Hi all,
I just did a half ironman and for my bike leg I felt I paced myself pretty well at an average of 159HR on a pretty flattish course.
The next half in April is on a course which pretty much climbs for the first 45km (the odd dip but essentially reaches the maximum peak of just over 600m around half way) and then more or less downhill for the second half.
Has anyone got any advice on how to pace myself - I guess I should be trying to hit about 170 average in the first 45km (ie flat out) knowing that it will drop once I start downhill given how hard it is to keep your heart rate up. Or save a little on the climb and try to really force it downhill?
As always advice and experience appreciated
Best wishes
Simon
Just wondering if you got
Just wondering if you got any replies on this?
I've been wondering the same thing for an upcoming Ironman.
With it being a full IM, my initial idea was to keep HR pretty low (stay below my *average* for the Half Ironman at all times) but I think thats a little conservative. So I'll probably go mod-hard on the hills (still stay a bit below threshold), and not force it much on the downhills - this seems to result in a better time for the same effort level as going a bit easier in the hill and forcing it on the downhill.
Hi Seanm No I didnt get any
Hi Seanm
No I didnt get any replies but that said I can now give you a little feedback as I ended up doing the half ironman I was asking about last year again this year!
Last year I hammered the hills up to and just over 170HR knowing it would drop on the downhills. I still averaged about 160HR overall and then ran a 1'33 half marathon. But I was shot to bits and in a dark place - not enjoying myself at all!
This year Ive been training on power but my coach did give me some HR guidelines as well. The HR guidelines had me only going about 5 beats higher than my average on the hills. The result was that I was perhaps a minute slower this year on the bike (but for an average of only 153). I say about 1min slower as the course was slightly shorter this year. But I was a whopping 7mins faster on the run - 1'26. I felt really really good coming off the bike.
Now I would hope that obviously some of these results come from just being a stronger athlete this year, but I was really happy that I went for a more even paced effort on the bike instead of spiking too high on the hills. The run will definitely benefit.
I hope that helps
Simon
Hills, as they may not seem,
Hills, as they may not seem, have a lot to do with form and timing, especially on shorter/rolling hills. Longer climbs allow you to spin your legs and predict what you should be doing, but with shorter hills you should keep the momentum going. Coming up out of the saddle will give you a little extra power without spiking your HR a whole whole lot, and will keep your momentum going up and over the hill. The downhill is no peaches and creme' either. Constant power production should be kept on the downhill (unless it's a MAJORLY steep descent). It really is all about momentum. This technique works well during the first 1/2 to 2/3 or a triathlon. After that coming out of the saddle can really effect you during the run. The last 1/2 to 1/3 should be focusing on spinning your legs out and preparing for the run. Good Training!