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2012-01-02 4:36 PM
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Subject: RE: Bike pacing for IM

bertgwen - 2011-12-31 9:17 AM
SAquavia - 2011-12-30 4:29 PM Becuase no matter what that power meter reads on that day, your body is going to feel like what your body feels like, and you will need to adjust your effort accordingly, numbers be damned. 
Up until the your last quote above, I completely agreed with what you had to say. The above is why so many people, myself included, go out to hard on the bike and end up blowing up later in the race. You're tapered, full of adrenaline, on top of the world, and everyone else is full on the gas. Numbers be damned, time to drop the hammer..... This is why I bit the bullet and bought a powertap for this go round, you obviously still need to know your body and your capabilitities, but the power meter gives you a pretty reliable indicator of the pace you "should" ride.

Totally get you.  I guess I failed to mention the super secret ingredient: experience.  Thinking further on this, it's probably pretty clear to someone if they're having an off day and should move their power goals downward.   It's when you're feeling good that you have to draw on that experience to know if its "fools gold" or not.



2012-01-18 6:49 PM
in reply to: #3947926

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Subject: RE: Bike pacing for IM

A few notes:

Rule #1: the purpose of the bike is to set up the run. There is NO such thing as a good bike split followed by a poor run. You should continuously ask yourself "is what I'm doing here setting up the run or am I trying to make a bike split happen?" I'm not saying that you don't ride fast or you're purposely going slow. I'm saying that you always keep this priority in mind. By simply doing this you'll ride smarter than 80% of the field and you can then begin have a conversation about the more detailed stuff below.

Rule #2: about 80% of the field doesn't know how to pace an Ironman bike. Proper pacing is then largely a matter of continually finding yourself doing the opposite of everyone else.

Rule #3: See Rule #1. Seriously.

All: solid Z1/~65% of FTP/Easy/JRA for the first 30-60' of the IM bike, then:

Projected split of ~5:15-6rs -- Z2/70-75%/Steady. Now...there's a good bit more that goes into that 70-75%. For these folks riding with power, with a well paced bike split will shake out at about 270-295 TSS points. Goal VI (Variability Index) is < 1.06.

Projected split slower than about 6:00-10 -- Z1-2/~68-70%/Easy-Steady. These folks with power will shake out at 320+ TSS, but they are still good. Same or similar VI goal, though these folks are usually a bit higher because they typically lack the w/kg or absolute wattage numbers to get up steeper climbs without going sometimes well above their targets.

However, if you do ^this^ above, you've come off the bike in a position to run with the maybe 15-20% of field who also paced it well. You now need to pace the run correctly, about which there is comparatively very little discussion. That is, of the 20% who've joined you at mile 1 of the run, a very large percentage of that group will go on to booger their run pacing.

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2012-01-18 7:56 PM
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2012-01-19 8:37 AM
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Subject: RE: Bike pacing for IM

Fred D - 2012-01-18 4:56 PM Rich, what's the rationale for the first 30-60' at 65%?

Ok, it should maybe be 65-70%, depending on the athlete. Intent is to let your body settle in, control your arrousal, before getting to work. For example, I rode at about 68% for ~30-45' at IMWI before settling in at my goal watts.

2012-01-19 9:08 AM
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2012-01-19 9:31 AM
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Subject: RE: Bike pacing for IM
Rich Strauss - 2012-01-18 7:49 PM

A few notes:

Rule #1: the purpose of the bike is to set up the run. 

...

All: solid Z1/~65% of FTP/Easy/JRA for the first 30-60' of the IM bike, then:

Projected split of ~5:15-6rs -- Z2/70-75%/Steady. Now...there's a good bit more that goes into that 70-75%. For these folks riding with power, with a well paced bike split will shake out at about 270-295 TSS points. Goal VI (Variability Index) is < 1.06.

...

+1  THE goal is to arrive at the start of the MARATHON, well fueled and hydrated and with not burned out legs.

 

I don't have a scientific answer for going out easier on the bike for the first 30 to 60 minutes.  I did it and it worked.  I called it resting after the excitement of the swim.  I called it getting warmed up on the bike.  I called it letting my hear rate settle.  I don't have one definite reason, but I did it.  I got passed by dozens.  Which totally did not matter to me.  But I passed many of them in the last hour, and many more a few hours into the run.  Which didn't matter either, I was running my own race, but felt cool.



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