First 2 Miles of Bike: Hammer or Ninja Sword?
How do you approach the first few moments out of T1 in shorter distance races. In the past, with the adrenaline of the swim and such, I usually find myself jumping on the bike and hammering it hard for the first minute or two. As you can imagine though, this leaves me gasping for air with poor form after about ten minutes. Then I end up slowing down, I get my breathing and heart under control, and then I am able to rev things up nice and smooth for the rest of the ride.
Does our tried and true adage of smooth and steady during the long distance races still apply over 24 miles? Part of me thinks I am over thinking it. You know, my mind says "its only 24 miles, just sprint the whole damn way if you can wus."
Another thing big thing for me is that when I get huffing and puffing, its really hard for me to stay down in the bars (aero bars that is). Its always been my big fault on the bike, and now Im determined to race this weeekends upcoming Olympic as if my arms are glued down. Its easier for me to mentally imagine doing that with the smooth and steady mantra vs hammer time.
Thanks for the help guys.
Comments
Usually, a shorter race is just redline the entire way, but I know exactly what you mean...so I try to go moderately enough early in the bike to get HR under control and build from there. This is REALLY tough to do when you're "racing", but it always leads to a better race result for me.
Bill
GV-
Olympic distance is pretty much hammer fest. That being said, my best results are coming pretty hard out of T1 and building into the effort so I am going hardest coming into T2. Think this distance in particular really plays well into building into an effort and not slowing down in the 2nd half of any one leg. Not saying go easy for 1st half then hard. Go hard (maybe Z3) and build into Z4 and 5 during 2nd half.
Look at it this way...you have nothing to lose by trying to go hard and then run off the bike. We are not making a living at this so experimenting with race execution is a luxury we can afford. I can tell you that hanging around some of our pros and picking their brains a bit.....OLY DISTANCE is redline and then some!
I guess that I am wimpy but certainly can not just hammer away the whole time in an olympic. I try to focus on being smooth and building into it. But then only have raced Oly a few times and always at the end of the season. It is still more than an hour on the bike. There needs to be some pacing and restraint involved if you plan to run well. I think it is a terrible plan to hammer the first 10 minutes and then end up having a decreasing power output and having to sit up a lot. That will lead to a slower time and a poor run.
Many (most?) triathlons feature a climb out of T1, as water will tend to seek the lowest level. What I find myself doing in sprints and olys is (after making sure ahead of time to be in the small chain ring and about the 7th cog) is using that hill to get into my shoes and then adjust the straps. I don't try to slam my way up the hill. Once my feet are ready, then I get aero and slowly build up steam. Takes maybe 30-45 seconds, but I find slowly shifting into the redline, rather than trying to get there from the very first pedal stroke, helps my legs later on. It's not a bike race, where one has to match the acceleration of those around you or lose the day. If you're faster than them, you'll get 'em later on. If they're faster than you, why bother?
Hmmm, interesting point Al. Yeah, I totally forgot about the ubiquitous first hill. Im often slamming it up the hill, and on the other side, some guy goes by me while taking a drink and adjusting his helmet.
Frankly, Ive tried it the red line every time with mediocre results, so Im going to try the building method. Not to slow, up to speed in the first 3 minutes, but I think the mental aspect of not having to hammer down the first guy I see out of transition will be big for me.
Along the lines of aero, do you guys use a front bottle for everything? Im trying to slim my Aluminum Cervelo down as much as possible. So I ditched the rear xlab carrier, water bottle cages, even computer. Im using my Garmin, and just a front aero bottle. Im also ditching socks for the first time in a race.
Last year, I raced summer races with an FTP of 242. My expectation for the Oly I did was to hold as close to 95% of FTP (230) as I could, not worrying if I went over, only if I went under. I'd say I "hammered" it, out of transition, getting up to watts in the first 10 pedal strokes, and not letting off until T2. For me, the race was too short to take 5-10 minutes at a lower power and sacrifice that speed.
OTOH, I did not pound out 2-5 minutes at 315. That would be some people's definition of "hammer". And, IMHO, it's folly. Take a look at your mean maximal curve in WKO, and see what you've held for peak output for about 5-6 minutes. You should be nowhere near that number in an Oly race. Remember, if you can only hold it for 5 minutes in training, you can only hold it for 5 minutes in a race, after which you'll need to drop down to some level substantially below threshold to recover before being able to push back to threshold again.
So, figure out what your goals are in the race, and adjust the first 5-10 minutes of the bike accordingly. If you're trying to fly, then get up to goal watts (~95%) right away. But don't go doing 120% VO2max intervals out of the gate. You'll pay for that.
Mike