Just curious as to how many of you just ride and run long versus adding some 1/2im or im pace (or other). and if you do add sets, what kind and at what point in the season.
- Long runs (2:00 to 2:30): from one 5k up to two 10ks at 78-82% Max HR.
- Long bike rides (3:30 to 6:00): from 0:15 up to two 1:00 at 78-82% Max HR.
Sometimes, when getting closer to a race (and reducing the length of the long stuff), I add shorter/more intense intervals toward the beginning of the workout to “fry” my legs and train to keep going on tired legs. Say, for the long run, a couple of miles at 85-90% Max HR; for the long ride, a couple of 2-3 minute pickups.
Cheers,
Alex
You need t obe doing race pace and/or higher intensities on the bike. Something similiar to 5-6 hrs with 4.5-5 hrs @ IM race pace or for a half 4 hrs with 2hrs at race pace and maybe some 10-20 min efforts above race pace.
For the long run just try to maintain the same pace thoughout or negative split the long run. For 97% of all people the marathon in an IM will be run slower than long run pace. I think it might be smarter to do threshold type work on a different run.
cool, thanks dd.
Hal Higdon recommends keeping your long run to 60-90 seconds/mile slower than your projected pace (granted, this is for a stand alone mary). However, he says that if you want, do the last 1/4 of the run at about 15-30 seconds/mi slower than race pace.
Haven’t done this lately, but this worked great for me training last year for a 1/2 marathon:
For a 12-13-mile long run (100+ minutes): Miles 1-4 real slow and warmup (2 min. slower than race pace); miles 5-8 up the intensity (60-90 sec. off race pace); miles 9-12 at 1/2 marathon race pace; cool down 10 minutes. It’s a 100+ minute long run and a 25-30 minute tempo run all-in-one.
I did this 3 or 4 times starting 2 months before I ran the 1/2 marathon. The last long run was 2 weeks before the race. Ran a PR of 1:21 (4 minutes faster than previous PB).
This is a lot like the “fast-finish long run” advocated by Greg McMillan on his web site. Plan on doing a few this fall myself.
Check out his site (mcmillanrunning.com) for some ideas.
I see that desert dude took care of you, no need for me to chime in 
.
That’s right, so go back to your little smart hole.
If I call you flick, will I get arrested next time I’m in France?
Just curious as to how many of you just ride and run long versus adding some 1/2im or im pace (or other). and if you do add sets, what kind and at what point in the season.
I always do sets.
On long runs, I do (roughly) 2x 20 minutes at open marathon effort/pace.
On long rides, I work long hills at half-IM power, and do at least a few 10-minute flat bits at half-IM power. On the whole, my long rides never fall into the middle of the “endurance zone” – they are always harder than standard coaching protocol suggests. On the bottom edge of “tempo.”