90 km Race - Need Advice Please

alwaystoohot

I've been an enthusiastic cyclist for 6 months, riding 2-3 times a week (+ swimming and general gym work). I normally cycle up to 40kms at 20kms/hour on a touring/commuting bike with a 33 chainset. I raced in a 40kms race last month and thoroughly enjoyed it but it was hard work on my bone shaker.

I've subsequently bought a ROSE Pro-RS 4400 (aluminium) with SRAM Red - the full monty.

I've been invited to race the 90kms cycle leg of a Half Ironman next march. Buckets of time but I have never 'trained' for such a race nor seen a training schedule in a magazine etc...

How do I go from a keen amateur with a commuter chainset to a competent racer on the ROSE so I don't let my team mates down on the Ironman?

Bronzie

So basically a 50 mile time trial............plenty of advice on here (search) or on the web on suitable training for that sort of event

cyco2

I reckon your mates are desperate for a rider. But having said that they may think you are wonderful and the answer to their prayers with you they are going to be victorious. You should be able to do it providing you take precautions. Lots to drink and something to eat that replaces your energy on the go. Start off gently, with other riders around pick one that suits your pace. Good luck

alwaystoohot

Thanks for the response guys, I'm starting with a local group straight away and will quickly build up to 60kms, I dont see fitness as a problem, but am after training techniques to built up speed.

I'm an ok swimmer so I guess I'll just adapt my training schedule to cycling. But not in the pool obviously... :P

By teh way I serached for time trial training and couldnt find anything... Doh!

Bronzie

OK, well I'm sure there's plenty of good advice already on the forum on this subject, but it must be buried under a ton of dross because I couldn't find much either

Here's what I would do in your shoes:
1. Stick clip-on aerobars on your new bike and adjust saddle position to get as aero as possible
2. Build up your mileage (using your new position as much as possible) so that you are able to complete 80-110km at steady pace fairly comfortably - probably can get away with 1 long ride per week mixed up with shorter rides. Build your weekly riding hours gradually week-on-week to avoid overdoing it (ie max +10% per week).
3. Once you've completed a good base of endurance level riding (2-3 months), start adding in some structured interval sessions - typically 2 x 20 minute sessions at threshold pace (L4 - see the Coggan training levels in my sig link) with a 5-10 min recovery of easy riding in between. Start off with one session per week and add another session as you progress. Carry on with endurance rides in between your interval days.
4. After 4-8 weeks of gradually increasing intensity longer intervals, switch to higher intensity shorter intervals (typically 5x5mins @ L5 with 3-5 mins recovery) to bring on your top-end speed - try and time it so that you are starting these 4-8 weeks before your event in March. Maximum of 2 sessions per week with endurance level rides mixed in.
5. Find a decent course of around 40km in length (over similar terrain to your Half-Ironman course and without traffic lights and other hold-ups if possible) and ride it in training once a week in the 8-12 weeks building up to your event - keep a record of your times over the course to gauge your improvement. Ideally you want to get to the point where you can cover the training loop twice, as fast as possible, without blowing up.
6. If there are similar cycling events (shorter time trials or tris) that you can ride as preparation before hand then that's even better as you can probably push yourself a bit harder with a number on your back than you can in training. It'll be good practice to getting your pacing right for your race which is usually the tricky bit in longer time trials.

Probably others can add their thoughts, but hopefully this gives you some idea.

oldwelshman

If your in singapore, its easy, just invite me over for a holiday and I will train with you