General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Specificity and Training Rss Feed  
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2012-02-14 5:59 PM

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Subject: Specificity and Training

I am training for a 70.3 that is still a 9 months off but a couple of questions have come to mind, mainly around bike intensity during the race and training to meet it.

 

My bike split has always been weak and I am working on gaining the fitness to improve that, but I wonder if part of my issue is not pushing hard enough on the bike as I am scared of blowing up on the run. 

 

I don't really have a background in any of the sports, been doing tri's for 3 years.  My last 70.3 I had a 38min swim, 3:10 bike and 2:02 run.

 

Anyhow, onto the point of my post.  I am trying to work out how hard I can push on the bike and still run ok afterwards.  I have been thinking brick workouts at planned race pace might be the best way to monitor this, but I am wondering how long the brick should be and how to get specific without actually doing the race distance in training.

 

I as thinking a monthly test brick around the following distances (km)

Feb : 30/7

March : 45/10.5

April : 60/14

May : 75/14

June : 90/14

July : 105/14

 

Then repeat that monthly tweaking intensity until race day. I am hesitant to run much further than that as a brick and I am wondering if overall those sessions are too long.  I don't want to leave my race on the training ground so to speak.

Am I better off just doing long bike with a short run and trying to gauge how I feel?

Sorry if this is a bit jumbled, probably resembles my thoughts at the moment!

 



2012-02-14 6:05 PM
in reply to: #4047797

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Elite
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Subject: RE: Specificity and Training

You just need to do some bike tests. Use power or HR and find your threshold and pace off that. I didn't mind doing long bricks, but what your planning is unrealistic. I was doing oly distance bricks but it still did not help me in my 70.3. I had nothing to go on, and still cooked the bike.

2012-02-14 6:59 PM
in reply to: #4047797

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Master
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Subject: RE: Specificity and Training

You'll hear a variety of different views on this. I think some of the debate is not so much about whether these kinds of workouts are useful, as about what exactly they're useful for. Many are adamant that the physiological benefits, relative to individual workouts, are non-existent. Most agree that they can be useful for race practice and for learning about pacing, though they differ on how much of that is needed, balanced against the difficulty of these big workouts. My own view is that IF these fit into your plan, and if they will help you to gauge your progress and stay motivated, then they're probably a good thing.

You're proposing to build up to an over-distance bike ride, followed by an 8.75 mile run (in old money). I'm not sure that you need to go longer than the 90k on the bike leg, but if you can handle a run of that distance after a full-distance ride, then that should give you a much better idea of how things will be on race day, and it'll also be long enough to give you a better idea of the success of your nutrition plan. I'd suggest to aim for something close to race pace on the bike, and then to take things easier than race pace on the run. Folks who train with power typically recommend a HIM bike effort at around 80% of FTP (where FTP corresponds to the the power that you could sustain for an hour; and where the 80% is measured in watts rather than in MPH). 

2012-02-14 9:02 PM
in reply to: #4047797

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Subject: RE: Specificity and Training
Without knowing the rest of your training it's difficult to say whether your bricks would be useful. If you want to improve on the bike without sacrificing the run, ride enough so doing 56 miles is not a big deal. That could mean 150-250 miles/week or more for several months. When biking that distance becomes easy the run is much easier as well.
2012-02-14 10:42 PM
in reply to: #4047797

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Regular
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Subject: RE: Specificity and Training

I wouldn't be running 14k/9miles off of a ride. I don't think that will help that much.

Try to do fewer miles at race pace for your run.

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