You’ve trained for six, nine or more months for this day. The chaos of the swim is gone, you’ve gotten your cycling legs back and now it’s time to get to work, to get down to racing the Ironman bike.

STOP!!

In our experience, if you’re going to booger months and months of training and ruin your race, you’re going to do it on the bike leg. Below are our tips for riding the optimum Ironman bike leg…plust be sure to read to the end for a bonus link to download our Bike Fit eBook, released from the EN Content Archives!

There’s No Such Thing as a Good Bike Followed by a Poor Run
The last time we checked this was an Ironman TRIATHLON — swim, bike, and run. The difference between a “good” swim or “bad” swim is only about 2-4 minutes. The difference between “easy” bike or a “hard” bike is only about 10-15 minutes. But the difference between a “good” and “bad” run can be measured in hours. In our experience, your chances of dramatically slowing down happen in the last six to eight miles of the run. Therefore your focus all day is on creating conditions for success in the final six to eight miles of the run, NOT on putting up a sexy bike split. The Ironman run course is littered with the walking bodies of athletes who put up great bike splits. Just think about that.

Ride the Bike You Should, Not the Bike You Could
Your “could” bike split is the one you dream about, the one you told your friends on your last long ride when they remarked how fit you look, how hard you’ve been working, and ask you what you could ride at IMXX. In contrast, your “should” bike split is the bike that sets up the run. In our experience, the difference between Could and Should is about 10 to 15 minutes — add 10-15 minutes to that sexy Could split and set up the run. If you’ve made the mistake of riding too slowly…you have 26 miles of running to fix that mistake. But if you made the mistake of riding too fast…that mistake now has 26 miles of running to express itself.

Do the Opposite of Everyone Else
In our experience, over 80% of the Ironman field doesn’t know how to properly execute the bike. Proper bike execution is then largely a matter of doing the opposite of everyone else.

• Ride easy for the first hour. Are you being passed by a LOT of people? That’s a very good thing, trust us.
• Managing your effort on this hill, setting up the run vs racing for $100 KOM prime they are not handing out at the top…and going backwards through the field? That’s a good thing, they will come back to you somewhere during the day.

Flatten the Course
You best cycling strategy to set up a great run to maintain a very steady effort across all terrain — no big effort surges on hills, no excessive coasting on downhills, etc. Imagine your foot is on a gas pedal:

• On a hill you give it just a little bit more gas…but just a little. Per the 80% rule above, everyone around will stomp in the gas and surge ahead of you. That’s a good thing.
• Across the crest of the hill and into the downhill, stay on the gas. Maintain that steady effort as everyone else comes way off the gas/coasts as they pay for that surging effort on the climb. You descend at 33-36mph, for example, to their 28-30mph, carrying that speed into the next hill…and the next…and the next.
• That foot on the gas pedal is locked in the same position on flats, false flats, slight downhills, etc.

Show Up with Enough Gears on Your Bike
Having the proper gearing for your course is a important part of our “flatten the course” strategy above. What gearing is best? In general, you can never have enough gears in an Ironman. More specifically, these are the gears that Coach Rich, a 5:05-15 Ironman cyclist, would ride on US Ironman courses:

• All: compact crank, 50/34 gearing, then…
• IMTX, FL, AZ: 23-11
• IMSG, IMCDA, IMLP, IMNYC, IMTremblant: 26-11, or 25-12
• IMWI: 26-11

Look for Free Speed First
112 miles is a long time for smart, slippery, aerodynamic choices to express themselves. In our experience, your biggest return on investment opportunities on the Ironman bike are:

• Bike fit: The largest aerodynamic component of the bike/rider system is YOU. A proper bike fit can dramatically improve your aerodynamics while keeping you comfortable on the bike.
• Aero helmet: A big aerodynamic return for your $130-200 investment.
• Bottle/tools placement: An efficient, clean, well-thought-out setup will also significantly improve your aerodynamics.

FREE Bike Fit eBook
Created in partnership with Todd Kenyon of TTBikeFit.com, this resource has been used by thousands of athletes to learn about and improve their fit and aerodynamics. Please go here to download your FREE copy of the Bike Fit eBook today!

What are your tips for the Ironman bike leg? Please share with us below!

Popularity: 8% [?]

photo credit: Sonic Fitness

6:59am — music blasting, kayakers herding swimmers, and nearly 2500 Ironman athletes treading water or standing on the beach of the Ironman swim start, waiting pensively to start a very, very big and long day.

7:00am — BOOM! And so begins perhaps the most unique spectacle in all of endurance sports — the Ironman swim start. Nearly 2500 bodies and 5000 arms and legs churning the water to start a 140.6 mile day. Below are our tips for surviving, and excelling at, the Ironman swim.

Where to Line Up
Endurance Nation had over 1000 Ironman finishes in 2011. Rich and Patrick have nearly 30 Ironman finishes between them and have been to 4-6 Ironmans every year since 2002.  We’ve learned that a lot of fast people position themselves right on the buoy line. Many more people position themselves as far as possible away from these people, as far from the buoy line as they can get. As a consequence, the middle of the start line is often less crowded than you would expect.

Therefore we usually recommend you position yourself near the middle of the start line and then seed yourself front to back about 2-4 minutes faster than you expect to swim. For example, if you expect to swim a 1:10, find those 1:05-08 people. In our experience it is better to be swum (politely) around by slightly faster swimmers than to be timid about your starting position, seed yourself around much slower swimmers, and then have to swim through many swimmers for 2.4 miles.

Only Swim as Fast as Your Ability to Maintain Form
The net difference between you swimming “hard” and swimming “easy” is usually only about 2-4 minutes in an 11-17 hour day. It’s just not worth it to try to make something happen. Instead, focus on swimming as smoothly and efficiently as you know how. Swim with your best possible form and only swim fast enough as your ability to maintain your form.

It’s helpful to have some individual cues for what good/not good form is for you. For some folks your breathing count (3-count or 4-count strokes per breath) is a good metric. Others prefer to focus on perceived exertion. Whatever you choose, know that it’s time to slow down if you start to feel your form slip!

Keep Your Head Inside the Box
2500+ bodies trashing around in a small space, all trying to go the same direction. It’s the very definition of chaos! Maintain your focus by keeping your head inside The Box of what you can control:

• In the Box: Head position, breathing, body rotation, catch, pull, etc. All of your form cues. These are things you CAN control, focus on these.
• Out of the Box: Any contact you experience, the pacing of other athletes, etc. Basically anything that takes your focus away your form.

The simple tool we use to keep our heads in the Box is to count our strokes. Left, right, left, right, 1, 2, 3, 4, keep counting until you lose count then start over again. The simple act of counting arm strokes will bring your head back into the Box of what you can control, helping you let go of the stuff outside of your Box. Try it, it works!

Keep Head-Lift to a Minimum
We typically lift our heads to keep feet in sight as we draft (a little), or to sight on navigation buoys (a lot!). Every time you lift your head…you drop your feet/hips…and you compromise your form a bit. Here’s what to do.

• Drafting: Don’t think so much about drafting, and looking for feet, that you forget to keep your head in the Box and focused on form. 2500 people all swimming the same direction…relax, it’s gonna happen. 
• Navigation: 2500 people all swimming the same direction…that’s a lot of people to follow, put on your right or left side, and in general decrease how frequently you need to compromise your from by lifting your head to sight for buoys.

FREE Endurance Nation Swim Clinic eBook
Go here to download our “Swim Clinic eBook“– over 25 pages of swim drills, videos, 45 minutes of podcasts, and much more. Published in 2005 and revised in 2008, this resource has been used by over 10,000 athletes as their go-to swim technique guide!

Do you have course-specific swim advice? Where to line up, navigation tips, etc for specific Ironmans? Please share them with us and our readers in the comments below!

Popularity: 15% [?]

As many of you have heard by now, we lost our friend and teammate Chris Gleason on November 20, 2011 at the end of the Philadelphia Marathon. He was one of two fine young men who died that day, and many of us are still trying to make sense of what happened to such a fit and gifted athlete.

TeamEN rallied instantly around Chris’ family, raising almost $6,000 for the G. Christopher Gleason Education Fund for his two children (details below). To continue our Team commitment to this cause, we have partnered with Road ID (www.roadid.com). Using the code pcEndurance, you can save 10% on any RoadID purchase — and 25% of every order will be donated to the G. Christopher Gleason Education Fund. This deal will only last until December 31, 2011…so act quickly!

This is a great way to proactively protect yourself and those close to you while saving some money and giving to a great cause. Whether you need an entire RoadID or simply want to add a commemorative tag in Chris’ memory, you’ll be all set.

Again, the website is www.roadid.com and the code is “pcEndurance” (without the quotes). Shop before 12/31 to get your discount and help the Gleason family!

Thanks!

Coach Patrick

ps — if you simply want to make a donation to the fund directly, here’s the information!

The G. Christopher Gleason Education Fund
c/o Gordon C. Emerick
1550 Route 9 Clif
518-371-5454

Popularity: 8% [?]

Here is the official Endurance Nation results update for the races since 11/13/2011.

EN had a total of  10  athletes race in a variety of races with an 80% PR rate! Congratulations to everyone — you can read the full details below.

If you’d like to join our age group members in training to be your best, please create a FREE Five Day Trial Membership here or consider purchasing an Endurance Nation training plan here.

Races on 11/20

Ironman Arizona

Al Truscott (photo at left) crossed the finish line in 11:25. You can read his race report here.  He also said “Coach Rich was there to provide quiet help a total of 10 times along the course during race day; and Coach P laid down the breadcrumbs on his comeback trail for me to follow. They are coaches in the true sense of the word – they don’t tell you what to do, so much as show you the way to go.”

David Lesh (photo at right) PR’d with a time of 10:23:02.  Members can read his race report here.  He also said “In only a year team EN took me from an absolute beginner triathlete to finishing my first Ironman. I learned so much from both the coaches and the team members and it was awesome having the support of the team on race day. Thank you for making my first Ironman journey such a wonderful experience.”

Jennifer Eckert earned a PR with a finish time of 13:33:38 and said “How do you go faster when you’re 5 years older?  Train with Team EN!  Thanks you guys…maybe I’ll have a shot at that Kona slot when I turn 60!!”  Members can read her race report here.

Jeremy Behler completed his first Ironman in 10:06:12.  You can read his race report here.

Jonathan Needell (photo at left) also raced his first Ironman for a finish time of 13:48:41.  Members can read his full race report here, but he said of the experience “I overlapped a coach and EN and found out EN was right when I was injured during a typical build period eight weeks before the race. EN only next race.”

Stephanie Stevens earned a new PR with a time of 13:13:00 and said “Still have room for improvement, but I know where that improvement needs to come from.  Thanks RnP!!”

Paul Stone completed the race in 12:20:18 for a new PR and said “Without the execution guidance from Endurance Nation I would not have finished my first IM at all.  But to come back and have a great second IM proves the coaches have something great going. I’m glad to be a part of a great community and team.  Thanks guys.”

Terry Olivas PR’d as well with a time of 10:29:49 and said “There’s no way I could have made it to the top 10% of the M40-44 age group without EN.  How many PR’s can one person have?”

Races on 11/27

Polar Cats 5k

Kevin Walter finished this race with a time of 20:59 and said “Fastest VDOT of 2011 and over 1-minute faster than the last time I raced this course! Managed 10th Overall and 1st M40-44. One month into the outseason.”

Races on 12/4

Rock N Roll Las Vegas

David Salzman completed the half marathon race in a PR-earning 1:40:05.  You can read his race report here.

Popularity: 6% [?]

As many of you have heard by now, we lost one of our own, Chris Gleason, when he died at the end of the Philadelphia Marathon this past Sunday. A consummate competitor and one of our founding members, Chris has been an integral part of Endurance Nation from the very start. Those fortunate enough to have known Chris personally will recall his unique ability to bring out the best in himself and everyone else around him.

His spirit was truly irrepressible; it’s no surprise that I have as many “Chris G” stories as I do race finishes. There are few others that have had more of an effect on the course of my personal and professional life over the last few years.

Chris is survived by his wife, a daughter (9) and a son (6). The Endurance Nation community is rallying to provide financial and emotional support in this incredibly challenging time. If you are able, please give via our family donation fund (here) — this is open to anyone to contribute. If you are on the Team and want to learn more about the memorial services planned this weekend and to share your memories of Chris, please visit the EN forums here.

As tragic as his passing has been, the reminder that life is fleeting and that we have to make the most of every single day is a blessing. I, for one, am not going to let this lesson pass me by.

We miss you Chris.

Popularity: 10% [?]