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Training for Time Trails

by SirAlwynTheSecond
Thu, Sep 04, 2008 12:19
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I'm racing Triathlon this year, mainly Olympic distance and sprint. Which equates to 25 mile and 15 km time trials. I would like to get the 25 mile in under 1 hour and still enough left for the run, my current time is 1.04 during a Triathlon. How should I train to achieve this time?

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Mat Brett | 16 years ago
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Hey SirAlwyn

You got any more races this year? Or is this for next season?

I'd concentrate on over-distance base miles over the winter, at fairly low intensity. So, stay below 75% of your maximum heart rate through the off-season, getting as much time on the bike as you can. Get at least one 2hr+ ride a week if you can.

Then get the intervals in as race-time approaches. So, you need to go into your anaerobic zone (usually about 80-85% of your maximum heart rate), stay there for a few minutes, recover and repeat. You could go to 85% for 5mins, recover for 5-10mins, then repeat. Maybe do that four times - that'll be an hour. Do that session once (or maybe twice) a week for a few weeks to help raise the level at which you switch from aerobic to anaerobic systems.

Plus, use the winter to practise running off the bike, even if it's only 5-10mins, cos that's the important bit. Do that once a week and you're much less likely to get jelly legs in the race when you start running.

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SirAlwynTheSecond replied to Mat Brett | 16 years ago
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I may have a winter race this year, but apart from that it is next year. That all sounds good and is very helpful.

What about Turbo during the winter and what heart rate and time should I be working on a Turbo.

Luckily I don't suffer from jelly legs, this could be because I do a lot of cycle to run sessions. Any good race tips?

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joeatjbstdotcom replied to SirAlwynTheSecond | 16 years ago
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Just to add that the 80-85% HR intervals are about right - but do them with between 1 min and 1.5 mins light spinning - 10 mins between is too long...

And be sure not to use the turbo to ride too hard in the winter base building period, use it to hone your position, work on single leg drills... better still get some rollers and really feel what its like to have a sense of balance and finesse! JB

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the-daily-ripper replied to joeatjbstdotcom | 16 years ago
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Having done my first tri this year (sprint), and planning 3 olympics next year, my plan consists of getting base miles in between now and early february - basically upping the endurance, but also including some hill efforts in there just to really nail it and remember what it feels like to be at full power.

The thing I find really useful is pyramids (easier to manage on a turbo) so one of these a week, and then upping them to twice in january is great and gets your sprint speed up. I'd recommend starting off with say a 40min one, based on 10mins warm-up, 5 mins at a decent pace, 4mins upping either pace or resistance, 3mins one step up, 2 up one more, and a minute flat out, then back down the pyramid, finishing with a 5 / 10 min warmdown. As you get faster / they get easier, play with both timing and intensity.

One thing to watch out for though is too much riding over the winter and neglecting the running - make sure you do get some distance miles on foot as well if you can, as then you won't over-specialise your muscles, so they should remain flexible and ready to work on running intervals early in the season too for speed work.

Oh, and there's some useful stuff on tri-talk too. :thumb:

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