I’m training for my first half IM this year, and have a question about how long my longest training session should be. When doing sprints and olympics in the past, I’ve done a long slow training session in one day, swim/bike/run, that was about 25% longer then my actual race, just to prove I could do the distance and more. For a half, that seems a little extreme.
Any suggestions? Thanks!
I think there is a recent thread on gordo’s forum relating to this question
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Once you have established your overall endurance and are seeking a race specific workout.
A good HIM workout that I like to help you learn good pacing…
Run 45 minutes – 20 mins build to steady then steady
Ride 2:30 – 15 min just ride then 40/20/40/20 – 40 min segments are IM effort (steady) – 20 min segments are HIM effort (mod-hard)
Run 45 mins – 15 mins steady then 6x5 min alt mod-hard with steady
The goal is not to drill yourself – simply to learn how “easy” steady feels early in a workout and how to pace yourself and dial in your HIM pacing.
Nearly every athlete runs too fast on the first run and rides too hard for the first hour of the main set. Learning to adjust and address this fact will greatly enhance your late race performance.
g
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As for the longest workout – I think that there is benefit to building your long ride up to the shorter of: (a) six hours; and (b) anticipated race duration. It’s the safest way to build general endurance for an athlete stepping up from short course to long course.
More than your longest workout – consistent weekly preparation, smart nutrition and humility in early race pace selection will go a long way towards ensuring a positive experience for you.
kjack is this the thread you are talking about? http://www.coachgordo.com/forum2/upload/index.php?showtopic=3539&hl=.
Good article, but it didn’t seem to have much information about long workouts. Gale Bernhardt’s book has a 5 hour ride as the longest workout, but that seems short to me, given what I’ve done in the past. I’m not looking to win, I’m just looking to be able to know ahead of time I have what it takes to finish. And, of course, practice my nutrition, nutrition, nutrition…
I’ll try the 6 hours or anticipated race time formula, as that seems a little longer (at least for me), and I’ll try the HIM workout gbyrn posted. That looks like FUN!!!
I find the ride to be the most critical part of the whole race. For a 1/2IM I make sure that I’ve gone upwards of 75 miles at race pace in training so that when I get off the bike at mile 56 plus swim my legs are still feeling normal. Doing the run/bike/run brick workout is probably a good idea also, though my bricks have always been just bike/run so I don’t know how much that would do. For 1/2IM doing a race-time 6 hour workout is a reasonable thing to do…too bad doing that kind of workout for a full IM is pretty insane. I’m a big believer in doing as much biking as possible, for last year’s IMFL my longest ride was 151 miles (nearly 8 hours with the stop-and-go course I took). Getting off the bike at 22-23mph and still feeling fine to me is the key to a good race.
gbyrn=gordo
He posted the thread I was talking about.
Gordo’s workout is dead-on - a great 1/2 IM prep workout.
My girlfriend trained through the Toronto winter building up over a few months to a 1hour run/2 hour trainer ride/1 hour run, peak. Then went down to Ralphs in March, finishing as the top amatuer and first in her AG. We wanted to get the feeling and pacing for going for 4 hours at a certain intensity and that workout delivers that.
She did no really long rides - couldn’t too cold and too much snow. However, her long training fitness from last summer - a number of 5 - 6 hours rides - did not disappear( as many think it does).
Fleck