Speciality phase - Century vs Triathlete Full Distance for 112 mile bike race?

Training
1

I have finished my base and build phase (sustained power build, mid-volume) and I am just about to start the Century speciality phase.

My concern is that my A-race is a 112 mile bike race and so far the longest training session I have had is only 2 hours. Even the Century Phase only has a 2 hour session as the longest session.

The argument about it being adequate for a 5-6 hour race was sort of explained to me at the start (back in November 2018) but I am having doubts again, especially when you look at the Triathlete Full Distance Speciality Phase, this has very long sessions in it (Mianzimu is 5 hours long) so it must be beneficial.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Paul

2

You can certainly be competitive even if your training workouts don’t match the duration of your goal event. However, it’s not a bad idea to substitute the weekend workouts with some longer outdoor rides.

One thing to keep in mind is that the Full Distance Tri plan is specific to triathlon racing, where an athlete has to complete run and swim segments in addition to the ride portion. Your 112 mi bike race doesn’t have the same demands, so you can empty the tank since you don’t have a run coming up after you finish the race. The addition of these demands means a Full Distance Tri is a much bigger day, and that’s why we’ve included those longer workouts in the plan.

Here’s a link that might help you with this:

3

I would definitely skip a few long weekend rides on the trainer and get outside and practice your nutrition. Know you need to eat two cliff bars for example and 4 blocks. If you don’t want to stop at an aid station, I would practice carrying them. Pro tip - cut the top of the wrapper off. I even break the cliff bars into a few pieces so they are bites.

4

That makes a lot of sense, I didn’t think of it like that.

Thanks very much.

1 Like
5

Drkpolo,

Thanks for your tips too, much appreciated