I am heading into an extended period in my life that requires me to back off a little on my normal tri hours. My run is solid so maintenance is a no brainer, however I am worried about losing my bike fitness, in fact I still want to improve my cycling. I have seen some of your posts that touch on your take towards bike training & it makes sense to me. Would you mind posting an outline of what you do re. frequency / intensity / duration for IM training? Thanks mate 
Would you mind posting an outline of what you do re. frequency / intensity / duration for IM training?
Interesting trilogy you list there. Frequency; Intensity; Duration. I think about that triangle a lot, because those are the entirety of our training decisions.
If I were to reduce training hours (and I have had to in the past six weeks, putting a decent run at IMCDA at serious risk), I would first forget completely about the event I am preparing for (and I try to). Good bike fitness applies to any event, of any duration. Forget about the IM until you are 8-10 weeks out.
I go with a concept that Kirk Willet (former pro cyclist/coach/team director) termed “train the left; fill the right.” It’s another way of saying, “reverse periodization.” The idea is to focus your basic, year-round training on gaining the most “absolute power,” meaning power over an effort of 30-60 minutes. Here is a fact of life, racing and physiology to never forget: your power output over a 30-60 minute duration translates directly and unequivocally to your power potential at any longer distance. What Kirk means by his saying is that you can, with even rather limited hours, maintain and improve this maximal steady state power. Let’s call it MSSP; Coggan calls it that sometimes, and uses the term “Functional Threshold” in his “training with power” articles.
With a solid MSSP, you can then hit the long rides when you move into the IM prep window. The long rides don’t so much add to the power you can hold in the IM, but they enhance your ability to store and process the vast numbers of calories required. The long rides are essential to getting off the bike fresh enough to run, but they do not directly improve your ability to ride fast as much as the more focused shorter rides. (Long rides do raise power a little, of course, but not as much as your average triathlete is counting on. Mostly, they ensure that you can tap your MSSP potential on a long, long day.)
We all have a curve, with duration across the bottom and power up the left axis. As we move out the duration curve, the power we can hold falls. If I can hold 230 watts for one hour, I can probably only hold about 215 for two hours, and maybe 200 for four hours, etc. The curve flattens out considerably after a few hours. I can go all day at 180 watts. But, the entire curve will rise and fall, even if you only focus your training on lifting the left end – the 30-60 minute range. The more you train (wisely) the more you can lift the curve. Will 3 hours a week lift it as much as 15 hours a week? Of course not, but we make do with what we have. I have found that I can lift my curve up to a pretty competitive level (230 watts) on 2-3 hours per week. I have also found that I can lift it another 20 watts with 6-9 hours a week. But again, that first bit on low hours has proved decently competitive.
“Train the left; fill the right” means to do classic TT bike training all the time, and only worry about the far right end of the curve if you have a long-course race coming up. The time-limited athlete can largely ignore the right end of the curve for most of the year. Want to be an elite or win your AG? Then, yes, take care of both ends all the time. For the rest of us – the left is where the action is.
So what to do? Back to the triangle – first decide your frequency, and then your duration for each workout. Then make intensity decisions. I change the intensity of the workouts depending on my then-current schedule of frequency and duration. Most of my rides nowadays are of the type that someone on the wattage list termed the “Perfect Bike Workout.” I write them on my log as a “PBW” ride. 90-120 minutes, never going below a solid steady effort. 10-15-20 minute ramp-ups into the tempo and hard-tempo ranges, with 5 minute recoveries at solid steady effort. No easy riding in this workout. I look for the ride to have an average intensity at above half IM effort, and a little below Olympic effort (in power terms – a Normalized Power of 90-92% of MSSP; Average Power of ~82-85% of MSSP). Pretty tough workout, but not too long so it is easy to handle on low bike volume. Two of these a week do a wonderful job of allowing me to hold onto a solid bike fitness level. I’m at MSSP of about 235 right now; my life-best is only 250. I reached that preparing for the Auburn Half IM last spring and I had twice as much time to ride then.
If the workouts need to stay under an hour, like on a trainer, I do the basic 2x20 or 3x10. Warm up 15 minutes (good hard warmup). Then hit the first interval. You are seeking to finish each one at the same power, or if not using power, in the same gear at the same cadence. No fading! Rests are 1-2 minutes only. Once you nail the first full set a couple times, then move the effort up one notch. Try adding 5-8 watts, or picking cadence up 3-4 rpms next time. Eventually, go to the next bigger cog. This workout is nearly the equal of the PBW, and a good schedule would be to do one of each every week, all year long.
What do you have in mind for your “basic week” on the bike? How many rides, and for how long? Trainer or road? Do you have a power meter, or a HR monitor?
Sorry for the long post, but I’ve been meaning to write some of this down and throw it to the wolves out there in Twitchland. 
Nice post, thanks for taking the time to lay that down. A few synapses that were just stimulated must be credited to you.
Ashburn - The Great Neurotransmitter
Very interesting. Thanks for writing that all down.
tom
Wow! That is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks also for sharing the rationale for what makes this approach work. I like this one ~
Mostly, they ensure that you can tap your MSSP potential on a long, long day.
I am going to continue running 5x with reduced duration, so I think 3x for the bike is about right. I do have a power meter and my power has been stagnant for a while now so maybe this approch may shake that situation up. Could you clarify this for me re. the PBW -
10-15-20 minute ramp-ups into the tempo and hard-tempo ranges, with 5 minute recoveries at solid steady effort.
Does this mean 10, 15 & 20 min intervals within the workout repeated / cycled until completion? Do you think 2 workouts @ 2x20 min and 1x PBW @ 90-120 on the weekend would be the goods? Also re. the intensity for the 2x20 mins, should it be way up there / nearly maxing out or is that too intense? You know what I am quite motivated to bike at the moment, I think I needed a fresh change.
Does this mean 10, 15 & 20 min intervals within the workout repeated / cycled until completion? Do you think 2 workouts @ 2x20 min and 1x PBW @ 90-120 on the weekend would be the goods? Also re. the intensity for the 2x20 mins, should it be way up there / nearly maxing out or is that too intense? You know what I am quite motivated to bike at the moment, I think I needed a fresh change.
About the intervals on the PBW – make them at least 8 minutes, and as long as 20. You don’t need to parse it down too accurately. Use the terrain or just do what you feel like doing. Make short ones go into 100% of MSSP range; make the longer ones top out at 90-95%. Use both effort ranges in one workout; vary the duration and the effort within the workout and have some fun. Between intervals, keep riding – don’t just spin. You should not be pushing the intervals on a PBW ride the way you do a pure 2x20’ workout. The PBW ride is a “fartlek” ride – you aren’t out there to get into deep suffering. Just good honest work. If you do not feel recovered the very next day, maybe back off the next ride a little.
Since you have power, I suggest getting the CyclingPeaks software (if you haven’t already). The power file for a good PBW will show your Norm. Power at around 90-95% of your FT/MSSP estimate (I’ll get back to that in a second). The Average Power will be 10-15% lower than NP. This reflects the variation in effort in that ride. A 90-120 minute session that fits that profile is a very high quality bike workout.
The 2x20’ workout will serve as your benchmark for estimating MSSP/FT power throughout your year. There are other ways of estimating (like TT races), but if you are doing that workout consistently, use that as your benchmark.
The intensity goal on the 2x20’s requires us to learn pacing. The idea is to max out the effort – while keeping it constant. It is way too easy to go too hard and then fade. When you have the effort dialed in, the first one doesn’t begin to hurt until 15-16 minutes into it. The second one starts to hurt about halfway. Yes, the last few minutes of the second interval should be very, very tough. But if you fade, you went too hard. Start the next workout 5-10 watts lower. If in doubt, start low and work your way up. It is just like lifting weights. You start light, and you can always add weight as the weeks go by.
Still, you will recover quickly from these threshold workouts. The next day, your legs might feel a little rubbery or tender. You will recover quickly from an energy point of view, but you won’t want to do another 2x20’ the next day! After these become part of your routine, I think you will find that you can run just fine the next day. I have done 2x20’s in the morning and a tough fartlek run in the afternoon. Again, if paced properly, they are not terribly taxing.
We need change, both for our brains and our bodies. A “static” schedule throughout the year is not good. While a one-of-each schedule is good, you will also want to do cycles of 2 2x20’s per week, and then 2 PBW’s in a week. Change is good. About 6 weeks of anything is the limit. For some final “sizzle on your steak”, switch your 2x20 to a 5x5 workout for a few weeks a couple times a year. Same constant-pacing rules apply, but the 5x5’s are significantly harder than the 20’s, and you can use longer rest.
My friend, if you (or anybody else) can merely do this for 40-45 weeks a year, your bike power will move much higher. Even better, it sets you up for a nice power boost once you start ramping up the hours in preparation for an IM or other A race.
This sort of program is the ultimate “base builder” for the working guy or gal that just is not going to ride 8-10-12 hours a week. It gives you a base of fitness from which you can launch into specific preparations for any race distance.
I have a kind of newbie question: What if I don’t have a Powertap or SRM, and can’t measure the watts… Those 2x20 how many % of max heart rate should they be in…?
I have a kind of newbie question: What if I don’t have a Powertap or SRM, and can’t measure the watts… Those 2x20 how many % of max heart rate should they be in…?
I think less in terms of % of max as % of threshold. “Threshold” being defined as your average HR over the second half of a one-hour TT. If you don’t know that number, you can find it by doing the 2x20’ workout at a constant effort and see where it takes you. Have you done any sprint or Oly races where you rode pretty hard? That might be a good starting point for HR. Generally, I think we are talking about 90-92% of max HR – this is a pretty tough workout. If you use HR as your guide, make sure you ramp up to the target HR slowly. You should not reach target HR on the first interval until 2/3 of the way through it.
On a trainer, choose your gear and your cadence. If you hold that effort for the full set, try a little faster cadence next time or the next bigger gear. Do the same thing on the road, but it is trickier to manage effort.
HR will vary from day to day, at the same effort. But, it is close enough that it can guide you just fine so long as you stay aware of the PE of the workout.
Hi…!
I rode a 28 k TT at a duathlon race, with a avg of 174.! And I have done a lactat test on a test center…! At 280 watt I had a 95 cadence and 165 in heart-rate and a lactat of 3,2 mmol/l. At 310 I had a 108 cadence and 178 in heart-rate and a lactat of 6,3 mmol/l. Should this workout be around lactat thredshold at 4,0 mmol/l.?
Good information.
You’re probably going to do a 2x20 with your HR getting up around 173-175 in the second half of each interval. Again – move HR up slowly. It is more important to finish the last 10 minutes strong. See if you can do the entire workout at a constant effort. This will mean HR starts in the 160’s and steadily rises until it stops around 175.
I would guess that this workout involves lactate that gets quickly up to 4 mmol/l, and moves up to 6 mmol/l toward the end.
Good luck!