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Base 1 training
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I'm just starting my Base 1 training after not running or riding for about a month now and swimming just 2 easy sessions/wk. My month off was really what I am calling my prep season (light gym work and swimming 2x week, also started a Pilates program last week). My question is bike training specific and Base 1 relative.

How much low cadence/big gear work and high cadence/spinning work do you guys do in a typical 4 wk period? Also how long are your long bike sessions? I plan on doing 1 long ride/wk but I am not sure how to mix up the other 3-4 rides during the week.

What's your plan look like?


put the mettle to the pedal
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Re: Base 1 training [Lone Racer] [ In reply to ]
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Look in Friel's Triathlete's Training Bible. He has a chart of daily hours based on weekly hours with a time for the longest ride.

Depending on what distance your A races are, you may do better to focus on "events" in your training week rather than hours. Check out the forum on www.trainingbible.com. Do a search of old posts. There is a good set of messages that discuss critical exercises for 1/2 and full IM training. For example, for 1/2 IM training I attempt to complete as many of the following as possible:
2k - 2.5k continuous swim
65 mile bike or 4.5 - 6 hours
2 - 2.5 hour run
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Re: Base 1 training [Lone Racer] [ In reply to ]
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Depends... How many base weeks are you planning? What distance are you training for? A solid program should have between 12-16 weeks. Most of this is done at low to Mid Heart Rate. Some even at you HR cap without going above. The idea is to teach your body how to use fat as fuel and develope your aerobic system. As for cadence, you're probably going to want to mix it up. I did a fair amount of higher cadence interval sets during my base. But the focus for really on keeping my HR under control. Not to go anaerobic. Eventually, after about 6 weeks, you should notice that you are able to hold a steady pace and go much faster at your lower HR. My coach has me on 4 weeks blocks with the 4th week being a recovery week. So for base, I did 4 periods. My base weeks included 3 bike sessions during the week between 60-75 minutes, then one long session during the weekend between 2-2.5 hours.
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Re: Base 1 training [Graz] [ In reply to ]
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I have 2 A races - both 1/2IM. First A is in mid July and othe is late August. My Base program runs 16wks starting with a 80/20 mix of Z1/Z2 and changing the ratio to 60/40 by the end of Base, ATP is on a 4wk periodization. This is my 3rd year of training.

A long ride for me in B1 would be 2hrs. - it's cold enough now that I will be indoors 'till April and more than 2 hrs on the trainer is a long time, even with a blow up those "bad ass" girls from another thread ;)

This is week 1 of B1 and my bike work looks like this. Monday - :60 , Wed - :60 , Sun - 1:45 , all easy spinning - just to get the legs used to moving. Next week I intend to do some work. Next week is only 3 bike sessions as well - I'm thinking 1 high cad-spin, 1 big gear, 1 long with a few spin-ups into high Z2 low Z3.

Last year for B1 and half of B2 I remained mostly in Z1/Z2 - a lot of junk miles. My results were good, in that I could ride forever at a respectable pace. Couldn't climb worth a damn, but I recovered well. This year I am looking for a quantum leap in performance(overall speed and climbing ability).


put the mettle to the pedal
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Re: Base 1 training [Lone Racer] [ In reply to ]
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While I don't have a copy of your schedule, that sounds about right. You should slowely progress. Not necessarily in total duration, but in training intensity and the amount of quality work you are doing. For example, after about week 6, I would think that your program might incorporate more training at your HR cap. Still between 60 and 75 minutes, but at a higher HR..not going anaerobic. My coach is a believer in being able to run strong off the bike so the focus was obviously on building my bike/run. My swimming was only M,W and F. Between 2500-3000 yards each session. It remained 3x/week through the season. I did not swim more than that.
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