Doing my second IM and I have less time for training. Would like to get your thoughts:
Is it enough cycling training to do spin (60 min) 3x a week and one long ride on the weekend? I am new to spin, and did most of my last IM training on a trainer and open road. But I was on a trainer for much more time. I push it pretty hard (for me) in spin… but is it enough? Are there ways to be more effective?
The weekly long ride will be pretty standard ramping up to the race.
I don’t know what you mean by “is it enough?” Enough to finish…sure. Enough to do better than your last IM? Perhaps. Not enough info to be able to answer.
You could make that work. Sure 1 more 90-100 minutes ride a week at tempo pace would be nice. But you could still be at the equivalent of 160-180 miles per week on just 4 very efficient workouts. TO get hte most out of it, in your base period, I would do your long ride as hard as possible, not long and slow. Really crush yourself so that you need a full day to recover. That might mean doing a long run 2 days before on a weekday morning. I would not try and do a Sunday long ride after a SAt. long run, then have a spin class on Monday. Better to do long ride Sat., long run maybe Tues. Monday the lightest day with maybe no run and just the spin class only. Running 6 days a week might make the most out of it as not run will be too long or intense and won;t impact your cycling workouts as much.
So that leaves a Medium run Sunday & Thursday, short runs Sat (transition run?), Tuesday & Friday.
In the base period, the long ride could also be shorter but more intense. Maybe 3-1.2 hours but at a steady 80-85% Tempo. Of at 75-78%, but with some 90% efforts (SST) for 15-20 minutes in the middle.
Fair point. Thanks. I am not fast. Finished the last IM in 13 and a half hours (IMAZ). I want to beat that- and mostly by being faster on the run… so I don’t want to leave it all on the bike only to find… uh oh nothing left in the tank. My bike was about six and a half hours last time.
Disclaimer… I’m not a coach, just my limited experience as I’ve ramped up training this year. But I’ve been impressed with my results from running more frequently (Good ole BarryP).
If running is your weakness you probably should focus on it, but I would focus on doing something different that what your doing now. Increasing mileage is one option. Adding some structured workouts is another. Paying attention to running slow enough on slow days and fast enough during intervals is another. Trying to improve one thing at a time about your running to try and influence positive changes. You can’t just improve your running economy overnight. Increasing cadence and maybe paying attention to what your arms and head and shoulders are doing are a couple things. Don;t run like a hunchback. Go watch a video of Kona and notice that all the fast guys are upright, with a slight forward lean. Good leg drive and turnover.
It’s a pretty common trap to do all your running too fast with too little polarity. Elite runners can get away doing easy runs at a faster pace as their performance window I think is narrower or at least shifted down, but the range expressed as a percentage of their threshold pace is similar.
Fair point. Thanks. I am not fast. Finished the last IM in 13 and a half hours (IMAZ). I want to beat that- and mostly by being faster on the run… so I don’t want to leave it all on the bike only to find… uh oh nothing left in the tank. My bike was about six and a half hours last time.
Well then, yes I think that is workable. Crush the spin workouts. For the long workout, I would think about putting in some long interval work in, something like 2 X 30 minutes with 10 minutes in between. Then do the rest of the ride at steady pace.
TriBorg - You are in the same window as I am. Unfortunately, my desire to balance personal life with triathlon doesn’t allow me to put in as much time as most others on this board, that being said… I just did my first IM (12:37 at CdA), and I got there doing a Tues & Thurs trainer road workout and a long, fairly hard pace, Saturday ride. The weekday workouts were 60-75 minutes the first 10 weeks, 90 minutes each the next 8 weeks and back to 60 minutes the last 2 weeks. Long was a typical build up to IM with 3 centuries. Could I have done better at CdA? Of course I could have, (the wind on the second lap killed my second lap avg, otherwise I feel like I would have had a pretty even split); but I also wasn’t embarrassed by my ride. Plus, I came off the bike with tons of energy and ran the marathon only 22 minutes off my stand alone time. Will I ever make Kona (or even go sub 11) with that kind of schedule, absolutely not; will I continue to enjoy IM and still have enough time for work and a social life, yep. Just two cents from a middle of the pack guy.
I’m getting married this weekend and all I can think about is… Maybe I should ask ST how I can shave some time off my IM and still stay married.
Just have a serious talk with your bride and try and get an honest answer, as women initially might tell you want you want to hear as they are afraid to crush you dreams… but then get all pissy and resentful of all your “freedom” and blow up on your ass 2-3 months later.
Just be careful not to confuse tolerance from support. My wife tends to tolerate my training, rather than support it. She oddly gets more supportive when I kick ass and win races or do really well… it somehow all seem worth it… for about 3-4 weeks. Then I hit a big training block and it gets ugly again for a little while. Periodization is probably what keeps my marriage working.
Oh course, I wasn’t doing this s*** when we first got married. I just dabbled in triathlons training 5-7 hours a week… 1 workout a day… ha, what a joke. 1 workout a day, that’s funny stuff. No wonder why a sprint race hurt so much.
My coach had the same plan since I had almost zero bike base coming in. One long ride on Saturday, one bike on Thursday is all he had me do and I did 5:30 as well. Not idea but as long as you are no trying to KQ you are just fine.
My wife tends to tolerate my training, rather than support it. She oddly gets more supportive when I kick ass and win races or do really well… it somehow all seem worth it… for about 3-4 weeks. Then I hit a big training block and it gets ugly again for a little while. **Periodization is probably what keeps my marriage working. **
Haha quality.
Periodisation rules… I wouldn’t enjoy a week at work if I didn’t get some ‘periodisation’ each weekend.
I’m not gonna run with the obvious periodisation joke here, it could offend some of our more sensitive twitchers
Ya, about once a month, predictably, she goes on a little rant about my freedom, time I spend training…and so on… blah blah blah. I put my tail between my legs, hunker down and just take it. It always seems to coincide with the end of a build cycle and I’m already physically and mentally crushed, so it’s just shoves me further down into the hole I already dug myself physically. All will and destre to train disappears for about 24-48 hours as I once again self reflect and question the meaning of life and WTF I’m doing this to myself.
Then I bounce back on about the 3rd day and all is well… Ah, the joys of IM training.