I've studied previous posts on this matter enough to be dangerous...to myself. I'm a descent Olympic distance competitor...but the longer stuff for me is base training stuff, doubt I will ever be competitive. I know my best cadence and HR for Olympic Distance events but am unable to find them for an IM event. What I think I am experiencing is that I move faster at the target heart rate with a lower cadence...at least for the first three hours of the ride. Should I up the cadence and let the HR get a little higher than I think I can maintain over 112? Or except a decrease in speed early on thinking it will pay off later? Or let the cadence stay at what seems to me to be slow.....Help...in simple terms, please?
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Re: Cadence for IM [Gopre]
[ In reply to ]
IMO everyone has their own "best" or optimal cadence. If yoou keep detailed records of your workouts a pattern will emerge. I have my best bike performances at 88 rpm but that is a little slow for a good run after so then I go to about 92 rpm which seems fine for me. Eeryone is different.
The key thing at Ironman length is to save your legs. Ride conservatively and save your legs. Maybe heart rate is the more significant factor, trying to keep your HR low so you know you have something "in the bank" when you get off the bike.
That's my .02 cents but remember, I've never done a sub-10 hour Ironman.
Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com
The key thing at Ironman length is to save your legs. Ride conservatively and save your legs. Maybe heart rate is the more significant factor, trying to keep your HR low so you know you have something "in the bank" when you get off the bike.
That's my .02 cents but remember, I've never done a sub-10 hour Ironman.
Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com
Quote:
What I think I am experiencing is that I move faster at the target heart rate with a lower cadence...at least for the first three hours of the ride.That's what most people experience. I've played around with cadence enough to know just about exactly what cadence will give me the lowest HR at a given power output. A cadence of 70 will ALWAYS give me a lower HR at a given power than a cadence of 85-90.
But, like Demerly said, it's not so simple as that. Some people find that, while a lower cadence keeps HR low, and slightly higher one holds off leg fatigue better. Try things and keep training logs. Especially keep logs of how your legs feel after long rides.
In my case, the 70 cadence gives me a low HR, but my legs fall off after 15 minutes. At the same power, I can go on and on if I keep cadence at 85-90.
You have to experiment and find your own sweet spot.