So ultimately I had my best days before I had a power meter and I never wore a heart rate monitor. I actually hated bricks and never trained for them. But I also would only stick to a half Ironman Olympic and sprint. This yielded some 1:50 ish Olympic and some descent half im's
So, knowing what I know now, having a descent and efficient ftp, can also help with running hard off the bike. But a bike fit can also make or break your run off the bike.
The more fitness the better, but you must train like you want to race. You can't wish it. If you want to ride at or above 25mph for an Olympic or half then you need to be efficient and relaxed at hard efforts. And this needs to be implemented in training.
Speed work on the run too is very helpful.
Yes I agree with the %ftp you mentioned for race distances. Strength in the gym, and strength on the bike and hill repeats on the run can have a major impact in your training without killing yourself in vo2 world. Age and goals and current fitness are all things that need to be considered. Riding and racing with cyclists has helped many improve as you don't get the recovery like you do with typical time based workouts.
It's a bit of genetics and also I never put in lots of miles, I never really felt over trained and I listened to the body to make sure I could go hard.
Bottom line is train a bit harder than you want to race. Not every day. But when you do, make it count
Cry in the dojo. Laugh on the battlefield.

Watts up!!
J Hallberg

personally I think choosing a % FTP is a ass backward way of doing it.

Since you have a power meter just look at what you're doing in training and base your race off that, not some number in some range that most people seem to run well off of.

For instance I have a person who has ridden consistently between 88-94% FTP and run well. And by well I mean fast enough to have won their age group at more than one 70.3. They also won their age group at an IM but I digress and I don't remember their % FTP.

There are so many variables that go into choosing the appropriate target to race a LC race at that choosing a % of FTP is not the wisest idea imo. ymmv

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

You need to practice it since it's different for everyone. I suggest after a recovery week try riding 4-5 hrs at 70% FTP then run off the bike for an hour or so. You'll get a sense what's good for you.

My best race came when I thought I was too injured to run. Rode about 15 watts above my expected avg for ironman (NZ 2016) and managed to run an 8min marathon pb.

I do train very aerobic as a rule though and while my top end ftp stuff is lower than a lot of guys i train with, when it comes to a 4hr or 9hr race I seem to be able to keep going longer than them.

So to answer your question I think its a whole picture as to how you train your body to perform and not just what percentage of a 1hr effort you ride.

Great question and thanks for posting.

I've done 7 IM's without racing with a PM. I do train with a PM (used to be Computrainer) and this year I'm focused on IM Copenhagen. I am lucky enough to have access to: Wattbike (at office gym), Tacx Neo (home), Stages (tri bike), and Quarq (on road bike). I'm debating if I should use the PM for the race. All my friends say I should and I'll run better, but in all my other races I've paced fairly well on "feel." My old coach said I probably have a good idea of my IM bike effort/pace given my run performance.

I am training diligently with Power and will have to do some outdoor tests as the training cranks up. Between all the different power meters, the accuracy is a bit all over the place, so I still do workouts within a power and HR range. For example, Tacx Neo/Stages on my Tri bike seems to be 3-5% harder than the Wattbike (eg: 215w on Tacx feels like 230w on Wattbike).

Will have to make a call as I get closer to the race. I might use the PM and stay within a range and not be scared to push a little if I can.

i'll share what made me shift away from looking at a % of FTP.

i had recent races which i entered into best bike split to estimate my CdA.

i then i built a new race sim using the estimated CdA and recent average power number from training or race.

BBS gives you a toggle where you can push watts higher or lower and see the corresponding change in total bike time.

for me ( n = 1 ) the process was eye opening. we often fret over riding 5, 10 or 15 watts above or below a certain number when in the end the resulting delta in bike split time is not necessarily worth the effort or the risk of compromising the run that follows. plus day to day variability of how you feel on race day can affect your performance more than going 5 watts below or above a certain number. even if you follow same taper / race day protocol sometimes you have "it" on the day off and sometimes you don't.

ymmv.

r

I think it is based off both of your points, higher FTP which means, usually, faster rides and also ability to run off the bike after hard efforts. I am unsure of my FTP because my coach doesn't test me but he looks at my training and races then gives me a number range to stay at. Then we play it by ear a bit race to race to see if adjustments are made.

Brian stated above that %FTP is tough because in reality who REALLY knows their FTP? All my training is done fatigued so do I not train for a week then do a 40k TT? Not the best idea. So we use the longer intervals in training for a number then it's up to me to execute and be smart. If you are stuck on any number you have the chance to go to slow or too fast. That's why above I said it took me a few years to get a feel of how hard I could go and run well off the bike. And I am still working on getting things even more dialed in.

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Twitter - Instagram

I get what you are saying and I think we're on the same page. I guess I should have worded my original question like this:

For fast folks who have figured out what bike intensity will yield a strong run for them, have you found that the bike effort you've settled on is inline with the conventional wisdom for a given race distance? Or are the results all over the map?

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Any run that doesn't include pooping in someone's front yard is a win.

Most of the fast guys i know wouldn't have a clue what their ftp is. Maybe there's something in that.

Race with a HR strap and no PM. You will love it. Pretty easy to find your ceiling HR for Z2.