Help with performance observation

Triathlon Forum
1

Just wondering if I could get a few opinions to guide my training. I’ve done 6 Tri’s starting in the fall of 02. 4 Olympic, 1 sprint, 1 1/2 iron. I have noticed a trend in the last couple Tri’s that has my running lagging behind. For example I placed 16 overall in the race with my swim place being 16 my bike 17 and my run 24th. This is the basic theme for the last couple of races. I have absolutely no background in either biking or swimming coming into Tri’s but did run crosscountry and track in highschool. I am 38 now and stopped running all together in my mid twenties and spent a decade weight lifting before getting back into endurance to do a marathon in 2001. In training for Tri’s I split my time roughly 50% bike 45% running and 5% swimming(kind of an after thought I don’t have easy access to a pool so I am lucky to swim once a week) This trend was somewhat surprising as I would have figured running to be my strength. A few ideas I’ve come up with.

  1. Since my race run times compare favorably with my run only training times I don’t think that I am just running out of gas.

  2. It may be a physiological constraint. I am 6 feet tall 170, 8% bodyfat. This may be stats that favor biking and swimming but is just to heavy for faster run splits.

  3. I don’t do a whole lot of brickworkouts(something I am starting to change) so I am undertrained/conditioned for running off the bike.

Any thoughts and advise would be appreciated.

2

"Since my race run times compare favorably with my run only training times "

Maybe you just need to add a little speed to your training.

3

“I have absolutely no background in either biking or swimming coming into Tri’s but did run crosscountry and track in highschool. I am 38 now and stopped running all together in my mid twenties and spent a decade weight lifting before getting back into endurance to do a marathon in 2001.”

    • Sounds like me a few years back, except I was a swimmer and ran cross country.

"In training for Tri’s I split my time roughly 50% bike 45% running and 5% swimming

    • I’d swim more, because of the recovery value, but if you don’t have access to a pool…

“Since my race run times compare favorably with my run only training times I don’t think that I am just running out of gas.”

    • Probably not. Perhaps you could do more running in the form of hills and intervals (don’t overdo these) to build strength and speed.

“It may be a physiological constraint. I am 6 feet tall 170, 8% bodyfat. This may be stats that favor biking and swimming but is just to heavy for faster run splits.”

    • That may slow you slightly, but I have a buddy who runs sub 40 for 10K run split as a Clyde!

“I don’t do a whole lot of brickworkouts”

    • Probably your key issue. You probably lose a lot early on the run, trying to get your legs under you. I recommend the occasional DOUBLE brick. After years of bricks and doubles (I regularly do a brick after spinning once a week, and after long rides on the weekends. Double bricks are harder, and they make race day seem like a piece of cake.
4

Double Brick as in bike run bike or run bike run. How do you split the distances? Thanks.

5

Try cycling more… improve your ability to maintain a higher pace at a lower effective effort and arrive at the run with fresher legs.

7

Double bricks are a great training tool and the greatest “invention” since the brick. The hardest thing for triathletes, especially early in a career, is getting the legs from the rotary motion of pedalling to the piston-like motion of running. Riding the bike tends to put a more constant tension on the quads, so that they’re pretty tired and locked up by the time you dismount. If your transition (T-2) is quick, they don’t get a chance to acclimate or rest, so the first half mile or so is pure hell.

Enter the brick workout. The best bricks for developing the ability to make this transition are HARD on the bike followed by moderate to easy running. Once you get to the point where this gets easy, you can try moderate to hard biking followed by a half mile to a mile of hard running, culminating in a one to two mile easy jog (zone 2-3 border is usually good).

You get good at these, and as a spin instructor, I have my triathletes go from my Wednedsay night spin (a murderous 50 minutes) right into a 5K run. After a few months of those, the transition to running in a sprint or International distance race gets pretty easy. Still, however, that first half mile - while it has gotten better - can be pretty miserable.

Enter the DOUBLE brick workout. The way I have my crew do it is to join my Saturday morning spin (which isn’t quite as murderous as my Wednesday night) and then do the 5K run. Immediately following this, we mount up and ride for 40-75 miles and then repeat the 5K. This gives you a lot of practice running on dog-tired legs, without really doing massive run mileage.

For a strong runner like yourself (even if you’ve misplaced your “edge” you’re still a strong runner and you can get that back) this will help you develop the ability to bring out your best running even after a hard ride. If you’re competing at International distance, this is a lot more cycling than you’re legs will experience on race day, while only being the exact amount of running (split into two separate runs).

I have a few people doing half IM this year, and one doing IM. I find this regimen pretty useful all the way up to half IM, and for IM going a bit longer can be beneficial, or there’s always the TRIPLE brick!

Some coaches like to use long bricks, where you might ride 80-100 and then run 18. While I do think professional triathletes should do this, and have the base to make it beneficial, most of us have jobs and really can’t afford to go that hard or that long. It’s an invitation to injuries, unless you’ve got a tremendous amount of base training and are working out 20+ hours a week.

8

the othe option not mentioned is running more miles. the best way to run faster, in road races or tri’s, is to run. if your only sticking in 25-30 try 40-50 for a few months and see what happens.