I guess if you have an hour and 10 minute bike scheduled then a 1 hour 30 minute total commute makes sense, as long as you take your commute at an equal effort level that you would put forth during a normal ride/workout...but when do you only go for an hour and 10 minutes during an ironman training plan? interval workouts?

hmmm.....I don't know if I'd count it as a full workout if you're commuting. Unless you carry a lot of gear or ride a really heavy bike you might come up a bit short. (8.5@45mins = 11.33mph?)

You'd have to know your wattage to really make a call. If you're putting our the same watts at a slower speed you might be ok. I'd still keep commuting. But maybe try to fit in a higher intensity work out some where in the week.

I'd say yes. But then I'm a big fan of both bike commuting and fitting in workouts wherever you can. Up to 30% of the bike mileage I do is commuter miles, on a big heavy mountainbike or a tandem.

I remember reading an interview with Pam Reed the year she won the Badwater ultra-marathon and she said that she ran a lot of her miles in chunked-up increments. Like she'd drop her kids for soccer practice and run 55 minutes of laps around the soccer field, etc. She didn't put in nearly the contiguous long runs that athletes like Dean Karnazes were doing, but she still won the thing.

I'd say that it counts towards a workout. Musch like Ironmom posted, you have to work with what you have. I bike commute everyday on a SS and essentially do a time trial each way. You still have to do your long rides as req'd and keep the base mileage going. The thing you'll have to watch out for is overtraining. No matter what, you'll get some bike and something else...everyday. Be careful not to over do it.

[quote=Gsal]as long as you take your commute at an equal effort level that you would put forth during a normal ride/workout [/quote]
I think that's the deal breaker. For me, the idea of a bike commute to my office job (would be, never done it) to not get too hot and to try not to get killed in rush-hour traffic in the 4th largest metro area in the US with 6 million people. Regardless, you are lucky if you have the logistical opportunity to commute. Good for you. Off topic, I would take a 10% pay cut to be able to safely ride to work, have it be at a training level, and have a shower.

I count it toward training mileage, but don't replace any important longer rides with it. So, I guess, yes I count it toward easy base/recovery mileage

count the work as training and be happy you're able to do it, but i'd hesitate to have it replace your training goal for the day

hop on the trainer @ 5am and do the right workout, then spin it in to work
(this is what I do, albeit with a shorter commute)

I've been commuting min. 25k each way for over a year now, since March 2007. This is the backbone of my IM training. I vary my route to include and additional 7kms of climbing, or an extra 20kms or more on rolling roads, or flat roads through orchards, on my way in or route home as the mood strikes me or weather permits.
Then I may brick it or swim or whatever, because I live in the great place I do.
Vernon is in the middle of 3 lakes. Home is 25k north in Armstrong and Silver Star Mountain is 21k East of Vernon, so I have the best of all possible worlds.
My training log reflects this commuting mileage 250 to 350kms per week. W/ends I try to get in a 160km ride when I can.
[img]http://www.andytheflyguy.ca/pages/images/scenery/013.jpg[/img]
in the picture above, Vernon is in the foreground, Silver Star mtn. is on the right. Armstrong is in the distance to the north.

[url=http://www.trifuel.com/forum/16195/is-commuting-working-out]btw, we have explored this topic before and the thread October, 2008 makes for good reading too.[/url]

PoC

I agree with those that have said make it a workout - I probably do 75% of my bike training as commuting (going 12 miles one way, and I shower at work). And, one thing I've done as part of my training is to take my morning commute kind of easy and then make my evening commute a little longer or faster. You could do this with a trainer once you get home if you don't have a good place for some longer uninterupted roads to ride on. You still get a base, but can put in some speed and add extra mileage as needed.

A further thought.

Nobody said your morning/evening rides are limited to [i]ONLY[/i] 8.5 miles.

You can obviously go longer on the way home as it suits you. Vary the route according to your whim, or the weather, or whatever it says on your 36-week program guide. If it says "Do a 90 minute ride in Zone 1 today" you can always do extra laps of the parking lot if you like.

Junk miles don't count however, like hopping on the bike to wheel ONE mile down to 7/11 for a Slurpie, then logging 2 miles of biking is pushing the concept a bit. heh.

PoC

PoC