Winning an Ironman race and training only on an indoor bike: you can!

I don't doubt it.  BUT...I couldn't get over the boredom.  I have to ride outside or I would go crazy. 

I"ve read somewhere that there are a couple of pro's that do the majority of their bike training inside, mostly to avoid traffic and injuries

Congrats to your friend and there is no way in hell I would do that.

Injuries...that's my 2nd reason why I prefer to stay inside.

Of course, against the indoor trianing, there is the max length I can sustain: no more than 2h45 so far in my life and I was going for a suicide that day...

I've actually been told that lengthy trainer rides can CAUSE injuries....overuse ones like ITBS and such.

I did 4:45 in training for New Orleans 70.3 (it was early season, April 5). It was life altering, I'm not sure i could do it again.

I do all my weekday training indoors due to my schedule so I focus on intervals and limit it to 2 hours and it's been good for me. I do my weekend rides outside. I think not riding outside at all would be a big loss. I love it and wish I had more time for it during the week.

Thanks for posting this. 

I broke both of my wrists a couple weeks ago and have been on the trainer since in prep for IMLOU.  Was wondering if this would be much of a limitation.  Apparently not!

I did five hours straight last weekend, and I have never been so glad for a workout to end.  I would like to put in another long ride this weekend, but I'm not sure my mind will be recovered by then.

I agree on this and I will never do more than 2.5hrs on the trainer but for sure I am going to focus 3x times a week on the trainer and 1x outside for the long ride.
Before reading this article I was always convinced that indoor riding would not have given much benefit but, now, wvwn after my first Ironman mostly prepared on the trainer, I turned my mind.
What I am missing is the powertap which will be my next gift

http://home.trainingpeaks.com/articles/triathlon/minimalist-ironman...


I just came across this article as well which seems to validate the indoor trainer.

Much like peeing on the bike, just because something's possible and might save me some time on the bike doesn't mean I want to do it...

I'm usually ready to kill myself after an hour on the trainer and don't foresee that changing anytime soon.

Winter I am limited to indoor trainer rides, so once the weather shifts I want outside!!! Even though because of the intensity I do think that trainer rides are harder and that more of my gains are during the winter in terms of wattage but I like riding outside!!!!

A guy I know locally won his AG at Lake Placid this year and rode 6 times a week and only once outside and the rest on computrainer. He did huge volume and training inside he said was safer and more time efficient.

I'm debating doing a 24 hour bike race in February in Feb.. I had planned to do it this year but didn't fit in the plan well working with a new coach. I really want to do it but it would mean a few 10-14 hour days on the trainer this winter and trying to decide if I want to do it enough to put in that kind of time on the trainer. Honestly mentally I don't find trainer hard to do any more, I like having a plan of what I am to do and just execute it.

Not being able to "rest" on the trainer is part of the benefit   The computrainer does help with that, as you can easily adjust the tension from the handlebar unit (stand-alone mode) or use an appropriate course program in computer mode. For the descents, you have to keep pedaling or you stop; although it does get easier when you are going "downhill".

I love the computrainer for the focused workouts, but don't know that it is tremendously better for relieving the boredom factor when riding indoors. It helps, but it's still much more boring than riding outdoors. I'm really interested in trying one of the "Real Course Videos" and the live-camera erg videos, as I've heard that those add another level of interest.

Raymond Britt did just about all of his riding indoors on a CT.  He is a 3 time HI Ironman qualifier and finisher. He typically did 2-3 ironmen in a year. 

From following his training, he based most of it on 1) running and 2) weekly 56 mile computrainer loops. He also did very little pool training. 

Not saying it works for everyone but it worked for him.

That is what I really meant.  I figured riding an actual course with video, even computer generated would be better than just sitting on a trainer.  I assume they have games like a virtual competitor to race against.  That could help to.

This is an interesting discussion, I have been thinking a lot about.  Well, not winning an IM, bt doing one with mostly trainer rides.

For health reasons I am on blood thinners, and there is a possibility that I may be on them for life.  Falling can be more dangerous on them, so I am currently weighing the risks and one approach is to train 95% inside with a little bit outside,. and then race.  I figure a course closed to cars will be safe enough on race day.  I am not a huge fan of the trainer, but at least it gives me hope that I might still be able to race (relatively speaking, even n a closed course I wouldn't bomb any downhills)

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There are many pros that use a computrainer or trainer+power meter yer around and it allows you to do very specific training sessions without distractions. It is one of the beauties of training with power; you have real live information and there is not guessing, you either do the work or not. Also you can quantify your total load and measure improvements day in day out.

I use my CP year around and even during the summer due to time constraints I do my hard threshold sessions on it. That been said while it is possible to do mots of your training on the CP or trainer I personally would rather eat a gun! I love riding outside and the pleassure and motivation I get from doing a hard climb, a time trial or just a group ride with friends makes cycling fun. I think my longest ride on the trainer was like 2.5 hrs and that was enough for me, I might use it as an alternative when bad weather hits and I need to get an specific session, still during the winter I'll limit my time on it to 1-1.5 hrs max.

Cool read nevertheless. Some friends raced there afe weeks ago and their only big complaint about it was the terrible and blatant drafting on the bike...

PennState - thanks for the info on the RCV vs. erg videos. Given that the erg videos are also cheaper, I think I'll go that route first.