General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Advice for my first 112 mile bike race Rss Feed  
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2013-01-04 4:11 PM

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South Wales, UK
Subject: Advice for my first 112 mile bike race
My wonderful husband has bought me for Christmas, an entry to the bike leg of the welsh ironman. It is held over a long course weekend and the bike leg is on the 13th july. it is considered to be the toughest in the ironman series, I am told. I am new to triathlon and completed a long sprint and an Olympic race last year. I love a challenge. We have two small children and I will be returning to work at the end of this year so I threw out there that I would love a challenge before I go back to work. I will also be doing my first middle distance race at the beginning of August. I have a road bike and I am quite slow, average about 16mph i am 40! I live in South Wales on the gower peninsula and there are hills everywhere. None of my rides are flat. My question is........ What advice can you give me? Regarding training, nutrition, anything would be helpful. Thank you xx


2013-01-04 4:13 PM
in reply to: #4562691

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Subject: RE: Advice for my first 112 mile bike race
Are you only planning on doing the bike leg of the IM?
2013-01-04 5:18 PM
in reply to: #4562691

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South Wales, UK
Subject: RE: Advice for my first 112 mile bike race
It's a long course weekend of the ironman course. So the swim is on the Friday, bike Saturday and run Sunday. You can pick and choose which part or you can do all of it. It is the same course as the iron man course but is organised by a different event team. Does that make sense?
2013-01-04 9:47 PM
in reply to: #4562691

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Subject: RE: Advice for my first 112 mile bike race

16mph and 40 is a pretty good place to start.  Think of your ride as a long Gran Fondo ride.  Any amount of strengthening your CORE and specifically your Quads to make you stronger will help with your training.

I can't speak for you but I found "Carbopro" was great for me on my Century ride last summer.  Its available in liquid or powder form.  I bought the liquid form and it was great for the 1st 5 hours but in the phenomenal heat that day (53deg C in the full on sun) it started to taste like pickle juice so I stopped drinking it but I felt strong and comfortable inspite of the heat.  I also was eating Honey Stinger waffles at each AID station.  They were handing them out, were quite tasty and I didn't need anything else.  At each AID station I drank a full waterbottle of water then poured in a serving of CarboPro and topped it up with water then the waffles.

You'll want lots of long distance rides building up your time in the saddle (perhaps two medium rides a week and one long ride - aiming to get progressively longer as you train).  Any good book on Century rides will help with decent advice for training and nutrition.  I would imagine CarboPro and Honey Stingers should be available to you.

CarboPro provides maltodextrin which lasts longer in your system rather than being metabolized too quickly like sugar would.

Be sure to write a race report for your ride.  I'm planning to do the same bike portion for Challenge Penticton this August.

I almost forgot - electrolytes - I added two tablets of Nuun to my carbopro to replace electrolytes.  I had planned to eat pretzels but it was so hot that day that I had trouble choking them down so I was really glad I had the Nuun with me as a back-up.  My brother in law riding with me had a different electrolyte so just use whatever works best for you.



Edited by wenceslasz 2013-01-04 9:52 PM
2013-01-05 7:53 AM
in reply to: #4562691

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South Wales, UK
Subject: RE: Advice for my first 112 mile bike race
Brilliant thanks for that. Yes I plan to start my half iron man training program in April so before that will be doing plenty of riding. Saturday mornings will be my long ride and have to squeeze it in before my partner goes off to cricket. Thanks for the advice about core muscles, it's a good reminder. I have a misaligned pelvis so have to do daily exercises or I can't exercise, some of that involves core exercises. Although I do go through patches of not doing the exercises and getting away with it but will get back on it. As for nutrition, I normally take dried apricots and chocolate!!!! But I probably need to refine that! I have completed one 50 mile bike ride last summer and half way we stopped at a tea shack and had a cuppa and a biscuit. It wasn't a fast ride tho. I will try the drink you have suggested and I have some nuun tablets that I got free from a race. I can't imagine it being hot here, more likely to be battling with the wind and rain, even in July. This is South Wales uk! My friend suggested I do some hill repeats as you would running, so choosing a hill on a circuit and going at it a few times, may try that. Thanks again x
2013-01-05 12:03 PM
in reply to: #4562691

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Subject: RE: Advice for my first 112 mile bike race

Have a look at what food/drinks are going to be provided at the aid stations.  See if you can get your body used to that.  Then you wont have to worry about carrying too much on the bike.

Living in a similar terrain and similar climate to the race is useful as you will know what to expect more on race day from the course and your body.

Try and make your long rides increasingly longer getting closer to the event, peaking 2-4 weeks out.  Exactly how far is a personal thing, some people would only go 60-70 miles as a long ride and be prepared for 112.  Some would do several rides over the race distance (3 or 4 at 100+).



2013-01-06 4:31 AM
in reply to: #4562691

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South Wales, UK
Subject: RE: Advice for my first 112 mile bike race
Thank you. There isn't much information available yet but I may email and find out about nutrition and aid stations. The race will be three weeks before my first half ironman so I will be training for that but hoping to increase my long ride as you suggested so will be above and beyond what is required for the half ironman. I think I will feel much more comfortable doing at least 80 and maybe 90 before the race but I guess it depends how tired I am and how I react to HIM training. Thanks for the input x
2013-01-06 5:44 AM
in reply to: #4562691

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Subject: RE: Advice for my first 112 mile bike race
You have plenty of time to prepare for your 112 mile ride. You'll be fine!

How much are you currently riding? Can you continue to ride outdoors over the winter months? If not, do you have a stationary trainer you can use?

The main thing for now is for you to begin building your bike-specific fitness. You can work out the details on nutrition as you begin to increase the length of your training sessions. Nutrition preferences are highly personal. As suggested, it's a good idea if you can ultimately find out what is being offered on the course and try training with that. If you can "live off the course" it makes things a lot easier during your event.

You might consider looking for a good Century ride training plan - search the web, there are plenty out there. In general, the more time you can spend in the saddle leading up to your event, the better. A good general approach might be to shoot for couple of shorter rides including some harder interval work, one mid-distance ride including some longer efforts near threshold (the point where things begin to feel a bit challenging), and one longer ride at more moderate effort. As you progress, all of those rides can get a little longer, ultimately working that long ride up to somewhere near your race distance.


2013-01-06 10:50 AM
in reply to: #4562691

Member
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South Wales, UK
Subject: RE: Advice for my first 112 mile bike race
Thanks for that. I have been riding till mid November and then I started doing one spin class a week and lots of long 10 or 12 miles each time of cross country runs to catch up with running buddies and just love doing that over winter. Not getting back in the pool til feb and back to sea swimming in April. I don't like the pool. As for cycling, I am going to continue the spin class once a week and hope to do at least a long ride once a week. But that will be dictated by the weather. I do have a trainer so I think I need to dust it off. I am thinking if I can do at least a long ride once a week maybe I can get away with just doing some intervals on the trainer. When the weather is bad I tend to run rather than bike, I find it frightening cycling in the fog and rain but running, I am quite happy heading out around the cliffs in a storm. Well thanks for the input, it has really clarified a lot in my mind. Thankyou, happy training xxx
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General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Advice for my first 112 mile bike race Rss Feed