Ironman Bike: 3 preparation tips

Photo Credit Ed Rechnitzer

IM is ultimately about energy management. How you control and apportion your effort throughout the day is essential to a good finish.

The IM bike leg plays a crucial component to this end as it normally represents the bulk of one’s total race time. Regrettably many still race the bike leg as if nothing were to follow, either caught up in the excitement of the day or on the quest for that new bike split PB. Yet the success of the subsequent run (assuming adequate training preparation) is very much predicated on what you do on the bike, from energy expenditure (pacing) to energy intake (feeding).

Here are three simple suggestions to help prepare your bike leg to have a positive impact on your run.

Technique – Practice Feeding

I will take a road less travelled. No talk about goal TSS, IF, cadence, pedalling foot motion or about ideal head, back, hand position etc. Instead, a crucial fundamental - practising the mechanics of getting nutrition from its storage place on the bike, or on your person, into you while staying comfortably in control of your bike.

This may sound presumptuous to many but forgive me. There is reason. I have personally encountered/witnessed individuals who were committed to an IM, kitted with slick race bikes, yet (in training) refused – literally - to reach for a water bottle from a seated position, let alone from the aero position, unless at a full stop, one leg on terra firma. All will agree that feeding is absolutely imperative in IM. It is the 4th discipline. However, all the best nutritional advice and formulations are for naught if it remains affixed to the bike frame by T2.

It all starts with the set up – using kit or makeshift solutions that suit your comfort and ability/experience level. It is all fine and dandy that the latest trendy slick water bottle mount between the aerobars will save you 45s to 1min over 40k (in a wind tunnel).  It is of little value to you aerodynamically in an IM if every time you have to drink you need to break position by sitting up or you lose directional control of the bike because holding course with one forearm is precarious for you. In this instance perhaps using a refillable aero bottle may be more suitable. Yes the wind tunnel numbers may show +0.0001g more aero drag on that straw than the former set up.  But if it helps you minimize movement on the bike while drinking then you will feel more comfortable to sip regularly whilst holding a better aero position for longer (win-win).

Therefore comfort of access is crucial. If you are apprehensive to reach for items the more likely you will not eat or drink sufficiently. If you have a seat mounted cage, practice reaching back extracting and returning while keeping your eyes on the road. If you have a refillable bottle between the bars, practice refilling from another bottle on the fly. Likewise practice ripping off gels taped to the top tube, reaching into your top tube food box or your jersey back pocket using either hand. Being ambidextrous is also advantageous. Should you race in a country where they drive on the opposite side of what you are accustomed to back home, the aid stations will likely be on that “new’ side. [Top Tip – practice your feeding mechanics while riding the turbo as well instead of having a buffet table alongside.]

 Whatever set up you chose for hydration and nutrition you must practice using it as you would on race day. Learn to reach for things, and place them back on the move. If you are reluctant to do so you may very well miss crucial feeding and begin accumulating a potentially unrecoverable energy debt before starting the run.

Training – Holding Race Pace Under Fatigue

 Everybody is a hero coming out of T1. Some even act like it’s a BMX race start. Don’t believe me? Go to Kona and observe the sprinting and jostling of some AG not even 50m up the hill from the King K hotel – utter lunacy!  What matters is how you can sustain your race effort on the back half to one-third of the course. This is where the real (smart) heroes shine.

 In practical training terms this means first ingraining the necessary restraint at the outset of your long rides that will target race pace. No sense in beaming about your watts for the first 50k only to fizzle and falter by 80k. Second, include progressively longer continuous segments at target race pace effort at the back end of long rides when you are fatigued. These could start at 30min and progress to 2hrs at the tail end of a 3-4.5hr ride. Don’t be afraid to try. Remember this is IM race pace, not 40k TT pace.

The second component to these RP segments is cerebral - applying a race mindset, making tactical decisions as you would on race day. This will further amplify the value of such RP segments especially when facing say undulating terrain with a tailwind. It will likely be difficult to hold a target power number. But you can still put out a “race effort” by doing the right things – i.e. holding tight aero and speed on descents, pushing a touch harder up a grade or into a momentary head/cross wind, deciding when to fuel based on terrain ahead and time etc. That is still relevant RP specific training.

Intervals are great for developing your race pace. Long continuous segments will really train your physical and mental stamina and confidence to perform when tired, including making the right tactical decisions. The more you practice this in different conditions, the better positioned you will be come the run.

Race Preparation – Building Race Specific Stamina

Every IM course is 180k (+/-), yet each one has its peculiarities and challenges – a climbing course is daunting for many, while holding aero position for hours on a flat course is unbearable for some. Barring an opportunity to ride the course in vivo, see it on a map and study the profile provided by the race or using Google Earth, Map My Ride or such. Appreciate, understand and then train to task…for the benefit of the subsequent run as well.

To highlight, consider an IM course featuring approximately 2000m of cumulative climbing with about 20k of leg sapping undulating terrain before the first major climb at 10k with 8-10% pitches thrown in, the last ~35k a sustained climb back to T2. In between, lots of high-speed descents.

Obviously climbing strength and descending skills should be incorporated into one’s bike training regime. With respect to race specific preparation within the last ~12 weeks, it would be beneficial to choreograph rides that accumulate a similar total elevation gain (or more) and periodically include a long sustained climbing effort on the back end, and then doing so before a transition run. This will achieve at least two things.

 First, you will need to diligently work your effort and fuel management to best position yourself energetically for the run. This may not be as straightforward as when riding a flat course. Second, it will accustom your body to run with substantial climbing fatigue in it, which for some may be quite difficult as compared to a flatter course.

Likewise, if a course happens to have a lot of corners, you would want to plan rides that regularly disrupt your rhythm with frequent direction changes. Cumulatively this will have another unique effect on your disposition before the run.

Whatever the course you chose, study it, know it, train for it.

Incorporate these three tips into your IM bike preparation to ensure you keep the “fuel flow” going, to remain on task as fatigue sets in and to bolster your confidence in handling the challenges of your chosen course. Doing so will increase the chances of a successful run.