Ironman Bike/Run Pace
Hi! I have read and re-read as much info as I can find for pacing guidance and it's left me a bit confused.
For the run pace- in most of the workouts it lists Zone 1 as my goal race pace...but in a couple (week 17 I think) it refers to TRP as my goal race pace. They are very different so what am I shooting for? Or is Zone 1 my first 6 miles pace..then TRP?
For the bike power - I've read the race execution docs and used the calculators and I've come up with what I think is my number (which I will use this weekend for my 112 mi. race rehersal), and it's about 70% of FTP. Is this in the ballpark? I've done a few Ironman's but this is my first year using a power meter.
Thanks!!
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Week 17 IM RR run is Z1 first 6 miles, then TRP which is a tick higher than the actual race day pace you would employ after a swim and bike.
Race day pace is Z1+30 secs for the first six miles with a cap on your HR no higher than your Bike avg HR. Thereafter, Miles 7 forward, go for Z1 or slightly better pace and try not to slow down to the finish line.......
.70 IF sounds like you are definitely in the ball park for the power numbers!
SS
Perfect! Thank you so much Shaughn. I appreciate it!
What Shaughn said. However:
On race day, heart rate is your primary tool and we use power to keep you from being stupid / working to hard on hills, headwinds, etc. What you don't want to do is simply ride at a power number and ignore heart rate, so in this RR you want to ride at the power number and observe heart rate, so you have a couple data points (ie, at watts X I see HR Z). You'll gather more of those in the next few weeks and from there, though a combination of accumulating power and associated HR data, you'll get a good idea of what you should do on race day.
Good luck!
Great Info! Thank you!
Here's how I translate TRP to race day. During run training, I'm aware of three metrics: my heart rate, how fast I'm going (pace), and what it feels like - Rate of Perceived Exertion, or RPE. During training runs, if my HR is, say 115-120, my pace will be around 8:50. But on race day, that same HR and the associated RPE will result in a pace of 30-60 seconds per mile slower. I view the training runs as getting myself locked into the sensations of TRP, and then on race day, using RPE and HR as my primary tools to tell me how to run. The pace ends up being what it is, depending on how long it took me to swim and bike, how hard I did those legs, how hilly the course is, what the temperature and dew point are, sun vs shade, etc. But the RPE and the HR should be how I trained them @ TRP. Bottom line - don't live and die by run pace on race day; use HR and RPE to tell you if you are going too hard or easy. And be aware that it ALWAYS gets harder as the run progresses - trying to hold the same RPE throughout the 26.2 will result in inevitable slowing down.
For bike pacing, the ideal IF will be correlated with how long the bike leg takes. For 112 miles in six hours, that is in the range of 0.68-0.7. Quicker than that, the IF will be higher; slower, the IF will be lower, reaching a floor of 0.65-0.67 no matter how long your bike takes.
The race rehearsals are the place to learn about this and sort it all out - nothing is at stake during the RR, so you get to find out if you are working too hard for race day, without the devastating consequences that might come of you over cook things on the day itself/