Yes, you should be doing intervals.
There are many ways to do them.
Here's one of my favorites:
After a warmup, 10 1 mile intervals, maximum effort, with 1 mile easy spin in between, cooldown.
These work for me and are suited to the kind of racing I do.
There are lots of other variations in speed, reps, distance, rest, etc.

What kind of race are you preparing for?

As above, what race distance? Flesh out what you're thinking, so we can give you a better idea.

And what are these "moderate" intensities you speak of? I know of two bike gears. Suffer and beach cruiser. :D

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The question of who is right and who is wrong has seemed to me always too small to be worth a moment's thought, while the question of what is right and what is wrong has seemed all-important.

-Albert J. Nock

I'm training for an HIM. I do 3 bike workouts per week. One is about 90 mins, and I do short/hard intervals for that workout. One is a long ride of about 3 hours, which I don't ride slow but I don't necessarily do hard intervals.

Then I have this 2 hour ride. I would hard intervals for 2 hours, but I'm thinking that this workout should be longer intervals or something. Like 20 min intervals with 20 min recovery? Or longer intervals/less recovery?

It's not the effort...it's the different duration of the effort/recovery that I'm trying to figure out.

Thanks for the help...

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Chris Harris

What are you trying to address? If its threshold, 20min intervals would be suitable reducing your rest as you adapt without the need to increase the intensity or duration. If its VO2 max, it would not be suitable to use efforts that long. You could also use it a a rolling hills workout, aiming to move pace on the hills by moving into PZ 4 and Z2-3 on the flats. It would be productive to have race efforts and sometimes work at HIM race pace in the 2nd half of the long bike in the final 8 weeks if you are developed enough to be able to do that.

"What am I trying to address" is a good question. Just to be faster on the bike probably isn't the right answer, ha. I'd rather focus on threshold than VO2. Thanks for the help.

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Chris Harris

If you just want a suggestion to make a long ride less boring then alternate between 30 min near your IM pace then 20 min at HIM pace.

That breaks up the boredom for me sometimes and makes me go a little harder on the longer ride.

jaretj

Intervals are the way to go, but I need a little more info about you, your training, you goals, etc to put together the right intervals or you will end up injured.

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Greg C. Moriates
Owner/Coach
GCMendurance.com

As far as my training goes I don't use a heart rate monitor or a power meter at the moment. I have a heart rate monitor but I find that I can actually go harder without using it for my intervals. I know that a power meter would help, but I've yet to purchase one. I generally do 3 rides a week - a 90 minute ride, a 2 hour ride, and a 3+ hour ride. I do a 20 minute (or so) brick after the 2 hour ride, and sometimes a I run a little after the 3 hour ride, too. For the 90 minute ride I usually do a 15 minute warm-up/cool-down and intervals of 5 hard/5 recovery. The 3 hour ride is either at HIM pace w/ hills thrown in. The 2 hour ride's interval duration/recovery is what I'm trying to nail down.

I currently average about 20 mph in training. Sometimes a little less if there are a lot of hills or wind, sometimes more if I feel really good.

I'd like to get to the point where I can race in the 22-23 mph area. I can do that pace if the course was flat, but false flats/long hills bring my pace down. I'm thinking my ability to hold a harder pace over a longer duration is limiting me.

Thanks again everyone for your help.

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Chris Harris

I'm no expert but it seems like you would benfit from hill repeats.

Thing is, riding at HIM pace is just a little too easy, and IM pace is pretty much a waste of time unless it is a recovery ride or you are riding a whole bunch of miles, which you aren.t.

Try doing 30' easy, 2x30' (5' easy) @ a touch harder than your HIM pace, 10' easy, 3x8' (3') hard (Oly pace) and then the rest @ HIM pace for your next 3 hour ride.

For the 2 hour ride, 20' easy, 30' HIM+ pace, 10' easy, 2x15' (3') ~Oly pace.

If you live in a hilly area, you could also just gun the hills in place of the Oly paced stuff at the end of the ride and ride @HIM pace between.

KDW has it pretty well on. And dont' worry about your HRM, it's more likely misleading you than helping.

Whatever you do, make sure you're fried when you get home from your rides and the rest of the details will figure themselves out.

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The question of who is right and who is wrong has seemed to me always too small to be worth a moment's thought, while the question of what is right and what is wrong has seemed all-important.

-Albert J. Nock

Your workouts sound spot on. However, you really need something to gauge your efforts on (i.e at least an HR monitor).

The problem with PE as a measure of intensity is that a lot of times you are going to hard on easy days or to easy on hard days.

As you know, tri's are mostly aerobic. If you are looking to get the pace up, instead of doing 5x5s I would increase that from 3x10min than 3x15 than 2x20 than 3x20. All at threshold zone but not above threshold.

Bricks are key at it looks like you have them in. On your 3 hr days, hammer the last 30 minutes and then run off the bike.

Enjoy and remember to take your recovery days and weeks.

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Greg C. Moriates
Owner/Coach
GCMendurance.com

Specific interval bike workouts are great, if you have the time.

In my case, I do not. So my Key bike workout is geared towards the distance of the races ahead. Basically it is a threshold ride, that keeps extending out in distance, week by week.

Today was such. 55 miles with 3600 feet of climbing in 2:49:38 at an average of 136 HR. Above threshold for the long climbs. Because of the nature of this course, intervals are built in. As long as you keep the effort up there from start to finish. After the bike, 2 miles run at 7:40 pace/135 HR. Good that it felt easy. My projected HIM run pace should be around 7:48.

All other rides that I can squeeze in are recovery effort with the exception of tomorrows 10 mile warm-up TT ride before an 11 mile tempo run at HIM pace.

IF I do a Full IM in November, will push that threshold ride out to around 80.