i all, I’m fairly new to TR and in my 2nd year of racing sprint triathlons.
For a 20k bike leg that takes 30-35 mins I always think I should be able to maintain a power that’s quite a bit higher than I end up managing on race day. I’m wondering if anyone else has noticed this or has any insights?
My thinking goes like this:
If FTP is 1h power (but hard to achieve in practice) then I should be able to hold it for half an hour given this is a race effort.
But it’s coming after a swim and I have to run afterwards, so something like 90-95% FTP (upper end of sweet spot) should easily be doable.
With a FTP around 260 that would mean racing around 240-245 but I usually come in around 220 or less.
I don’t think this is because of:
Different bike indoor/outdoor
Different riding position (I don’t have a TT bike and it’s pretty much my normal position)
Perhaps I am freewheeling at times and that is bringing the average down?
From the last race this weekend just gone, I can remember seeing my power was down on my target during the race but pushing it up to 240 felt like it might quickly become unsustainable.
Am I missing something?
Cheers!
Edit: here is more information based on questions in the comments:
Here is data from the bike leg of the 4 sprint tri’s I’ve done:
Date
Avg power
NP
Avg HR
Max HR
Stamina (start)
Stamina (end)
12th Feb 2023
231W
240W
157bpm
170bpm
n/a (bad data)
n/a
26th Mar 2023 (was sick)
212W
218W
152bpm
164bpm
74%
51%
10th Dec 2023 (swim leg replaced by 1k beach run)
225W
232W
156bpm
173bpm
86%
57%
11th Feb 2024 (hot day)
216W
219W
160bpm
171bpm
76%
46%
3rd Mar 2024 (light swim)
225W
229W
159bpm
167bpm
79%
51%
Also, here are my current PLs:
Endurance: 3.2
Tempo: 2.4
Sweet spot 3.6
Threshold: 3.0
VO2 Max: 5.0
Anaerobic: 1.1
Sprint: 1.0
I had the same, in olympic distance triathlons I could not manage more than high tempo zone power. I felt like I could almost hold it for hours but I could not push harder without my legs feeling like they would lock up. Always thought it was because of the swim apparently taking more out of me, especially the first few 100 meters in a mass start race.
What kind of training sessions are you doing prior to the race? For a sprint, you should basically be doing a TT effort (maybe dialed back a tad if you are saving some for the run). You mention FTP is 1H power so you should be able to hold it for 30 - but have you achieved this on your power curve?
In the weeks leading up to the race, doing some threshold level workouts to get the right amount of TiZ should prepare you (both mentally and physically) to be able to do a 1x30’ish at or near FTP. Something like:
4x8’ FTP
3x12’ FTP
4x10’ FTP
…
And each session either increasing TiZ, duration of each interval, or shorten rests between intervals. I’ve done multiple sprints with bike legs 30-45 minutes and successfully held 95%+ of FTP doing something similar, trying to make sure I could still push myself in the 5K immediately after.
You’ll hear it a lot on the forum - as you get closer to race day, specificity of training is king
Is it the same power source indoors and out?
Theoretically you can sustain more outside with air cooling inertia etc but I personally can’t get into the zone and waste energy on external factors (worrying about traffic, falling off etc), whereas on a trainer I can close my eyes and get it all out).
Yes I find breathing and HR are really high at the start of the ride, and I think you might be right a hard swim (e.g. if you didn’t find feet to follow) can leave you pretty unfresh for the bike.
Good points, I think that may well be part of it too. On these sprint races that I do, I spend a fair bit of time trying to stay legal from a no drafting perspective. There are so many people on the road that you’re always passing someone or being passed and sort of constantly drafting.
I think the concentration on things like not crashing, and not being able to just look down at that power meter all the time, is definitely a factor.
To address your question though - yes I have power pedals so just swap them between bikes.
Just because your estimated FTP is XYZ doesnt mean you can actually hold XYZ for an hour. That would take specific training and a lot of practice. If you wanna hold higher power for 30-40 mins, youll need to do some training with those longer intervals
How is your FTP derived and how long are you holding it in training?
A number is a just a number, what you can actually regularly do is all that what matters when it comes to the event.
Re: what you should be able to hold in a Sprint its normally higher than you’ve stated imo.
See table…
If you cant or a don’t do 20 minutes or over close to FTP then you aren’t going to in a race (in fact in race shape I suggest you should be able to do 2x 20 at 97-100% of FTP)
Muscular endurance might be your main problem or 260 simply isnt your FTP or your pacing is off, the up hills should slightly offset the coasting, and coasting should be minimal.
^ Good advice about longer threshold and sst intervals.
What are you PLs, without knowing what you are doing in training and what you power durantion curve looks like its hard to know if there is an issue or its unrealistic expectations.
Are you doing the Specialty plans? There are Threshold workouts in there that should be preparing you to hold 95-105% of estimated FTP for the Olympic duration
Are you doing any of your threshold work outdoors? Its one thing to keep the pedals turning and follow the blue line, and another doing it while there’s traffic, potholes, corners etc.
You should be able to see if you’re costing (and where) by looking at your cadence graph.
Again, no - I think triathletes go all out in a sprint race.
No , not at all. FTP is FTP, a physiological thing.
Yes, I think a few things. And also I t depends on your experience, as well as your relative fitness in each discipline and your race strategy.
Good power guides are invaluable in long course racing, pacing and nutrition, but short course is more of a blur. I just think “go hard” throughout, and you get what you get.
If it’s your first triathlon, then pace it by effort as moderately hard - if you’ve trained you will finish regardless. As it’s your first, you’ll think your life depends on it, so you’ll probably go all out.
If you are experienced, then you’ll go by feel better but you aren’t really getting fatigued by the swim or bike. So you go all out.
If you are podium material, then it’s all out anyway.
Are you looking at average power or normalized power? If average power, is NP closer to 240? That would line up with my expectations for pacing if you have climbs, accelerations, etc. during the bike leg.
When I did tri it was all about how good a swimmer you were - if you aren’t then maybe that leg is taking to much out of you - if you are then it is probably your bike training.
I’m curious if you are doing Sweet Spot as the majority of your workouts - if that’s where your legs are ending up, it could just be that is what you are training them to do
Thanks for this and good questions!
FTP is coming from TR AIFTPD, although I have read that can tend to overestimate? Agreed it’s just a number and what I can do on the day is what matters.
That table is amazing! Quite inspiring actually to think 95-105% FTP should be the target for a sprint tri bike leg…
I have only been on TR 2 months (a bit less I think) and perhaps haven’t done enough threshold workouts yet. I think I did one that was 4x7 mins around FTP (or something like that) and I was pretty cooked after each interval…
Yes I am! But I’ve only been on TR less than a couple of months, so I don’t think I’ve worked up to any threshold workouts like that. The ones I’ve done were something like 4x7 mins ~FTP, and I felt pretty cooked after each of those intervals.
TBH I’m already thinking how much better it might/should/could be next season after a few solid cycles through the triathlon plans.
i all, I’m fairly new to TR and in my 2nd year of racing sprint triathlons.