I believe so. Similar to you, in preparing for past long course races, I would do 112 mile rides heading into race day. Eventually, I trimmed that back to 100 and this season, I am probably only going to go over 80 one time.

I think I get a better workout/training/recovery from going 80 miles above (or well above) race power than I would from doing the 112 at race power.

I feel like I am trying to increase my CTL by using frequency and intensity instead of duration. Based on testing, I am at least as fit for it.

Time will tell.

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I think you'd be ok. My rides were 80 tops and even that felt like overkill.
same like running 26 for marathon prep... never done it.

I think if you have been cycling for years long rides 60 - 80 miles (pushing it) works well. If you are new to cycling you need those long rides for the mental aspect. You also need to take the course into consideration. I raced Ironman Canada last year and the long grinds took their toll on me. I should have rode some 100 mile rides in the mountains with some long steep grades. But for a course like Ironman Florida it is mostly muscle memory and mental control.

Did several IM's with long ride noo longer than 90k and long run no longer than 21k. Just set your expectations for a slightly sllower bike (maybe 5 min) and slightly slower run (maybe 10-15 min). For IM Texas this spring my longest distance in Every sport was 2 weeks before at St. Croix. Before St. Croix I had one 90k ride at Galveston. Before Galveston, my long ride was 70 min on the trainer. I did have a long XC ski of 2.5 to 3.5 hours every weekend, and generally every weekend all winter was 6-8 hrs of training over Sat and Sun split over multiple skis and multiple runs. My feeling is the aggregate volume over frequency is more important. My time at IM Texas was not great, not bad (for me). 10:38 for 17th in 45-49.

I agree most of the long training is a big waste of time unless you want to KQ. I feel off solid half IM prep, you can be within 20 min of your perfect race.

In prep for IMTX this year, my longest ride was 100, which I did once. Most of my longer rides were in the 75-85 mile range, which I pushed pretty hard. I had a decent bike at Texas, and I don't feel as though it affected my run too much.

I think that if you push those rides, you'll be able to get through the ride OK. 60 seems kind of low, but I guess experience plays a hand here.

Yup my long was 72 for IMCA Whistler. Felt just fine. But like others said depends on training background.

I usually never ride for more than 4 hours. I ride harder, not longer. My IM bike splits are usually in the 5:10-5:20 range and I feel strong to the finish.

There are a lot of, "it depends" with these sorts of posts.

The other big thing is with training, many seem to want it to be all this or all that - but it's never that way!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

One thing to consider is holding position over 4.5 - 6 hours on flat courses. Fitness may be relatively equal, but acquiring good 112 mile mechanics may require some longer saddle time. Holding your %FTP at mile 100 does not work too well if you can't stay aero because your back is killing you.

I'm curious to hear some examples of harder, more taxing 60-80 milers versus the 100 mile plodding. I've switched to 50 mile hammer fests for 70.3s and it's been my best year ever. What I'm wondering is what it would take to do a fairly flat (IMTX) full training wise. I'm short on time and only do 11-12 hours S/B/R now to race HIMs.

See my post above. It can be done (I did it for IM Texas). I only had 2 rides of 56 miles (Galveston and St. Croix). In my case I have years of base and consistent moderate volume training all year every year. I did 3 IM's this year, and they were all 181-182W average power. The first IM was off short training only. The second IM, I had a weekly 3-4 hour ride and two rides of 6 hours. Those extra 6 hour rides made zero difference. My 4 hours rides are 2500 kilojoule, 3 hour ride close to 2000 and race day is 3400-3500 kilojoule, so you can see that the total work on the shorter rides are not bad and TSS is always a fair way towards an IM split TSS...much more than half the race day TSS. Race day feels like the easiest ride all year (which it should be since I don't run a marathon after training rides).

3 Hours @ 90%+ FTP.

4 hours @ 80%+ FTP

One of my favorites:
10-30' progressive EZ at the beginning, and then repeat: 20' @ 85% FTP + 10' @ 75% FTP until you need to stop.

I do something like this, and just up the times til I hit 4 hours and when I get fitter:
30min easy
30min as 30s fast surge, 2min easy (simulate early passing in races)
30min steady
30 min build
30 min HARD TT bigger gear, lower cadence
15min easy

A 5 hour ride seems easier than a lot of these substitutes.

I can't remember which pro it was, but I think it was a female. Anyway, in the article it said training for her first Ironman, which she would end up winning, her coach didn't have do any runs over 10 miles or rides over 60 because he was afraid she'd get injured since she as really new to full distance.

Sure, do three of them a week plus some more riding.

Race according to your fitness.

jaretj

3-4x [30' @ 70-75% of FTP, 30' @ 80-85% of FTP]

A couple of weeks ago I did a 30' warm up followed by 2x25' (10') @ FTP. Then 30' Easy followed by 2 hours at IM power.

I have 10 years of endurance racing under my belt, and have completed 8 IMs to date. Last year, pulled off (barely) IM Tahoe with no outside riding, and my longest rides being three 4-4 1/2 hour rides on my trainer while watching movies. No intervals...just sitting and spinning occasionally standing and spinning for a harder effort for a couple of minutes now and then. It's doable.

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I just finished IM Louisville off of 12 hours a week. My long rides were 4 to 4.5 hours, with about half the time at half iron effort. This ended up being about 76 miles or so. I won't lie, I went into Lou a little nervous, but I can honestly say that my IM Lou ride was so much easier than ALL of my training rides. I probably rode a bit too easy. I'm not fast by any means, I rode 6:14, but had a super great day and my goal was to finish before sunset to have dinner with my family.....and that was nice! I have zero interest in KQ. For my first IM in 2012 I did the long rides of 6 hours and can tell you I was much more fit this year. I also knocked 2.5 hours off my time.

There is no shortcut, so if you substitute with shorter it better be harder.

One substitute I use, is 45 min warmup slightly above IM pace, then I get to this loop that is around 1:10-1:15 TT depending on wind and fitness at 97-98% FTP (I only say that, because there are some downhills that bring the average down, but goal is to go at 100%), recover for 15 min, and then try to ride the last 45 min home at around half IM intensity, but can obviously never hit that number. I find that breaking the ride up into distinct segments with target paces makes it more fun than a monotonous single pace ride. In the end, we have to have some fun too!

No one asked the most important question.

What do you mean by adequate?

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Brian Stover USAT LII
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Dev,

A big thank you to you for some of your older posts and race reports. I read some of those prior to my IM Lou build when I was really not feeling the 6 hour rides. So I tried the harder 4 to 4.5 rides like you talked about and it worked like a champ. My IM Lou ride was easy by comparison and I had a GREAT day! I'm not fast by any means, but my goal with 5 kids, wife, job might be different from others. So, thanks for the tips! I thought I was done with IM, but the 4 to 4.5 rides are doable, repeatable and also much more fun, which is why I got into this sport in the first place!

I'm curious as to why everyone thinks a 100 mile / 5 hour ride needs to be "plodding."

I did two laps of no the Racine course this year....first one was at HIM power and second was at IM power. Hardly plodding and I was knackered at the end.

Dev makes the most relevant point, IMO. If you have the years of accumulated fitness / training, 100 mile rides probably aren't necessary. For me, I certainly did not *need* to do any 5+ hour rides this year....but I was looking to offset some loss of running volume due to a calf strain.

That said, the longer days on the bike are good to simulate just longer days, in general.

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"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

If you're plodding a "100 miler" you're doing it wrong.