Maybe I should be lifting a little more?

You're 10 weeks out from your first Ironman and you want to lift more weights to strengthen your legs?

That was supposed to be in pink, right?

Struggling how? Are you not hitting the speeds you're hoping for, or just struggling to make it to the end of ride? What type of weekly mileage are you currently doing (and how many rides a week)? Are you using power? What is your swim and run yardage/mileage per week? 10 weeks is still a lot of time to get better on the bike

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Matt

Guessing you are already a strong runner (based on your screen name). Limited experience in training for 140.6, but I would run less and ride more.

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/kj

http://kjmcawesome.tumblr.com/

the short answer is likely "ride your bike more", but you need to tell us what you are currently doing on the bike....weekly volume, structure, etc. Also, define "struggling"....failing to meet power goals (based on what?), just tired at the end, etc.

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

What is your current volume for all three disciplines? What do you mean by "struggle". What sort of bike workouts are you doing? Need a little more detail before anyone can answer in a meaningful way.

Currently I'm swimming about 12k per week, cycling about 180 miles per week and running about 40. I know little about cycling and I have been getting 1 long run in a week (80miles) which I'll be increasing, a tempo ride for 20-30 minutes, intervals such as 10X5mins 10x2minutes. I'm not using any power either. I'm basing effort on how I would feel and the stress for comparable workouts on the run.

By struggling, I guess I mean the fitness doesn't compare to my swimming and running abilities. It really shows in races. Its almost as if I get a little lazy and unfocused on the bike.

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USAT Level II- Ironman U Certified Coach

Welcome to the team. I have yet to figure out the bike. :)

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

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Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

So your power drops off toward the end? Is that it? Yeah you need to ride more. More or longer short rides during the week, and keep extending your long ride. With the race so close you gotta think about a taper. You don't have much time to improve. I'm sure you know this. It might be a good idea to back off the power on the bike a bit in the race.

How's your bike fit? Any neck or shoulder pain after a long ride? That too can affect the bike.

A lot of triathlete with a running background have this problem:

They feel that they are trying really hard on the bike (because their legs hurt) but that their bodies are refusing to respond to the activity. This leads to the belief that ones legs are "too weak."
Which leads to the gym, which leads to huge man boobs and to even slower times.


The solution to this problem is to get a power meter, heart rate monitor (or both). The goal is to increase power. Ones heart rate should be as high during cycling intervals as it is during running.
It hurts in a different way than running.

Seems you can meet the same needs for bike training, but do not have to have a power meter. I am starting to understand it has to hurt. :(

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

When I first started cycling I thought I was "riding hard." When I bought a heart rate monitor, I learnt that I was wrong. I hadn't been riding hard at all. It just felt hard.

Yep. Shortcut for beginner riders for learning how to ride: climb. Hit the hills and you'll either learn how to tell your legs to shut up (don't listen to them, listen to the HRM or powermeter) or you'll go backwards.

Love this! I recently moved to a hillier area and realized I need to get a new cassette to be able to pace power appropriately. Go find sustained climbs and you will understand hard on the bike. Most hills in my new area require 125-150% FTP to keep from going backwards. It's impossible not to get a couple good intervals in per ride if you search out the hills.

Yep, that is what I used to do. 60 mile, 5000 feet of climbing, once a week on Sunday mornings. I am trying to talk myself back into doing these. For me, I do believe,
I cannot work that hard on the trainer.

Whether it is the bike or run, find those hills :(

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

IM Louisville was my first IM as well and I learned the hard way that I hadn't been riding enough either. A power meter helps significantly so you know if you are going too hard or too easy for your ability level. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but now doesn't seem to be the time to be doing 2' and 5' hard intervals. Better to add more mileage as others have said. But be careful as it might be too late to add too much or you might toast your legs before race day. For what it's worth, for my subsequent IMs I did two longer sweet spot interval days (90-95%) during the week, like 2x20 or 3x20. Then back to back long rides on the weekend (3 hours on Sat, 4 hours on Sun, mostly climbing, staying btw 70-80%). Then make sure you get a race rehearsal in there about 4-5 wks before your race (6 hours ~or~ 100 miles on the bike, followed by a 6 mile run). That still probably wasn't enough riding, but that's all the time I had. Nevertheless, that routine seriously improved my bike split for subsequent IMs. Good luck!

that's a lot of swimming..

personally, i think you should try to get a few back to back centuries. i think i did 5 in a row last year and i couldn't believe how much it helped with my cycling endurance.... ymmv.

john

What times are you aiming for?
In all three disciplines
Because "weak" is relative.

It's not really about power, it's about applying it for several hours.
Big difference. Advice is usually given relatives to each persons ability.

You have two problems, you don't ride often enough (you need more frequency) and you don't ride hard enough for long enough (you need more intensity that is of a longer duration, like 15 - 30 minute intervals). Lucky for you, you can actually achieve a lot on the bike in 10 weeks, particularly if you don't have much of a cycling background.

My advice would be to up your riding to 4 rides a week. 3 with intervals focused on your ftp development (if you don't have heart rate or power and are using RPE, find a climb or segment of road that takes about 20 minutes and go up/along it at about 90% effort a couple of times). On the long ride, don't just ride around easy. You need to do longer sections of that ride (i.e. 1 hour at a time) where you ride fairly solid. Then have a short rest, then ride solid for an hour again etc.

I've found over many years that real development on the bike happens when you learn how to really suffer in training, and I mean really suffer. E.g. it's not uncommon for me to split my bottom lip on the in the middle or in the corners of my mouth from grimacing when I'm at the back end of a hard interval session on the trainer.

He has 10 weeks, nearly 2.5 months. He has PLENTY of time to improve.

Start logging more miles...ideally I would find a fast group ride(s) that is challenging for you to hang on to. Hit it regularly, suffer and you will get better relatively quickly.

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

I agree I could be putting a little more time in on the bike. I will definitely shoot for longer intervals and some more hill repeats.

Interesting enough, I was rained out of my ride yesterday and I threw my bike on the trainer and I could feel the suffer. I might have to do intervals on the trainer once, maybe even twice, a week. I think it will help with consistency

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USAT Level II- Ironman U Certified Coach

Focused trainer work is some of the best time spent. Get yourself an account on TrainerRoad and start learning how to ride with power using their virtual power feature.

He has 7-8 good solid weeks to train before he has to taper..... Thats potentially 1500+ miles of riding

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Colorado Triathlon Company, CO2UT 2021, Crooked Gravel 2022, Steamboat Gravel 2022

I am inclined to say you are over training. I have been in the sport a long time and that amount of running and swimming would kill my bike too! How many hours a week does 12k/180/40 equate to?

You volume is pretty descent.

I'd 1st work on pacing? I suspect your going out closer to tempo on long rides, then power trains off, but the damage is done. that's normal if using RPE.

Since you don;t have a power meter, HR is the next closest thing, but it will start ot drift upward at the same power output during the ride, more if it's hot outside, so it can be hard ot use. It also reads really high after T1 in a race. Speed is hard ot use as wind and terrain changes. If I used speed on a "flat" course like Steelhead, I'd vary from 50% to 150% throughout the race and blowup and that without including the bigger hills. Breathing rate isn't bad, but it too will increase later in the bike ride.

As a example, I did 2 5 hour rides each of the last weekends. Ride #1, I pace very evenly and actually did negative splits by power, riding 5% higher the 2nd 1/2 than the first half. I felt great.. Ride #2, I had forgotten my shoes at the meeting point, drove how and decided for fun to ride hard for 1 hour to catch up with my riding partner who was riding with a slower group in the meantime. I rode about 83% average that period. I then felt OK for the next 1-1/2 hours, rode hard for another hour, but the last 30 minutes, I fell apart. Average power overall was lower on this ride. Nutrition was the same.

Nutrition? You sure your eating enough. Lack of nutrition feels, in my experience, almost the same as leg fatigue or just blowing up (lack of metabolic capacity for that duration)

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