A Reverse Approach

I was talking to a friend the other day who had done a few Ironmans. He was taking this year off from Ironman racing to do a marathon. Now, he’s done marathons before and he can pull off a darn good marathon in 3:30. But in Ironman – he didn’t get close. Therefore, he assumed he needed to work more on his run.

Instead, I suggested to him the opposite idea. What if you worked more on your bike? Became a better, more efficient cyclist so you had fresher legs to get off of the bike and do what we already know you know how to do – run.

He was skeptical at first and I don't blame him. A lot of triathletes approach Ironman this way. They feel to have a better marathon in Ironman they should work more on the run. It makes sense, right? After all, that's where most athletes usually shut down. They have a strong swim, a killer bike and arrive at the run ready to.....walk.

What went wrong?

In most cases, you'll find they overtrained the run and overbiked their bike training.

First mistake - overtraining the run. Often, you will find those doing Ironman train for a marathon. Whatever you might gain from that marathon, you will also risk two things; (1) injuring yourself from the increased mileage required to run a fast open marathon, and (2) taking time away from training other areas (because of the single sport focus, cumulative fatigue, and recovery time required post-marathon).

Not only that but running an open marathon nutritionally is nowhere close to the Ironman marathon. Since nutrition is likely the most important factor in Ironman success (aside from being physically prepared), it doesn’t make much sense to practice an event of the same distance in which you will not practice the one ingredient that will make or break your race – your nutrition/hydration plan.

Imagine this – you have just exited a 112 mile bike in which you likely downed 16 – 24 ounces of sports drink every hour plus a few helpings of gels/bars/beans/whatever else people cram down in Ironman (which you will find is anything and everything). Now, go run a marathon. Compare that to the real marathon where maybe you had a bowl of oatmeal that morning 3 hours before the race? Can you even compare?

Therefore, it seems more 'cost-effective' and wise to work more on your bike so your legs are in the position for a better run. Now working on the bike is not hammering out hard intervals and mega miles. And this is mistake number two - overbiking the bike. There are two ways you can ride; holding back to favor efficiency for speed or pushing big gears to favor going faster for efficiency.

Keep in mind in Ironman you will spend anywhere from 5 – 8 hours on your bike. The more efficiently and effortlessly you can cover those miles, the more likely you will have a faster, stronger run. Not only that but the more you work on your bike the more you practice your nutrition plan. The better your plan is practiced the better you will feel on race day. And that will also help you run.

Go back to the basics and learn how to pedal your bike – smooth pedal strokes, full circles, and spin spin spin. Your legs have two ways to spin – slow or fast. Slow being anything below 80 rpms. Fast being anything about 90 rpms. True, you may go faster as you push lower gears but this requires more muscular endurance. To push 80 rpms in a big gear is more taxing on your legs than your heart. Think about it - to run 26.2 miles, you need those legs. To push above 90, 95 rpms is more taxing on your heart. Not truly “hard” but is more of a cardiovascular effort than an effort of strength.

As endurance athletes we are fit. We can handle the cardiovascular load. As long as we keep it in the appropriate heart rate zone for Ironman (which is mostly 1 – 2). When we start clunking away in big gears at low cadence we pre-fatigue our legs leaving them heavy and unfresh for the run. That 3:30 marathon doesn’t even have a chance to come out. No matter how tapered we are.

Let's face it; marathon running is nothing like Ironman marathon running. Running 26.2 miles fresh and tapered is nothing like running off a 112 mile bike. Rather than reverse your approach to Ironman training, start at the beginning. Assuming you are working on efficient swimming, move next to the bike. Build up your endurance miles and perfect your pedaling form. Efficiency is less work and less work means more energy. More energy conserved means more energy to spend when you need it – on the run.