My first IM is around the corner, and I’m feeling good about things. The only issue I’m having is judging what my bike pace should be based off of my training rides. Basically, I’ve averaged right around 19.5 for all of my long rides (80-100 miles) in the last month, and was able to run strong for the bricks that follow.
My issue is that the 19.5 pace includes a lot of stopping, starting, slowing down due to congestion on the bike trails I use. So, I’m confident I can maintain that pace, but also wonder if having clear rodes would translate to a higher average. I don’t want to hold way back, but also don’t want to push too hard either. So I’m just wondering if anyone else has experienced something similar and can help gauge what to expect in terms of a good target pace. I don’t have a power meter, so while that may be the best, I just don’t have the data.
If you don’t have a power meter, then you should probably use HR. PE can be pretty deceiving over that long of a ride. Generally, the first half should feel very, very easy and the best way I’ve heard the IM bike described (I think it was Jackmott but can’t be sure) is that your IM ride should feel like your easiest long ride of the year.
Pacing in general and cycling pacing in particular is an art form to which I have devoted a lot of thought and training to over the years.
I finally got something down on ‘paper’ that has been bouncing around in my head for quite some time. For IM pacing something I would add would be that very specific limits would need to be set, so in addition to “The slower you are going the harder you are riding…” would need to be added “up to xxx watts and absolutely no more.”
Whatever you are using gadget-wise for pacing, you need to keep your brain-body connection consistently tuned into precisely what is still required. I can tell you that gritting your teeth at 56 miles miles is a bad sign, but even more I would like to see athletes constantly ask the question in training and racing “Is this sustainable for the duration I need to sustain it?” Be willing to come up with the wrong answer at times and you will start to come up with the right one more and more. Pacing is an art, both on the macro and micro levels.
Speed is not an input. Speed is an output. You have control over effort, and effort is typically measured via RPE, HR, or power.
Sounds like you’re not using HR or power, so you will probably need to stick with RPE. Take note of your comfort level when you’re out riding. What will that effort feel like after swimming for an hour or longer? What will it feel like when you finish riding and set off to run for several hours afterwards? Bricks are nice, but unless you’re doing full distances and intensity, they’re hardly indicative of race day.
Be willing to come up with the wrong answer at times and you will start to come up with the right one more and more.
This, this is it. As a recreational triathlete it is very hard to accept this idea. We’ve got to race more, push harder, and exploded a few times if we really want to know what we’re capable of.
I’m not very experienced and all my races matter to me. Therefore i always hold back, i always try to finish, have fun, don’t die, whatever. This approach leaves the part of me that wants to perform completely unfulfilled. Now that this seaon is done for me, i hope to do even more sprints next year so i can see where the red line really is.
its a race, numbers will let you down, go have fun, push your limits and you wont have regrets
Not sure thats totally true. My first IM was 2001 and I found myself riding with PNF. Badmann came by to pass at mile ten and I thought, “I’m feeling great. Go with her!” PNF went in the rear view mirror and I traded spots with Natasha for the first half of the bike. My HR was well above my self-imposed limit and not surprisingly I hit the wall hard by mile 80. Paula passed me going into T2 and I suffered through a very long marathon. I regretted trying to ride with Badmann then and every time I think back on that race.
Push it hard on the bike, as it gives you more of the IM Marathon “experience”.
But seriously, it’s your first IM, and you’ll never get another. Take it easy on the bike, put some black tape over the speedo meter so you don’t know how fast / slow you’re going, and pace the bike (especially the first half) as an easy ride. Don’t ever feel like you are pushing. Really enjoy the day, and wave at the fans on the course.
Case in point: my last year’s IMMOO could have been a DNF, but wasn’t. I dinged my knee pretty bad a month before, and couldn’t even ride a block a week before. Switched out the standard crank to a compact (with shorter crank arms) just to see if I could even bike on the day. I figured I’d just have a nice swim, see how the first mile went, and decide from there. I went easy. I kept going easy. I stopped to use the porta-potty. And towards the end I could still turn the cranks and ended up not only with a bike PR but a race PR to boot, just because I took it easy all day.
But, hey, if you want your speedo average to say 19.5 – enjoy your run.
I appreciate all the input. I guess I was just curious as to what people saw in training paces vs their IM pace. Really no big deal though, it was just curiousity. My only plan is to go out there and enjoy the day. The numbers will land where they land. Thanks everyone.
For the bike if you guess wrong on the slow side, you’ve got 10-20 mins to make up in the run. If you guess wrong on the fast side, you have 42km to pay for it, which will definately be more than 10-20 mins.
Did anyone ever do their first IM and go “Damn I should have gone way harder on the bike!”
I appreciate all the input. I guess I was just curious as to what people saw in training paces vs their IM pace. Really no big deal though, it was just curiousity. My only plan is to go out there and enjoy the day. The numbers will land where they land. Thanks everyone.
Yeah, if you are not using power yet, or haven’t established good HR zones, then it is very important to be in touch with how you are feeling all…day…long… Your average speed training numbers will be pretty meaningless.
I continue to make this mistake when I go out for “just a ride”. I see a good speed average and low HR, and think to myself that “this might be the year!!!”. Ahhhh, not really. And not especially after 80 - 90 - 100 miles worth of saddle time.
Bike pace should be based on HR, and a keen cadence/torque sense.
I’ve found there is a certain cadence where I have seen I get 90% of the speed versus one gear higher. This has been a very effective cadence. It’s probably close to 100, and to hammerheads will feel like you aren’t doing anything at all.
I think you can practice this by going out on a 50+ ride on a familiar course, and try to do it at a speed you would normally do it, but use one gear lower (unless you are spinning the cranks to ridiculously low power).
My theory on why high cadence is good especially in long races is that the power stroke of cycling is based on a combination of major muscles and many minor ones. If you do high torque gears, you are overtaxing the minor muscles, and eventually they give out (quite quickly) leaving the major muscles to take up the slack, so they tire out. By dropping back a single gear, you can dramatically extend the useful power output of the minor muscles, and prevent yourself from taxing major muscles that will also be used in the run.
For my IM distances, a high 140s/low 150s HR with high cadence has been the sweet spot for a decent marathon. I’ve never had an amazing marathon, so maybe I’m still going too hard on the bike.
As for the crappy average speed that stop signs and little delays creates on your daily rides, don’t worry about it. Use HR, cadence, power (if you can afford that) as your guide. The numbers will be what the numbers will be at the end of the race, based on that.
Uh, just to underline it if you have no cadence sensors, there is a certain gear where it feels like you are turning the cranks and going pretty fast as in “hey, i’m going pretty fast and not even trying that hard”. You upshift one, there is a pretty dramatic sensation of torque on the legs. If you go an easier gear down where you’re spinning so fast that you think “okay, this is ridiculous, upshift”.
Play around with gears on a familiar course, and try to make your perceived effort constant in these gearshifts, so even if you upshift, you don’t try to output more power. Don’t do this drill into the wind or with a huge tailwind. Do it on a fairly flat segment. maybe go back and forth.
Push YOUR limits, don’t go ride with pro’s pushing their limits;) You’re still riding 112, you’ve got to pace, but go with something thats fun, doable for you. My first IM I held back, and regret it.