There is lots of talk on this site about how to become more aero but very little (that I see) on how to actually get faster over a long distance.
I am a reasonable biker but would like to get to the next level.
A little about me:
Threshold power tested during an hour on a Computrainer is 278w (verified with my Quarq Cinqo). 6’0" tall and 165lbs.
2:36 HIM bike at Muskoka 70.3 at 236w (which is 94km long) and felt reasonable coming off the bike.My first Ironman bike at Lake Placid was 5:48 (178w the first lap and 172w the second lap) I was having a bad day before the race even started due to nerves, so the 5:48 was much tougher than it should have been.I define the next level as around a 5:15 bike split while still being able to run (3:50 ish if possible (3:08 stand alone PB, 3:09 at Boston)). I struggle with rides over 100km; I can always finish but I would like to feel “fresh” all the way to 180km if possible.
Are there specific drills and techniques that could help in the endurance aspect of riding other than just riding more? Or is the key to ride longer more often?
I know you are not the one who said I was WRONG, but if you can get better at swimming by swimming more, then why wouldn’t that apply to other sports? That question isn’t necessarily directed at you.
Swim more is a very good start. Getting quality swim coaching is also very good since swimming is a lot about technique.
WRONG. Thanks for playing!
"At Accelerate 3 our way of coaching can be summed up in a short paragraph. Traithlon is an aerobic based sport. That means swimming, biking and running and lots of it. It means completing the training day after day and week after week. " -Accelerate3 Coaching website
Based on my experience, looking at your HIM bike split I’d say should be able to go quite a bit faster in an IM. There are a lot of factors involved, for example if you are not aero maybe you can get away with it over HIM distance, but it costs you over IM distance (my training buddy was like that). But, putting things like that to one side for a moment and just thinking about training, I would say that doing long rides at close to IM perceived effort, negative splitting the quarters of the ride helped me improved quite a bit and may help you. Last year I was doing quite a few 5-7.5 hr rides around a loop that would take me about 1h45m, minimising time stopping for water etc. I took my IM bike from 5:22 to 5:06 and also got a bit faster on the run (3:47) from having better bike fitness and pacing. I’d do all those rides in the last 8 weeks with race gear on and race nutrition. I pushed hard on the bike on race day but got off feeling like I’d done nothing. The key is to ride at an even level of effort regardless of terrain. I was using HR and perceived effort, but a powermeter would be even better. The eye-opener for me when I started doing these sessions is how lazy I could be in the many segments of the ride. My HIM bike split on a hilly course is about the same as yours.
I know you are not the one who said I was WRONG, but if you can get better at swimming by swimming more, then why wouldn’t that apply to other sports? That question is necessarily directed at you.
I don’t think that more volume is a bad idea at all, I was just curious whether there was a more efficient way to get faster or whether riding longer might be ineffective. I also think that FTP will go up with more volume even if there isn’t a focus on intervals and speed. However this is just my opinion and not accepted fact.
Ken, my thoughts below:
Swim more, swim harder. Most people underestimate the impact of their lack of swimming on their Ironman bike split Bike all your miles in the final lead up to your Ironman at or above IM race intensity (70-120% FTP…depending on length of ride etc…no noodling around in massive draft packs on group rides). Ride in the aero position, no drafting, no coasting. IM race intensity has to become “easy” . For you let’s say 210 assuming you get things up to 300W next year over an hour (by the way, I got off a red eye flt on Thu and did 239 average for an hour on the CT, so I guess this is my new FTP, although that is pretty well what I averaged at Esprit half…go figure) If you are going back to LP, lose weight When in doubt, refer to point number 3
Ken, my thoughts below:
Swim more, swim harder. Most people underestimate the impact of their lack of swimming on their Ironman bike split Bike all your miles in the final lead up to your Ironman at or above IM race intensity (70-120% FTP…depending on length of ride etc…no noodling around in massive draft packs on group rides). Ride in the aero position, no drafting, no coasting. IM race intensity has to become “easy” . For you let’s say 210 assuming you get things up to 300W next year over an hour (by the way, I got off a red eye flt on Thu and did 239 average for an hour on the CT, so I guess this is my new FTP, although that is pretty well what I averaged at Esprit half…go figure) If you are going back to LP, lose weight When in doubt, refer to point number 3
This year I did all of my bike riding non-drafting on my tri bike. I was thinking of doing more road biking next year and then getting on the tri bike for the final two months before IM Canada. Does this seem about the right amount of time to get back on the tri bike?
When I road ride I typically lead more than follow and always partake in any sprints that might occur. My average power isn’t normally very high but my normalized power is often pretty high due to the big spikes I have in these rides. However, when on my tri bike I avoid spikes at all costs.
For Placid I did one 160km ride and one 180km ride (it was on the Placid course), for IM Canada I would like to get at least 3 180km rides in (and hopefully more).
Thanks for all the advice folks. Great food for thought!
Ken
Ps. I really should start to lose a few pounds, but I am sponsored by a bakery!
Is there a weekly 3.5-5 hour ride at or above IM intensity (closer to have IM intensity). I think this is more valuable than those weekly 180K rides people do noodling around with their giant groups with 10 stops for pee breaks, flat fixes and Starbucks. 4-5 hours you can just load up the bike and go. Maybe 1 stop to reload bottles max if your ride is 5 hours, but zero stops for 4 hours.
Race day is the only day all year that most people ride with zero breaks. Like you, I only did 2 rides of 180K this year and felt very strong doing 5:29 at Placid. But every week I did the 4 hour hammer ride and on some weekends, I’d do it both on Saturday and Sunday, Ideally with a 1 hour swim before Saturday and 30 minute run after the ride on Sunday. Again, this is N=1, but what I am saying is that we can’t be ready for race specificity without doing it in training…most of us don’t do it in training and are shocked that our studliness from shorter days don’t extend to race day.
