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Going into T2: Level of Fatique
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I am new to the sport, having only competed 1 event, however, I have been regularly training in all 3 disciplines since starting. Still way off from being any good but trying. LOL My question is when you come into T2, what level of fatigue should you be in? I know its hard, probably, to put into words but what should your legs "feel" like.

Also, do you monitor your watts while riding and shoot for a % of your FTP? Just trying to set up some kind of gameplan to not fail on my upcoming Olympic distance.
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Re: Going into T2: Level of Fatique [Streetsnake] [ In reply to ]
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Somewhere between "fresh" and "shattered," depending upon the distance and what your objectives are.

Maybe doesn't tell you much, but maybe it does! For an olympic, you could ride into T2 in pretty rough shape and fake your way through a respectable 10k. Not so much in HIM or IM :)

Eliot
blog thing - strava thing
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Re: Going into T2: Level of Fatique [Streetsnake] [ In reply to ]
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IMO, as a beginner, you should want to feel a bit beat up but nothing close to shattered but that depends on how much you swim, bike and run. An oly is still an endurance event but for those going for the podium, they will want to feel almost shattered but have trained enough (which is A LOT, more than most think) to still run a fast 10k.

808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo
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Re: Going into T2: Level of Fatique [Streetsnake] [ In reply to ]
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For an Olympic I try and hit T2 with a .90 IF or a bit higher. The run is going to be hard but not too far off an open 10K, maybe 2-3 minutes max (I haven't run an open 10K in years). .90 IF is pretty hard to hit, in my opinion. I think I have only done it twice, a few others were .89. Some studs can hit .95 and still run an optimal 10K.

If I want to hit.90 I feel I need to shoot for .95 or higher to make for the drop off that will occur on turns and in and out of the T zone.

If you know your IF from you last Oly I would look to try and increase by .01 or .02 vs. trying to hit the.90 IF if you are in the low to mid .80.
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Re: Going into T2: Level of Fatique [Stelvio] [ In reply to ]
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Stelvio wrote:
For an Olympic I try and hit T2 with a .90 IF or a bit higher. The run is going to be hard but not too far off an open 10K, maybe 2-3 minutes max (I haven't run an open 10K in years). .90 IF is pretty hard to hit, in my opinion. I think I have only done it twice, a few others were .89. Some studs can hit .95 and still run an optimal 10K.

If I want to hit.90 I feel I need to shoot for .95 or higher to make for the drop off that will occur on turns and in and out of the T zone.

If you know your IF from you last Oly I would look to try and increase by .01 or .02 vs. trying to hit the.90 IF if you are in the low to mid .80.

Thanks. I usually use my fenix 3 in races and an Edge 1000 on regular rides. I can what NP as well as other stuff on the watch. Should I look at past rides, look at the NP as well as the IF and make a good guess at what my NP should be at the end of the ride. Looks like the closest I hit was .86 on IF.
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Re: Going into T2: Level of Fatique [Streetsnake] [ In reply to ]
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Streetsnake wrote:
Stelvio wrote:
For an Olympic I try and hit T2 with a .90 IF or a bit higher. The run is going to be hard but not too far off an open 10K, maybe 2-3 minutes max (I haven't run an open 10K in years). .90 IF is pretty hard to hit, in my opinion. I think I have only done it twice, a few others were .89. Some studs can hit .95 and still run an optimal 10K.

If I want to hit.90 I feel I need to shoot for .95 or higher to make for the drop off that will occur on turns and in and out of the T zone.

If you know your IF from you last Oly I would look to try and increase by .01 or .02 vs. trying to hit the.90 IF if you are in the low to mid .80.


Thanks. I usually use my fenix 3 in races and an Edge 1000 on regular rides. I can what NP as well as other stuff on the watch. Should I look at past rides, look at the NP as well as the IF and make a good guess at what my NP should be at the end of the ride. Looks like the closest I hit was .86 on IF.

Assuming you have a power meter and accurate and current FTP, you have all the data you need and 0.90IF is a strong target for an Olympic distance all things being equal. If your running is a little weaker than your ride, or conversely, much stronger, you may want to back off the run to finish strong/blast through the pack, depending on your run level.

For training, I'd make sure each week you are doing some threshold work on the bike to make sure your body can clear the lactate you'll be producing at 0.90. In my training plan (for ironman, not olympic) these workouts at the beginning of a build are 4X10min at 100%FTP, 3 min recovery at 65% FTP. Later on these go to 4X15min FTP and that gets brutal but the work has really helped me when I need to dig deep for whatever reason on a certain part of a bike course.

The nice thing about Olympic distance is what is stopping you from trying it out in training? Go hard for 40km and run, see how you feel, then look at the numbers, and work from there.
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Re: Going into T2: Level of Fatique [Stelvio] [ In reply to ]
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For me a quarter is also around .9 IF. However, most of the time I will ride by RPE and make sure never to overdo it. Only when overtaking others, it sometimes is necessary to turn it up a bit to ensure competitors cannot stay with me, this typically happens towards the second half of the bike when I start overtaking the strong swimmers that also have good bike-speed, so if you need to use this tactic, plan for it and save your legs a bit during the first half and also know where to put the hammer down for a short period (wind/road conditions, turns etc)!
Most importantly regarding T2 is that I will typically back-off a little in the last km before T2 (this will cost maybe 5-10secs, even less with a back wind) however you will arrive in transition with a lower HR and can better execute your shoe-change. in the final km I will also take a gel and then after that get out of my bike-shoes.
This way, I can start the run as if it's a fresh run, with a very good warm-up (later on it will obviously become more difficult for everyone however then placement is typically fixed anyway, it doesn't often happen that someone will make up a lot of ground in the final 5k and if he does, I wouldn't have been able to follow anyway)
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Re: Going into T2: Level of Fatique [Kempenaer] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for the thoughts and advice. I ride zwift about 1/2 the time so I can do various workouts, like you’re referring to. I’ll have to do a few tests and see how they feel.
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