Just do the training: Comparing Races from Year to Year

The run improvement is impressive enough, but the speed bump on the bike is just sick.  As in ballpark 50+% increase in ave watts.

You mention attention to detail on bike.  Did you also upgrade bike/wheels/helm?

Bike, wheels and helmet are the same.  Wheels, tubes, crank and position are different.

Actually, I changed my sunglasses too... 

Well you might as well said you strapped an engine to your back! Sunglasses make a HUGE difference

Seriously, that's a massive improvement. Just goes to show, like you said, there's no over-the-counter or 3am-infomercial-wonder-pill that makes it all better.

Fantasic job

Other than to do a little blatant gloating, this was kind of my point.  There are always a lot of threads about "how do I get faster", "what are the magic workouts", etc..  I just want to illustrate that big improvements can be made if you do the work. 

That's just sick improvement on the bike, not to mention super human speed this year. 

I'm hoping for some improvement over last year's races, but based on my common biking TT rides so far this year it won't begin to approach that kind of jump.  Great job.

Working on the swim.  Getting some lessons lined up and upping my swim to 5x per week. 

Glad you weren't out there this weekend(or Brad P. for that matter)!  25-29 was brutal enough...

Well done Andrew!  That is impressive!

I checked out my power file from last year and my average power was over 50W higher this year.  Short race, but I was still surprised by how low my output was last year.  Overall a 131% jump in power.  FTP is about 30W higher this year. 

Excellent work Andrew and thanks for posting.  This is great motivation for me. 

There's no doubt that the first run plays a role.  For this race the run is only 2 miles, so it ends up being 12-13 minutes of working the legs versus 20 minutes in the water. 

There are a ton of factors that went into the difference; heat & wind were bad, I was dehydrated and I had run 2 hard miles.  Increased fitness and bike position are the biggest factors, but there's definitely more to it. 

Great improvement Andrew!

As an additional note, I do want to say that smart training pays off.  Which a coach definitely helps with!  Can we ask where your coaching came from, so they can get a bit of credit as well!

Totally agree about the "no magic workouts, just do it".

I don't have a HRM or a power meter.  I have a training plan (1st hit on google for "HIM Training Plan") with workouts, but I don't usually do the specific sets in them.  I just do the mileage it dictates at a moderate to high pace.

Results comparison from 2010 to 2011 (for a race that I didn't stop training for)

Swim: 1:34/100m -> 1:30/100m (I was already a good swimmer, so no real improvement here)

Bike: 29.8km/h -> 36.2km/h (same road bike frame, same very-spokey wheels, with probably-poorly-fitted aerobars in 2011)

Run: 5:01/km -> 4:14/km

He definitely deserves some credit!  I'm coached by Jorge Martinez, who has been an amazing part of the BT community for a while.  Incredibly well educated and very effective in his approach.  Not a whole lot of time is wasted, unless I choose to go out on my own.

I don't think there are magic workouts and it all comes down to doing the work on a consistent basis.  That being said, the quality and specificity of the work that you do is a vital part of maximizing your gains.  Random training plans aren't neccessarily the best training for everyone.  Know yourself, know your weaknesses and ensure the time you spend training is focused on what you need to do to get better. 

Awesome improvement. Although to be fair, I would warn that your results as VERY atypical. 

I think your original bike speed of 20mph was a lowball for your true 'trained' range , given for what you were running off the bike. 

Getting from 20 to 25mph in race speed with no equipment upgrades is an extremely tall order, even with a great coach, years of training, and full dedication.

Not necessarily.  I'd agree if you were originally being very diligent in training, diet, etc. and were maximizing what talent you have.  On the other hand if Andrew raced last year and wasn't maximizing what talent he has or perhaps was under trained it is very much in the realm of "normal".  For instance I started intelligently training last September/October some time.  I went from riding in the 17 mph range and running a 10 minute mile to now riding 21.5 mph consistently and running in the 7:45 range. 

BJG85 - 2011-06-15 4:40 PM That is impressive! I just wish you weren't in my age group. 

Hahaha.  He's just young enough that he's going to stay an AG behind me for the most part. 

In this case I think argarose is correct.  As I've stated, the 2010 result was sub-par and more difficult conditions, so it's probably not a great representation of what my fitness was at the time. 

An increase from 21 to 25mph takes a LOT more power(and therefore training) than a jump from 17 to 21.5 mph.  Each incremental improvement gets harder and harder as you get faster.