NAIL YOUR IRONMAN BIKE PACE

The only way to nail the 180k is to practise pacing it in the aero position. Here’s how…

Learning to pace for an iron-distance bike leg is very much about controlling your power and heart rate. While most triathletes are very good at completing long endurance rides, to improve this further you need to engage the energy systems needed for harder riding. A great way to do this is to include harder sustained blocks of intensity that can go from 75%-85% of FTP (function threshold power – the highest average power you can maintain for 1hr cycling). While we’re predominantly training the body and legs, sessions like this are crucial to help train the gut. In order to take in the 80-100g of carbs required for an Ironman you need to rehearse this in harder sessions, so that you know your body can handle it.

This session stresses the legs into a situation that they might not be comfortable with by using lower cadences for the main set. This lower-cadence activation means that you’re engaging more muscle sets and strengthening the supporting muscles to the pedal stroke.