Bike Pacing question

Also interested.

I've tried a lot of strategies (even-splits, negative splits, cranking the bike and trusting the run, etc)  and I've been working to dial this in for myself with half-irons.  Here are my thoughts as they relate to HIMs.  Maybe these would work for you in an Oly, but I don't think they are applicable to a Sprint.

First - I'm a big fan of Joe Friel and I think he has it right - The key is to start each of the swim, bike and run at what feels easy and then pick up the perceived effort.  

Bike:  Ride smooth and stay aero in a good body position.  "Smooth" means smooth shifting and no power spikes (there are no benefits to hammering).  Be careful about insisting that you maintain a certain MPH on the course because the terrain and wind will impact the speed greatly. 

Make sure to stick to your nutrition and hydration plan, but don't start eating until your HR has settled to your normal bike pace after the swim. 

Towards the end of the bike, get out of the saddle for a bit and stretch hamstrings, calves and lower back  After that, sit back down and put your bike into a smaller gear and spin your legs over, rather than cranking big gears all the way into the transition.  

On the run, ease into your pace and get your breathing under control.  Expect your legs to feel sluggish at the start.  The first quarter of the run is relatively slow.  Focus on your form and run efficiently. 

Quarters 2 and 3 are run at a steady pace, neither too fast nor too slow.  Quarter 4 is where I pick it up while staying aerobic.  Push hard the last mile and kick to the finish.

By the way, it helps me to remind myself on the run that this is not supposed to feel good.  In fact, it usually hurts a lot on the run and especially the last half.  I've come to expect that feeling and that expectation helps me to push through to the end.

Simple answer is what I tell my athletes...assuming fitness is not a limiter...is that they can ride right at or just below LT and their run will not be affected.

This strategy has been executed successfully by them...but you need to train properly for this type of race execution.

PM me if you'd like to reach out to a couple of them on how this race execution worked for them. (They are BT.com folks too.)



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Edited by Steve- 2009-08-05 5:23 PM

can you post the splits?

fitness is #1.  are you running as much as you should?  bricks won't prepare you for this.  it could very well be you are blowing up on the bike.  but its also hard to tell when you have nothing in your logs.