Brandon asked: Why not just run 6 miles in a row?
A few reasons. First, the two runs serve two different purposes. The first run was a recovery run. So the pace is slower than my normal aerobic run. I used that run just to get the blood flowing, but didn't run enough, I don't think, to cause much stress. I didn't wear a heart rate monitor, but I'd guess that my heart rate for that run was probably around 120-135 beats per minute on average. I used that run to continue increasing my overall volume without risking injury. I feel like I need to throw in recovery runs throughout the week to keep the volume up without getting injured, as I'll explain more below. The second run was part of a brick. It was probably too short to add much aerobic stress, but long enough to get the body used to running bricks. The benefit of brick runs, I have found, is not necessarily to increase cardiovascular fitness, though that may be an attendant benefit. But really I think they help to get the legs (and mentally) used to running after the bike. Bricks I don't think need to be that long as long as you keep your overall volume up during the week. The risk of injury is too high. And I have also found that as I have increased the distance of my brick runs, my overall volume tends to suffer as I am too tired to do any other runs But the more you do bricks (at least for me), the more you get used to that "bad" jello feeling from having just biked. Mentally you know it will go away in just a couple of miles. The purpose of my bricks is to get used to that bad feeling.
Second, and related, is that running too much after biking, until you build up, is a recipe for injury. It is way too early, I think, as the Ironman is 7-8 months away, to do too long of bricks. The benefits don't outweigh the expected risk of injury.
Third, my goal right now is just to keep the overall volume up and continue increasing it. That means I needed to run 6 miles today, and run a brick, but didn't want to run 6 miles as a brick for the reasons mentioned above. I also didn't want to run 6 miles before the bike, as I would lose the brick run. One other option would have been to run 4 miles as a brick, but then I would have only run 2 miles before the run; I think that is too few. I think splitting up the runs 3 + 3 allows me to get the overall volume and also serve a beneficial purpose.
Finally, I am also trying to get used to hopping on the bike having just exercised for 30-60 min right before. I've noticed in every race that I have done, that my heart rate is sky high when I first get on the bike because of the swim and the transition. It usually takes 30-40 minutes to settle. I don't have a pool nearby, but I still want to get used to drinking, eating, and biking with my HR higher than normal. Without the pool, that means I need to run before the bike.
You may also notice that since the first initial 56 mile ride, I rode an additional 26 miles. So I've also split up the bike as well. In this case, I have split the bike because again I think it will reduce the risk of injury and plus it is very tough mentally to sit on the trainer for much longer than 3 hours. I will do just that as the Iroman approaches, but I don't think I could maintain that type of focus this far out (i.e, 5-6 hours for Saturday and Sunday). I'm afraid that I'd just not ride at all. So I think it's better to split it up. Ultimately, my ideal Saturday and Sunday workout will look like this: in the a.m., 30min run followed by a 56 mile bike; 30min brick run; and then repeat that in the p.m. That will be a total of 112 miles biking, and about 12-14 miles running for each day. Once I hit Ironman specific training, then my workout will look more like the workout suggested in the question you posed: 60min run; 112mile bike straight; and then 60min brick run.
During the week, I'll also split up the bike, for mostly similar reasons. I think this serves three purposes: first, it increases overall volume while reducing injury; and second, working full time, it is very difficult to find the time to workout for more than 1-2 hours straight. So I'll take what I can get. An additional 30 minutes on the bike everyday, which may not seem like a lot at first, adds up to an additional 50 or so miles per week. Finally, sometimes I'll bike recovery in the morning and harder at night, or vice versa. So, like the run, I sometimes will bike once in the morning and once at night.
2 comments:
Do you have any races before the Ironman to test your race fitness?
As of now, I am only signed up for Florida 70.3 in May, which is about 9-10 weeks away. I don't expect to be fast. My training is outlined to peak once and only in November. All my training right now is pretty easy, and about getting the volume up. If I'm lucky, I'll be able to race at Ironman pace, but certainly not half Ironman pace as I haven't and won't train at all this pace before the race. Next week is my last week of a 16 week Foundation period. I'll then have many weeks of my Endurance period, which will see increases in HR, watts, and pace levels, but still not as high as Ironman pace. I plan to test myself throughout the next 7-8 months by running several half marathons and will maybe pick up a local half ironman distance race if I can find one.
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