I would guess the body would have no time to recover from the first one, and the other two would damage the body so much the first workout would do nothing, the last one maybe. There is the chance your muscles would be so damaged, you would actually lose fitness, your body would be trying so hard to get you back to the orginal state that it wouldnt have enough to actually improve fitness. Its similar to, are you most fit the week before an ironman, or a week or two after an IM. an IM is such a shock to the body, it spends all of it time repairing and not building. But, all of this depends on your current volume. If you are used to 150+ mi long rides, 3 consecutive centuries might not hurt. Im guessing youll burn out and feel like crap for a while.

We've done something similar during our Ironman buildups. Not a big deal as long as we took care of ourselves by making sure we didn't race the 100miles and we ate and drank plenty during and after the rides. We've always felt stronger afterwards!

I don't see a problem with it if you have a good endurance base and are an experienced athlete. Gordo, Rich Strauss, and others do this kind of thing from time to time to good effect. I know last year Rich and Jon Pedder(both Kona qualifiers) did that much in 2 days last year. It would obviously be important to rest afterwards and to keep the intensity of the sessions down.

I've done back to back centuries w/o too much difficulty. I think given the right circumstances w/ the right athlete, these type of sessions can be beneficial. I don't know about that 3rd day. You might want to plan on something shorter that day.

Let us know how it goes if you try it.

Last year during my Ironman training I rode 110 miles then ran 1 hour. The next day I rode 110 miles again.

I also did a

25 bike 6 run

25-5

25-4 = 75 bike-15 run

These two workouts seemed to really help. I have my program at home so I don't remember the time between these two days or what point in my training I did them.

I know I did not do a build in my Ironman training .The 25-6 25-5 25-4 I think was in the peak phase

These type of workouts are a great time to practice your eating plan

In my training circle and for the ironman athletes that I coach, long slow overdistance weeks are a monthly staple. As long as you have progressed in your training to a point where centuries feel "normal", then I feel the benefit of doing 3-7 days of long rides is enormous. Centuries on consecutive days are more wear and tear on your bum then anything else. That's with the understanding that you have a good base under you and can handle the distance comfortably. There are many factors that can make or break this adventure. They include- nutrition on the bike, pace, and recovery nutrition and sleep. If one of these factors is way out of whack, you can expect some trouble down the rode. I love doing this type of training and feel the mental benefits are just as big and important as the physical.

---

Phil Cutti

I'm always practicing my eating plan.

Some of my best tri seasons were after spring bike tours in Europe including some in the Alpes and Pyranees. Daily 4-9 hours in the saddle loaded with saddle bags, camping gear, sleeping bags etc, averaging barely more than 25 kph, usually closer to 20 kph average, but covering 120-200 km per day for two to three weeks with a few rest days along the way. Kind of like a Tour de France for slow guys. Always came back pretty strong after these tours, not to mention seeing a whole lot more than travelling by train or rental car :-)

Sounds great as long as you keep the speeds (power output) low. If you are on the training bible plans, Zone 2.

The body will not come back stronger if you hammer the entire weekend. It is possible to overdo it, then be out of commission for 2 weeks while your body recovers, then you've lost 2 weeks of training.

That said, I plan something similar for my next training period.

I will let you know in late May. I am doing a ride half way across the country. I will do 100+ miles for 16 days straight. I won't be hammering any part of the way, and I will be having lunch breaks and the like. I think this will be good for my conditioning. I hope I am right.

Good comments everyone. The only thing I've done similar to this in the past was to ride 90-75-75. What I found is that by the third day, it was actually easier than the first day. I think my body was just expecting to go out and ride.

Agree with the low intensity comment, that is the plan.

In the September 2000 issue of Triathlete, Dan “Slowman” Empfield wrote an article titled “Ironman Countdown”. I have used this as a guide for my last three IM distance races and have been happy with the results. However, I had to make some modifications for this “senior” triathlete because: a) I have a job and it seems to interfere with my training, b) my body wouldn’t hold up to what the pros do.

The general gist of the article (maybe Dan would post the article for the group) was that 5 weeks out from four IM you have what could be referred to as a “run hell week”. During this week you really ramp up the run mileage – upwards to 70 miles, very little biking only biking 70 to 100 miles with lots of swimming – upwards of 18,000 meters.

The next week becomes a “bile hell week” with upwards to 450 miles while swimming 6,000 meters and very little running – 15 miles. He suggested doing all the rides in a four-day period back to back. Most of the miles should be low intensity with parts of 1 or 2 of the rides should have some high speed.

After the 2 hell weeks you start your 3-week taper into your race.

I did the “run hell” but only did between 50 and 55 miles of running and limited the swim to about 11,000 yards and biked about 100. During the “bike hell” I did around 350 miles by doing 3 100+ rides and a couple of shorter rides, ran about 26 miles with longest being about 16 miles. Swimming was again about 11,000 yards. I did need to take a couple of vacation days to be able to get the long rides in. I did space the rides out a little to give the body a little relief – I rode Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and then did the long run on Sunday. The rides were all done solo so that also helped with that mental conditioning which is so important.

Once you make it through the 2 weeks of hell, you are ready to taper and will have a hell of boost to your confidence



Rich G.

---

Rich G.
Proud member of the Geritol wave!