HIM/IM distances on 99% indoor bike training? (Page 2)

My coach and 2007 Ironman 70.3 AG 50-54 world champ Herb Spicer  puts 8,000 -9,000 miles a year on his trainer. Really. On a beautiful crisp 70 degree sunny cool September day in central Maryland you can catch him in his studo, spinning away. With the heat on. 88 degrees. Inside. Getting ready for Kona.

After running all winter and really watching drivers, I'm horrified to ride outside when the weather clears.

I see "near miss" after near miss and it really makes me think twice about being out there for hours on the roads. Jordan Rapp is just one of many stories about cyclists/cars and there is no question that speed/distraction issues are bigger now than they were even 5 years ago. Indoor trainers definitely have their place , no question.

I have recently started on with a coach who really advocates indoor workouts(for safety and quality), especially in winter. My husband still wants to see me out on the roads pounding the miles in preparation for Ironman as we both know that the bike is my weakness(I am back of the pack ). With all the things I see and hear, I think I will just learn to use the trainer as directed by the coach vs cranking out 50 mile rides in the rain/slick. When the weather is better, I will ride with company(usually ride solo ) on the long rides.

I have heard of quite a few age-groupers who, either by need(childcare/weather, etc) or choice -- do the bulk of their training indoors and do well at Ironman.

Good luck with your training.

I saw this thread and figured everyone would be negative about the indoor training: "You gotta get out there." I'm happily surprised because I too do a lot of my workouts indoors. I homeschool my 6-year-old son and can't leave him home while I go run for a couple of hours, so I do most of my during-the-week runs on the treadmill at home while he bounces on the trampoline next to me (this kid has endurance). Same for midweek bike rides. I've also done all my long weekend rides on the trainer so far because of crappy weather or traveling. So thank you all for the encouragement for us indoor people!

I can ride the trainer/run on the treadmill indefinitely, as long as I have something to listen to (music, radio, podcasts). Longest ones so far are about 3 1/2 hours each, although I once did 4 1/2 hours on an elliptical when I was injured and training for a marathon...

This weekend we are heading up to Vermont and I'm planning to get outside and ride on actual roads, with actual hills, but WITHOUT very many actual drivers. Cars scare me...

Kelly






 

we mustn't forget bike handling skills. 

many hours on the trainer can make these stale, causing a triathlete to become more dangerous to themselves and others when riding outside.  for example, if an 18 wheeler passes a triathlete closely at 60mph causing a gust of wind to blow at them, a triathlete with good bike handling skills will be able to stay upright with less front wheel movement and also be less "stressed" out about the surprise movement of their bike caused by the airflow disturbance than one with less bike handling skills.   this bears true during races that have high wind gusts...causing less "outdoor experience" triathletes to have a tendency to be more affect by them.

a good way to make indoor training still help keep bike handling skills somewhat fresh is to ride rollers once a week.

CT training is awesome and I have all my athletes on their CT each and every week multiple times per week but too much of anything has it's downfall.

now if powertap would just come up with an MRC-type watt regulator on it's hub they would sell like hotcakes.  then we could all ride MRC or manual ergo files outdoors...the best of both worlds!     ....a man can dream right....

That's a good point Steve. Indoor training would have to be supplemented by some outdoor training and/or rollers, especially on a tri bike

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I do a vast majority of my training indoors. I do an occassional group ride outdoors otherwise I hammer on my Computrainer. I have done 4 IMs and 11 HIMs like this and have done fairly well. With my schedule I do my bike work at night, so indoors is much safer, especially with the nasty roads out here.

I avoid the trainer at all costs.  I'm not going to pass judgement though, 80% of my rides are on a mup (San Bernardino SART) where I'm lucky to see more than 10 people in an 18 mile span.  For my hill work, I hit the mountains, which isn't too bad but still can be sketchy at time.

SoCal rocks, but the problem here is traffic.  You have traffic in the middle of nowhere because people are trying to get away from traffic.