Ideal Fatigue

Thanks for the questions Hamburglar. The main goal of this week's training is to determine at what intensity I'll be racing at during Shepparton Half Ironman (HIM). Once I have the weeks data all together, I'll get stuck into the details.

During the bike leg, yes I plan on watching the heart rate. In fact I will basically use heart rate along with monitoring how I feel as my guide for the middle leg. You asked why I don't plan on using a cadence meter. This is a personal thing and I appreciate that many other people find it very helpful to watch their cadence while racing. For me however, I find it has the tendency to slow me down. From experience I have found that by settling into a comfortable or natural cadence not only feels better during the ride, but seems to result in less heaviness on the run when compared to trying to sustain an arbitrary rpm. I don't have science behind me on this one. It simply feels better. Just keep in mind that I don't have a tendency to drop to low cadences, my typical natural range is usually 85-95rpm depending on conditions.

Now for the how long is a piece of string question: What is the ideal fatigue level after the swim and bike?

Not easy to answer. There are so many theories and opinions out there. Naturally you have to take into consideration personal strengths and weaknesses in relation to the course terrain and conditions, your goals for the event plus contingency plans for the unexpected. I'll outline the basic idea of my approach for the upcoming HIM. Again, I'll get into greater detail after this week is over.

  1. Swim: Solid and Fast. Just a bit slower than an all out effort. Personally I don't seem to experience any residual fatigue carrying over from the swim into the rest of the race, so I treat the swim as almost a stand alone event. The only exception is that I don't put in a sprint at the end.
  2. Bike: Ride at the fastest speed that still allows me to run my fastest run. Check out 2Peak for some interesting analysis of the Hawaiian Ironman this year, where they compared cycling power to running speed. For me it is some data that supports my own beliefs of having an efficient and controlled ride. I have a history of enjoying letting people go way ahead of me on the bike only to bring them back in once I'm on my feet. I always remember reading some time ago Peter Reid stating that after working hard in training on the bike, he noticed he wasn't riding any faster on race day, but that he was able to run faster.
  3. Run: Don't force the start, allow the legs to find a rhythm then settle into a good pace. Part way in reassess and make minor adjustments. The final third of the run just open it up with whatever I have left.

Comments

  1. Hamburglar5 November 2007 at 20:49

    Thanks for the detailed responce and advice. Look forward to seeing this week's data.

    BTW - nice link as well!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ewen6 November 2007 at 10:30

    Interesting about having a bike leg which allows you to run your fastest run. That would be the fastest you can run after having biked at some speed.

    So, in long tris, you basically ride at training pace? This is different to time trial cyclists who obviously ride much faster than their general training pace. Interesting.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sandy Point Half Marathon

Image
Any race that uses a picture of myself as promotion makes me think I should compete in it. Wouldn't want to disappoint the masses. Last year my race slow and cold over the same course. A time of 1:30:20, was disappointing and a kick up the backside to get to what really works in training. Since then I have put in a lot of consistent kilometres and have seen some improvement. I was definitely going to race faster this year. Based on my race results over the last few months the hope was to see if I could get down to near 1:24:xx. The weather was very different this year. Far from cold, in fact I think it was our warmest night in a few months. However, there was a Damaging Winds warning issued, with predictions of 65km/hr gales to slow things downs a bit. The winds hit, according to the weather sites: NNE averaging around 50km/hr with gusts of 76km/hr. That made for some interesting race tactics. Luckily the rain held off until after the race. For some reason I felt ready with only 1
Read more

Surfcoast Century - Race Report

Image
Well I did it. My first 100km trail ultra is done and dusted. In short, it was an amazing experience. This is how it unfolded. I stayed down with my wife, kids and sister in a nice house a short distance from the race. A pretty chilled evening, some simple pasta and disappointing loss in the AFL prelim. In the middle was race registration and briefing. Signing in had me feeling nervous for the first time, but I soon relaxed after catching up with a few people. Though it played on my mind I couldn't check and recheck my drop bags after I handed them over, even though I'd already checked them at least ten times. The sleep was a little disturbed, but that's no problem. I'd slept well during the rest of the week. Up early, liquid breakfast, coffee and a selection of stretches and movements had me feeling loose and ready. Soon enough I got my way down to the start. The weather was brilliant. Bright blue skies, plenty of sun and a light cool breeze. I couldn't ask fo
Read more

Shepparton Half Ironman - Race Report

Image
If I wanted to sum this day up in one word it would have to be: - unexpected . I think it is best to start from the beginning. The Day Before After a cruisy morning we headed out for the 2 hour drive to Shepparton. Air-conditioner running, the trip soon passed. We arrived at registration early and got the necessities out of the way before the crowd arrived. I had been checking the weather forecast for the last three days and they all said race day was going to be a hot one at 36 degrees Celsius. Now that I was at the race venue, rumours were spreading saying the latest was an expected top of 39! Bike checked in, some food down the hatch, nothing left to do but get my nutritionals together and relax before dinner. The last supper involved a simple pasta at an overpriced restaurant. Soon enough I was back at the motel with my wife and sister-in-law ready to put the head down. Race Day 0430 After a broken sleep (as usual pre-race) my alarm sounded. It's amazing how much more energy I
Read more