You all do base work too slow!!!!!!!

bryancd - 2009-01-13 6:16 PM Time to shake thing up in the IM Training Forum! Winter. A time when those of you silly enough to live where it's cold struggle to get in workouts and those of us clever enough to live where it's warm put down the big outdoor mileage. But no matter what the temperature outside or inside on a trainer, now is the time so many IM athletes turn to "BASE", the dirty four letter word no one understands. I have no interest in trying to define it as it's very subjective. I would like to suggest to all those who have some triathlon experience and are doing an IM race this year, don't go too slow. Zone 1, even most of Zone 2 for a fit athlete is a waste of the precious time we have. Just because it's "BASE" doesn't equal "Sitting up on my aero bars taring at the pretty birdies"!

 "Staring." Just sayin'...

bryancd - 2009-01-13 7:16 PM 30 min gone, too late...

LOL!

Common, someone argue  the contrary

Please, its way more fun that way

 zone sucks.. real teams play man to man ... wait.. what ??

I'll stir the pot  I am not doing an IM this year, I may do an IM next year, I will do an IM in the next five years. I think an athlete training for an IM should train at the intensity they plan to race, an IM is a slow event and with that an aerobic endurance effort, but what defines aerobic endurance for each athlete is when things get difficult. I don't think all IM athletes race Z3 for the duration, with a Z4 push to finish off the marathon, but ideally that is what people would aim for. I think many IM athletes race Z2/Z3, and others Z1/Z2. My personal opinion is that a lot of people jump in to an IM before the bodies have adapted to racing at a high level for an extended effort, and therefore they can't do it on race day. So if you can't race high Z2/Z3 then you probably can't train it either. The most important training speed is the one that keeps you healthy and injury free. If your training intensity injures you, then you are training to hard, and you will have a subpar race performance.

So the question could also be posed as "Are people racing IMs to easy?"
I would be interested in seeing HR data from an IM to see what intensity people race vs train.

ditchdoc - 2009-01-13 7:13 PM

bryancd - 2009-01-13 6:16 PM Time to shake thing up in the IM Training Forum! Winter. A time when those of you silly enough to live where it's cold struggle to get in workouts and those of us clever enough to live where it's warm put down the big outdoor mileage. But no matter what the temperature outside or inside on a trainer, now is the time so many IM athletes turn to "BASE", the dirty four letter word no one understands. I have no interest in trying to define it as it's very subjective. I would like to suggest to all those who have some triathlon experience and are doing an IM race this year, don't go too slow. Zone 1, even most of Zone 2 for a fit athlete is a waste of the precious time we have. Just because it's "BASE" doesn't equal "Sitting up on my aero bars taring at the pretty birdies"!

 "Staring." Just sayin'...

I thought that he was imitating Sylvester the Cat! Or is that Tweety Bird!

I will disagree with you in regards to no "easy" work.  I agree that if you're time limited you're better served with intensity.  But you have to recover as well.  That is where your upper Z1/Z2 stuff come in.  Low Z1...that's walking the dog pace right?

If YOU were my athlete for a Tuesday 2 hr ride, I would tell you to not exceed 17 mph or 133 bpm.

Assuming pure HR training:  Anyone else, I would give them (assuming a fit person) a mixture of Z2, Z3 work with a warm up and cool down in Z1. 

I'm glad I continued down the thread before I relied because I did not agree with what you originally had posted.  Glad to see that you agree with Z1 recovery.  As a triathlete in my late 40s I need these recovery days more than ever!

ETA: does anyone see any benefit by training in Z3?  I really try to stay away from that zone.

Absolutely. Z3 is solid work that most (experienced) athletes can repeat day after day without trashing themselves.  In fact, I think Bryan is esentially advocating lots of high z2-z3 work.  Throw in some z4 and adequate recovery and you can get some pretty good 'bang for your buck' training.

bryancd - 2009-01-13 6:16 PM Time to shake thing up in the IM Training Forum! Winter. A time when those of you silly enough to live where it's cold struggle to get in workouts and those of us clever enough to live where it's warm put down the big outdoor mileage. But no matter what the temperature outside or inside on a trainer, now is the time so many IM athletes turn to "BASE", the dirty four letter word no one understands. I have no interest in trying to define it as it's very subjective. I would like to suggest to all those who have some triathlon experience and are doing an IM race this year, don't go too slow. Zone 1, even most of Zone 2 for a fit athlete is a waste of the precious time we have. Just because it's "BASE" doesn't equal "Sitting up on my aero bars staring at the pretty birdies"!

I have to agree.  After hiring a coach and being tested. My base training is about 10 beats higher in both run and bike compared to last year.  Kinda makes me wonder if.... but this year its solid work(for me).