TTT, Muncie Endurathon, IMMoo

jeanneroth

Jul 16, 08 17:55

Post #19 of 22 (391 views)

Re: first IM, how many century rides prior? [NamssoB] [In reply to]	Can't Post

Sorry to hear that...BUT its good that you figured out how to train for your body. Now you know that you need to do a max run of about 2 hours after a long ride to get some legs under you.

I always run out of energy and the legs are fine...seems we are opposites!
--------------------
Jeanne Roth
Team Timex 2007/2008
http://jeannejeannie.blogspot.com/

surfnrun

Jul 16, 08 23:39

Post #20 of 22 (371 views)

Re: first IM, how many century rides prior? [jeanneroth] [In reply to]	Can't Post

Lots of different views on the long ride Saturday followed by long run Sunday strategy. One the one hand, it tends to work with most peoples schedules. Some coaches encourage it because, theoretically, trains you to run long on tired legs. Other programs suggest you do the long run mid week so you are, presumably, fresher. Wonder what most do...?

squesen

Jul 17, 08 10:06

Post #21 of 22 (327 views)

Re: first IM, how many century rides prior? [surfnrun] [In reply to]	Can't Post

I tend to do long ride + long run on weekends. I mix up the order. But I am slow as molasses so my advice is probably not the best. Also, I go to Masters swim on weekends. Fun stuff.

I was reading the bike/run/bike/run/bike ... yowza. I'd need to find someone else to do that with me since I am pretty sure I'd talk myself out of it after the second run. The problem with being on my back porch/personal transition area is that it is just one step away from the air conditioned living room.

trackie clm

Jul 17, 08 12:17

Post #22 of 22 (315 views)

Re: first IM, how many century rides prior? [squesen] [In reply to]	Can't Post

>>The problem with being on my back porch/personal transition area is that it is just one step away from the air conditioned living room.<<

I never did it from my house (but then, I live in San Francisco and that would be a major pain). I drove out to one of my favorite riding areas and then did it from there. The truck was parked in a park, so there were bathrooms and water available for transitions.

clm

http://ironclm.typepad.com