get used to riding 200kms

yeah but how do you structure it?

---

Eric Reid AeroFit | Instagram Portfolio
Aerodynamic Retul Bike Fitting

“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

Throughout the week i have 3 longer rides. I recommend at least 2. One specific: ~5h with AP of at least 90% of IM power. Another one with quality: at least 30 mins above threshold and just as much close to but below threshold and a total of 3h. So like 1h easy, 6x6 mins at 101-110% ftp with 4 mins rest, 10-20 min easy, 30 min@85->90% FTP, 10-20 mins easy. The third one for me is just 3h at close to IM pace the day after a tougher run day.

---

Endurance coach | Physiotherapist (primary care) | Bikefitter | Swede

And how do you structure the rest of your life around these?
(pink?)

:)

This year I rode 4:55 in Placid, 4:42 at IMMT, and 4:37 at Louisville. I end up doing a lot of riding indoors. I do both a 4:00 ride, and a 4:30 ride in my build up to an Ironman.

The 4:00 ride is 6x20min at 76-78% of FTP, then 1x60min at 77%.
The 4:30 ride is 6x23min at 76-78% of FTP, then 1x70min at 77%.

I find these workouts are great for me to simulate what I will go through in a race. If I'm not on top of my nutrition throughout I really suffer in the final longer interval. I've done it outside, but I actually feel like I get a better workout on the trainer because I don't have stop signs, or cars, and all my nutrition is right next to me so I don't have to stop for that either. I 'built' this workout in Trainer Road and I created a team so that anyone who wants to give it a go can download it (click HERE).

Outside of the time I'm focusing on an Ironman I do some long rides that have intervals of different lengths. I'll usually string together some different 60-90min Trainer Road rides. I'll also mix in some long, easy rides just to get more saddle time, based on the other work I've done throughout the week. I think it's important to really push some of your long rides, but I don't think you need to do that every week.

During summer in sweden it's only dark outside for 3-4 hours ;)

jk, when I do this/prescribe something like it, you better have vacation. You need to absorb it as well.

---

Endurance coach | Physiotherapist (primary care) | Bikefitter | Swede

Good stuff, thanks. What IF do you target for the race?

About 75-77% - 240-245W.

So this in not an every week thing then? If not, how often do you do this?

Apparently, so that you finish in around 5 hours. Duh.

---

----------------------------------------------------------
Zen and the Art of Triathlon. Strava Workout Log
Interviews with Chris McCormack, Helle Frederikson, Angela Naeth, and many more.
http://www.zentriathlon.com

No no, this is in the leading up to the race. 6-10 weeks depending on time available. Before this you simply need to be fit, but not ready to race an IM.

---

Endurance coach | Physiotherapist (primary care) | Bikefitter | Swede

Early season

• 4-5 rides per week


• Midweek: 6x3 mins all out within a 90 minute ride
• Midweek: 2x20 mins hard within a 90 minute ride
• Midweek: Additional bike ride depending on how the legs are, but not super high intensity
• Weekend: 2-3hr ride with 40-45 minutes at slightly above IM effort, but still not so hard, the rest 'easy'
• Weekend: recovery ride before long run

Nearer a race

• 4-5 rides per week


• Midweek: 2hrs around IM effort
• Midweek: 2hrs around IM effort
• Midweek: Additional bike ride depending on how the legs are, but not super high intensity
• Weekend: 3-6 hour ride with about 45-60 minutes slightly above IM effort, the rest slightly below
• Weekend: recovery ride before long run

The periodization is a gradual shift from the first section to the second section. There will be some additional variety and tailoring to whatevers going on, but this is the basic structure. The 6 hour ride will happen once a month, so it's not very regular and if it's 6 hours it'll be pretty much all below IM effort.

Not sure what kind of data you are looking for, but here are some "stats" I pulled up in TPs. You can decide if they are useful or not for you.

Search Criteria:
Dates: 1/1/2012 - 3/31/2016 (last IM I did was in March 2016)
Ride Distance: 90+ miles, not sure what you consider "long"
-------
55 total ride, 8 IM's
Longest Ride 131 miles
47 of those rides AVG Power was under 210 (FTP was 325-340 during that time)
17 of those were under 190W

A lot of the rides were just super easy long rides in the saddle. Someone of them mixed in 20-60min intervals anywhere from just below IM effort all the way up to just above 70.3 effort.

I think it really depends on how long you have been doing IM, what your training background is and then working it around that. Every athlete is different, and what works for one may not work for the next. Like you mentioned alternating structured every other weekend may not be a bad idea. But also depends on how you build the training around that "long" ride as well.

---

-Brad Williams
Website | Twitter: @BW_Tri |Instagram: @BW_Tri | Strava | Co-Founder & Coach at: KIS Coaching
Partnered with: Zoot Sports | Precision Fuel &Hydration | ISM

If you've figured everything else out yourself you should be able to come up with something.

---

Ruble Triathlon Coaching Average of 30 coached PR's per year
Florida Triathlon Camps Train in North Americas winter training destination
Ruble Racing Events Midwest Triathlon Racing
Ruble Timing Midwest Event Timing

Once a week: Start easy, build during the ride and ride hard at the end. Run afterwards.

I generally do 2 longish rides per week, one with a threshold focus (4x15 or something over 3-4 hours) and then a longer tempo based ride (2-3x30-45min over 5+ hours).

Those rides are consistent in approach for much of the year, but there is some build in the amount of volume and intensity as I move through a season.

Jack

---

---

"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." T.S. Elliot | Cycle2Tri.com
Sponsors: SciCon | | Every Man Jack

What long ride?

I went 5 hours on the dot last year at Roth so pretty much where you want to be. I was around the 5:20 sort of speed previously. Big thing I did? Extra 70 - 90km flat out 100% effort ride midweek with the race team at my bike club. I did 4 x 100 mile TT's. Ontop of that I would do another flat out hard ride on a Saturday morning. So, in essence, my weekly training was 2 x hard flat out 60 - 90km sessions, with one in the 120 - 140km range and some 100 mile TT's.

I would question the point of riding 200km plus. If you are new to the sport then yes, you need to build volume and muscle memory. If you are looking at sub 5 hours and hoping to run off the back of it, I am assuming you are probably not new. If you have a number of years in your legs already, go and hurt yourself regularly week in week out up to half ironman distance. What's the point in dossing through a 250km ride? Won't do anything for you.

So you did Louisville at about 31 MPH??????????????????????????

Oops, 4:37. Fixed it.

My fastest IM ride was only 5:10 but that is not too slow for a 50+ so I answer here anyway.

I do my long ride on tuesdays instead of the weekend so that I do not loose a whole day in the weekend. I leave work 2 hours earlier (flexitime) such that I can arrive home not too late. In the winter my long rides are different from those in summer, because it gets dark sooner.

In winter my long ride is structured as such:
I start at work and ride mainly on gravel paths to avoid cars. Partly in the dark. Intensity somewhat under IM level but not too slow: about 10 heartbeats under IM heartbeat. 4 hours.
If it rains I ride only two hours outside and do the rest on my trainer, alternated with 15 minutes treadmill against boredom.

In the summer I start commuting from work to my home (45 minutes), I change quickly to my tt-bike, commute 30 minutes to the area where I always train and do one-hour intervals in aeroposition, also with about 10 heartbeats under IM level. I find it good to ride aeroposition on the long slow rides, so that when the race is there I can maintain it the whole time (you always see a lot of people in an IM who can not maintain the aeroposition the last hours anymore).

By the way my long run is Mondays, such that on Tuesday there is a light energy deficite which should provide for a good fatburning training-effect.

If you want to be fast you have to make sacrifices, there are just no shortcuts. But you can be inventive to structure it around familylife and work.
Indeed the three rides which mortysct does seem to be correct: at least I do a similar thing, of course only in the build-phase two months before the IM. One slow ride, one with short intervals above ftp and one in which the IM pace is emulated. Again, I think this is a good approach.

For people who have things in their life other than work & Triathlon, I think your trainer workouts could be very useful. Do you use Erg mode on a smart trainer for the intervals, or just use a PM?

---

29 years and counting

I don't have a smart trainer so it's all on me.

Yeah, I'm on a standard trainer with PM; my trouble is as soon as Iook away from the power display, my watts drop :)

---

29 years and counting