I’m training for a half ironman. In looking at my training program it seems like there aren’t very many really long bike rides. I remember reading a lot of posts where people said that they didn’t really get fast at the half iron distance until they started training for a full. Not sure why it took me so long to make the connection but now it seems obvious. Most people will finish a half in the 5 to 7 hour range. It seems to me that a good training plan for a half should include several bike rides at least as long as where you expect to finish (maybe even longer) to make sure that you have the required endurance for the event and don’t blow up on the run. I guess you could also do a brick workout as long as the total duration is in that 5 to 7 hour range. Does this make sense? Is this why people get so much faster at the half distance when they start training for a full? Suddenly they have the endurance to actually race instead of walk.
Until you hit 20 to 40 hours a week of training
more training is more better.
doesn’t so much matter if you have any single bike rides that are 100 miles long or anyting
just that the total volume is a lot.
a 56 mile ride at a good pace should be comfy for you
and a 13 mile run at a good pace should be comfy for you
there is no need to go over distance in a single training ride/run.
in fact you would probably be better of, if you had 4 hours free on a saturday, to do two rides of two hours each, at a faster pace, than a single 4 hour ride.
I don’t mean going long EVERY week. Just throwing 4-5 of those in over the course of your training. That would be like doing a century once a month. I still do plenty of intensity. I just don’t go really long and I’m wondering if that wouldn’t make sense to throw in even though I’m just doing a half.
I think your time would be more valuably spent doing more running or swimming instead. you are trying to get as fast as possible at a half ironman
not at biking 100 miles
I don’t mean going long EVERY week. Just throwing 4-5 of those in over the course of your training. That would be like doing a century once a month. I still do plenty of intensity. I just don’t go really long and I’m wondering if that wouldn’t make sense to throw in even though I’m just doing a half.
I don’t mean going long EVERY week. Just throwing 4-5 of those in over the course of your training. That would be like doing a century once a month. I still do plenty of intensity. I just don’t go really long and I’m wondering if that wouldn’t make sense to throw in even though I’m just doing a half.
I don’t think there’s any harm in it. Just for the mental aspect if anything - knowing you can do the distance comfortably because you’ve done far greater can be good for your peace of mind on race morning. I like the idea of one or two ‘race simulation’ bricks, say 100k on the bike and 40 mins running - not for any real physiological training benefit, but more just to get used to how your legs will feel.
I agree that going long is the name of the game for Half and Full IM distance. More is better until you get to the point where you are risking injury, chronic fatigue, or poor quality workouts. For some people that may be 12 hrs./week, for some it is 30 (so I’ve heard). I’m learning through experience right now that I can not do 3 or 4 runs a week of 12 to 20 miles. It just tears me down too much. But on the bike you can just go and go. You’ll get the fatigue without the damage. I like your idea of getting in some really long bike sessions. I don’t agree with jackmott that 2 short sessions is better than 1 long one. I’ve tried it that way and it simply hasn’t worked for me.
serious question:
how exactly did you try it and conclude that it didn’t work for you?
were the two short sessions more intense than the 1 long one?
I don’t agree with jackmott that 2 short sessions is better than 1 long one. I’ve tried it that way and it simply hasn’t worked for me.
Here’s how and why two short sessions is inferior to one long one…
- time management: it simply takes too much time to get ready for a ride, do it, then get cleaned up and do something else, then come back for another bike workout that same day. (I don’t just sit around all day in my cycling shorts ; ))
2)It takes a good 30 minutes minimum to really get warmed up and have the aerobic pathways fully engaged. So for an hour ride you might get only about 30 minutes of good quality. On a 4 hr. ride you’ll get 3 1/2. And that doesn’t take in to account any kind of cool down.
3)Commitment: If I do 1 workout a day, I make it count. No half-ass stuff and just bide my time to the next session a few hours later.
Git R Done then go please the wife and take care of biz.
Personally, I’ve also found that single long sessions have confusingly large fitness benefits to me, particularly on the run, and it doesn’t have to do with time management or effort issues. I don’t run as well the next week-2 weeks when I’ve done 2x(1 hour session of running 7.5 miles) as when I’ve done 1x(2 hour session of running 15 miles). Maybe the science that is attempting to justify it hasn’t advanced enough to capture all the nuances associated with a workout of that type?
I don’t mean going long EVERY week. Just throwing 4-5 of those in over the course of your training. That would be like doing a century once a month. I still do plenty of intensity. I just don’t go really long and I’m wondering if that wouldn’t make sense to throw in even though I’m just doing a half.
Absolutely. I think it makes a lot of sense if for no other reasons than the psychological ones. If 56 miles is your longest ride, then you face the daunting task of doing your longest ride as just one leg of your big race. If you’ve logged a few centuries (or even just 75 mile rides), then the idea of riding 56 miles on race day won’t seem quite so daunting.
Any training you do just once or every now and then is a waste of time. So if you don’t get the time available to do that 5-7 hours training day every weekend, than don’t do it at all. You are probably better off on race day then when you blow up in training because you had to try that 7 hour day. My long training is 5-7 hour days, but I do so since January and will be doing it for the next months as well. Then it works. Have confidence in the training plan, do the race and evaluate afterwards, not now. And not on slowtwitch. Make a new plan when change is needed. And do the cycle again. Don’t change the plan right now cause you have to throw in some extremely long stuff you are not prepared for.
It’s not strictly a long enough question. it’s a does the effort you are putting out in training mimic the effort you are doing in the race.
That is what we forgot to mention here. training load = volume * intensity. More training load=more better. Not more volume=more better.
Long rides with intensity 
.
training load = volume * intensity
That is overly simple.
Smashing yourself every session and going long every session are just as bad.
Mixing the two together in different mixes can work but ignores other factors.
Training is also more than just about aerobic development.
I never said you should smash yourself every training. Or go long every training. Only that training load is some kind of function of duration (volume) and intensity.
Yes, I understand what you wrote.
The point I’m trying to make is that **“training **load” is only part of the performance equation.
Any training you do just once or every now and then is a waste of time. So if you don’t get the time available to do that 5-7 hours training day every weekend, than don’t do it at all.
Huh??? By that logic, I’d never get any training in at all, since more often than not my weekends are booked with kids birthday parties, honey-dos, Easter egg hunts, etc, etc. I can ususally get in a couple hours here & there, but 5-7 solid maybe only once or twice a month. I’m w/ Bob…
… I think it makes a lot of sense if for no other reasons than the psychological ones. If 56 miles is your longest ride, then you face the daunting task of doing your longest ride as just one leg of your big race. If you’ve logged a few centuries (or even just 75 mile rides), then the idea of riding 56 miles on race day won’t seem quite so daunting.
Also, trying out a longer day gives you a chance to test your nutrition strategery that ordinarily wouldn’t come into play the same as a 2-3 hour effort.