General Discussion Triathlon Talk » How long & how far Rss Feed  
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2016-09-25 9:32 PM

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Subject: How long & how far
I have about 10 weeks before my first IM. I have been riding 100-125 miles on the weekends usually split close to evenly on Sat & Sun. I have been told that it's a good idea to do one long ride to get used to the time in the saddle.

Last weekend I went in to the weekend having ridden 40 miles on Friday so I did not ride at all on Sat and did a 77 mile ride on Sunday. It felt pretty good and I did it in under 4 hours, which is a good pace for me. Probably a bit faster than I will plan to ride the IM at.

This weekend I did 40+ miles on Friday and planned to not ride on Sat and come back with an 80 mile ride today. Well a friend who I ride with a lot is having some major surgery so we organized a big ride on Sat. I only did the first 2/3rds of the ride but that was 43 miles. I went ahead and did the 80 miles this morning but it was brutal. Felt like crap most of the day. The pace was slower both because of fatigue and a nice headwind for the final 20 miles or so.

So my question is this. For these long rides on the weekend leading up to my IM, how long is long enough and should I be pushing as hard as I am? My feeling is as long as I take my rest days and recovery weeks pushing hard should help me get stronger.

Am I ok here or totally missing the point of the long rides?


2016-09-26 12:13 PM
in reply to: Stuartap

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Subject: RE: How long & how far
When I was training for my first full IM last year, I built up my mileage gradually and hit 90, 100, and 125 miles on 3 Saturdays before I started to taper down. I felt prepared mentally and physically when I did this (I did 125 alone). Most of the effort on those rides were in low to mid Z2 though. Some parts were in Z3 and Z4 when I did some climbing segments.

Roland
2016-09-27 6:55 AM
in reply to: Stuartap

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Subject: RE: How long & how far
Most people will say that 20 miles into a marathon is the 1/2 way point. Similar with biking I feel that 80 miles into a century ride is the 1/2 way point. Getting ready for an Ironman I would suggest you do several 80 mile rides and at least 2 rides of 100miles. If not 100miles at least spend the time in the saddle (on the road or trainer) that you expect to be on the bike during the race. So if you expect a 6hr bike during IM, line up 3 good movies and go spend 6 hours on your trainer!
2016-09-27 7:49 AM
in reply to: Stuartap

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Subject: RE: How long & how far
Are you following a training plan or just winging it?

If you've got a plan written out....stick with it and don't second guess.
2016-09-27 5:00 PM
in reply to: g_shotts

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Subject: RE: How long & how far
Originally posted by g_shotts

If you've got a plan written out....stick with it and don't second guess.


Best advise, just stick with the plan
2016-09-28 12:42 AM
in reply to: Stuartap


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Subject: RE: How long & how far
I have a couple of friends at various stages in their IM career - some have done a dozen, others have done one or two and some are preparing for their first.

We've all approached it differently (some with coaches, some with training plans from clubs, others with online based plans and some just winging it)....

We were talking about this exact topic the other day (ie, hard ride? long? how hard? easy sessions etc)

The consensus was that your long rides should be LONG and EASY - the purpose is to build endurance and stamina...

Then you should have some shorter harder sessions with some key efforts/intervals. these will build your speed and strength.

If you go too hard on your long rides, you run the risk of not getting the full benefit from the shorter/harder sessions (because you will have smashed you legs on the long ride) and, more importantly, if you do a series of hard long rides over a period of weeks you run the risk of getting fatigued towards the end of your training plan .... rather than building your endurance you could be damaging it.

So the simple rules should be - long sessions done at a slow, easy pace

Shorter sessions done harder with intervals

plenty of recovery in between.



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