Advice Please

pgibbo

Hi,
I did a couple of sprint triathlons last year with very little cycling and got on fine - all relative I guess but I found them comfortable enough (28km/h average in one and 28.5km/h in the other). I was planning to do a lot more cycling this year but I haven't done as well as expected. Given that I am around 12 weeks or so away from my first triathlon I had a couple of questions in regard to cycling.

A bit of background on the year so far - to date since Jan 1st I have had only 9 sessions on the bike. Of these only 3 were on the road.

35k @ 28km/h average;
78k @ 28km.h average;
30k @ 30km.h average.

The remainder were done on a trainer using the CTS DVDs - Power & Cadence discs. I am planning on a couple of sprint & olympic events this year and possibly a half IM if things go well.

I am a bit tight on time in that my average week is usually 2 Karate sessions, 2 swims, 2 runs, 1 gym & 1 cycle. A while to get there but here are my questions;

1. Given that I have a 11 mile commute to work, would cycling this help or would they be just junk miles?
2. With time constraints are TT sessions or road miles better?
3. Commute the odd day and add mileage on the way home to make it a proper cycle training session?
4. What is considered a higher than normal pace for triathlon cycle legs?
5. Would cycling to work on rest days as an active rest session be beneficial?

Any other toughts or comments would be appreciated. Thank you. :cool:

blorg

I would tend to go around or slower than that on the road and managed a bit over 35km/h average in the two tri/duathlons I did last year. 20km cycle sections. Personally I would see a benefit in cycling to work, I generally think there is a benefit to more cycling unless it is adversely impacting on specific training you want to be doing or indeed your racing. 11 miles is long enough.

More experienced people will be along with better advice (I'm thinking Tunney )

pgibbo

Cheers Blorg. Appreciate the feedback. Maybe posting late on a Friday evening wasn't so smart - at least I'm hoping that's why none of the more experienced people weighed in!

scottreynolds

pgibbo wrote: »

1. Given that I have a 11 mile commute to work, would cycling this help or would they be just junk miles?:

This could be either. You need to decide some days to go hard and some days to go easy. I'd pick one day where you can do an additional 5 miles on the way home and put in a tough sesison at a good pace. This would almost be a second ride day if you know what I mean.

2. With time constraints are TT sessions or road miles better?:

Not sure I understand the q but I'd say 20 miles on the bike is 20 miles ROAD or TT won't matter. Although if your using the TT bike for you long rides its certainly beneficial to your day Tri. I read somewhere, after a long ride on the TT try to do a short run to get used to the sesation of converting from biking to running.[/QUOTE]

3. Commute the odd day and add mileage on the way home to make it a proper cycle training session?

Good idea, I should have read this properly befire answering q1.

4. What is considered a higher than normal pace for triathlon cycle legs?

Normal is normal for you. I'd guess 30km/h seems to be your average. To get normal for everyone look at the averages from the results. Try to do some intervals above this pace to increase your pace a bit.

5. Would cycling to work on rest days as an active rest session be beneficial?

Yes, but keep them as easy as possible. Really reall easy.

Any other toughts or comments would be appreciated. Thank you. :cool:

Join a club -- they will be much better at helping you than me. :-)

pgibbo

Thanks for all that info Scotty. Where I have referenced TT above I was referring to a Turbo Trainer. The muppet that I am didn't think of TT bikes. Sorry about that.

Just entered Carna Tri this morning. No backing out now!! :cool:

I would love to join a club but I just don't have the time to be honest. They tend to train in the evenings and I need to get as much out of early mornings and lunch as possible. I am already gone 3 or 4 evening with Karate and swimming. Joining a tri club and going with them on additional evenings would not be fair on my OH.

scottreynolds

pgibbo wrote: »

Scotty

I hate that -- I used to hate my school teacher for calling me Scotty. I guess its my parents fault.

pgibbo wrote: »

Where I have referenced TT above I was referring to a Turbo Trainer.

Oh I love Turbo Trainer sessions for the quality. If your specific in your training, i.e. o want to do 70 minutes with 2x20 minutes at a specific HR then they are fine but just be aware that road traing will give you a better idea of how things are going on the road.

pgibbo wrote: »

OH

I'm guilty of the same. Its tough balancing everything but hopefully they understand your obsessed.

pgibbo

Sincere apologies Scott. I mis-read your name.

When on the trainer I tend to do the cadence and power workouts from CTS. These last around one hour. I have other ones but haven't tried them yet. On rest days I am going to try and add a recovery / technique session from the spinervals series. Did this one yesterday and it was somewhat similair to the session you described. Thanks again.

scottreynolds

pgibbo wrote: »

When on the trainer I tend to do the cadence and power workouts from CTS. These last around one hour. I have other ones but haven't tried them yet. On rest days I am going to try and add a recovery / technique session from the spinervals series. Did this one yesterday and it was somewhat similair to the session you described. Thanks again.

Ever ridden on a real road?

pgibbo

scottreynolds wrote: »

Ever ridden on a real road?

LOL.....not as much as I would like. I'm hoping that's all about to change with the time change at the weekend. :cool:

thebouldwhacker

pgibbo wrote: »

I am already gone 3 or 4 evening with Karate and swimming.

Exactly what kinda triathlon are you doing?
swim, cycle & kick the Sh** outa everyone and stroll home with first place?

Hmmm, I like it:cool:

pgibbo

thebouldwhacker wrote: »

pgibbo wrote: »

Exactly what kinda triathlon are you doing?
swim, cycle & kick the Sh** outa everyone and stroll home with first place?

Hmmm, I like it:cool:

Probably the only way I would win a prize! Mind you, given how far ahead some of the guys were last year I'd have my work cut out to catch them first.