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% [?]

Let’s talk about how to pace a short course triathlon (Sprint or Olympic distance). But first we’ll need to establish a common “training zone” language so we’re all on the same page.

“Friel Zones”
The heart rate training zones outlined by Joe Friel are the most commonly used in the triathlon space so we use them for heart rate based training and racing. These zones are calculated as a percentage of your Lactate Threshold Heart Rate (LTHR), which we recommend you determine using the field tests below:

Bike Test:
After a thorough warm up (we recommend you work up a good sweat), perform a 40 minute time trial effort. That is, go at a hard effort that you can sustain…just barely…for 40 minutes, as if racing. Your average heart rate for this effort is your LTHR used to calculate your bike training zones below.

Run Test:
After a thorough warm up, run a 10k, as if racing. Your average heart rate for the test is your LTHR, used to calculate your run training zones. Also record your final time and per mile pace.

Training Zones:
Calculate your zones using the following percentages:

• Zone 1 — 65-78%
• Zone 2 — 78-89%
• Zone 3 — 89-93%
• Zone 4 — 93-99%
• Zone 5 — 100-102%

Now that we’re all speaking the same heart rate zone language and have established a common frame of reference, let’s talk about how we apply these zones to short course race pacing.

The Swim
No heart rate zones here! Instead you’ll need to use some discipline and Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) to prevent yourself from going too hard and digging yourself into a hole.

Start:

• Strong swimmers: line up front and center, or a little off to the side in that front row. In our experience, it’s better to be in the front than to be a little timid and end up having to swim around/through/over a ton of people
• Medium: On the sides near the front, rather than in the middle and in the back.
• Weaker: on the sides and even consider letting the field get in the water 10-15″ ahead of you so you have a better chance of finding some clearer water

0-400m

• Understand there is a tendency to go out WAY too hard — the excitement of the start, the gun, the crowd, you’re racing…then wake up at 400m to realize you’ve been sprinting, arms and legs are shelled, heart rate is sky high, etc. In our experience, you’ll then back WAY off the pace to recover and end up swimming much slower than if you…
• Control yourself in that first 400m. You should definitely feel like you’re holding something back. Focus on your form by counting your strokes. Apply some mental attention to your kick and…try not to kick so much. Easy to go nuts with the legs and burn them out 400m into an Olympic race.

400m – Finish

• Once you’ve made it through the confusion and stoopid pacing danger zone of the first 400m, settle into an effort that you can maintain for the length of the swim.
• Our overall swim pacing guidance is “only swim as fast as your ability to maintain form. If you feel your form beginning to be compromised, just slow down.”

The Bike:

Sprint:

• 0-10′: expect to come out of T1 with your heart rate sky high, probably high Zone 4, low Zone 5. We want you to ride the first 10′ at an effort that feels like a low Zone 4…but realize your heart rate may or may not actually come down. That’s fine, but you want to feel like you’re in 4th gear out of 5, with that 5th gear being the one you shift into at…
• 10′ to finish: after 10 minutes…it’s on! Time to get to work. You should be in very high Zone 4, low Zone 5 heart rate, working about as hard as you can on any hills. It’s a race!!

Olympic:

• 0-20′: same as above but you’re going to give yourself a little longer to settle in and ride at a high Zone 3, low Zone 4 effort for the first 20 minutes of the bike. Then…
• 20′ to finish: dial up the effort and your heart rate to that high Zone 4 effort. You’re “almost” going as hard as you can (see your LTHR testing effort above) but not quite. Again, an 8.5-9 out of 10.

The Run

Sprint:

• Overall goal is to negative split the run, if not by actual time then by effort/focus applied to the course.
• 0-.5 miles: get your legs back — high cadence with a neutral to flat footstrike, minimizing the strain on your calves and giving them some time to get in the game.
• .5 miles to 2.5 miles: Zone 5…it’s a race!
• 2.5-3.1: everything you got. Finish strong!

Olympic

• Same negative pacing goal above
• 0-1 mile: same settling in guidance as above, running at low Zone 4 effort, though your actual heart rate may be higher. You should feel like you’re holding back a little, a 7.5-8 out of 10.
• 1-4 miles: settle in to your LTHR testing effort, a high Zone 4, low Zone 5 heart rate. Awesome if you can get mile splits here and can use your LTHR testing pace as a benchmark/whip, running maybe 5-10″ per mile slower to set up a strong finish.
• 4-5.5 miles: dial the pace up a bit. Definitely Zone 5 heart rate in there, 9 out of 10, you’re running at your LTHR testing pace.
• 5.5 – 6.2 miles: forget your heart rate…probably best if you don’t look at it   Finish hard and strong!

Interested in learning more about short course triathlon training and racing?

Take our FREE Short Course Training and Racing Virtual Seminar!
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• All lessons delivered straight to your email inbox.
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• An invitation to join TeamEN as space becomes available throughout the season.

Popularity: 12% [?]

With Ironman Coeur d’Alene next week, athletes competing in the event are eager to learn more about the course and how to approach race day given the unique characteristics of the event: variable weather, a cold swim, hilly bike course, and potentially hot run.

Below is our guidance, earned through our expensive personal and coaching experience with the event:

How Can I Deal with the Cold Water Temps?
Response to cold water is very individual, but if you haven’t already done so, pick up or borrow a neoprene swim cap and try it out in the practice swims. You can also try wearing two caps on race day, to provide extra insulation. Just before the swim start it may help to splash some water in your face, so you know what to expect. But, most importantly, attend one or two of the practice swims so you can experience the chill before race day. Last year the water temp rose from about 53 degrees on Wednesday to 58 degrees on race day so….the lake is a little unpredictable. Bottom line, if the water is cold early in the week but the forecast is for sun for the remainder of the week, the water should warm up a bit for you.

Is the Bike Course as Hilly as it Looks?
In a word..yes! The IMCDA bike course is deceptive. The first 20-25 miles of the bike are relatively flat and fast, and gradually uphill towards Hayden, where the hills start. Our experience last year racing on the course was that people showed up to the hills with a very tasty average speed. They liked it and wanted to hold on to it…but then it gets hilly. For the most part the hills are relatively short but can have steep pitches at the end. Nearly all of the hills have a false flat at the top, but a payoff with another fast descent on the other side. So, this is your rythmn on the hills: wow, check me out, bombing down this hill with good visibility and, wheeee, I’m holding 34mph across the this flat into the next hill that I can see. Hmm…doesn’t look so bad, I think I can power up this…hammer, hammer, hammer but, DOH! false flat…that’s ok, feeling good I’ll stay on the gas, I’ve got a tasty average speed and wanna keep it! Repeat, repeat, repeat.

The hills last for about 12-15 miles and your average speed will take a BIG hit. But that’s cool, you know have a gradual downhill back towards town, right? Yeah, but into a headwind coming off the lake. But you get away with working too hard because the mojo in town carries you through town and into the flats for the first 25 miles of the second loop. However, by the time they hit the hills again on the second loop, 70% of the field was done.

How Can I Break the Run into Manageable Chunks?
Some quiet time and shade along the lake for the out and back for miles 1 and 2. Get your mind right. Mojo through town. Mojo but some annoying turns through the neighborhoods as you make you way to the lake. Turn right next to the lake and climb a sortahill. Then descend, flat, get to work and settle in to the start of the turn around hill. Get up the hill, get it down, let it carry you across the flat next to the lake and back into town. Repeat. When you turn away from the lake, heading towards the finish on the second loop, you’re almost there but the turns can be maddening. Enjoy the finish, it’s a long downhill run to the chute with tons of spectators.

What Can My Family Do on Race Day?
The layout of the bike course will have you screaming through town 2x per lap. They can hang out down there. There is a playground next to the lake and a swim beach. Volunteering at an aid station is a great way to see the race.

What’s the Biggest Mistake I Could Make?
Digging your average speed at mile 25 of the bike and then working too hard in the hills to keep it. If you do this, your race is pretty much done by mile 40…you just don’t know it yet.

What is the Temperature Like on Race Day?
Temps for CDA are highly variable, with the weather possibly changing a great deal from day to day. Best to be prepared for a hot day and pay attention to the weather forecast once you’re up there. Note that the cold water temps can affect folks swimming 1:30 or slower, so you might need some warmer gear at least to start the bike.

What’s Your Top Swim Tip?
How about two? First, line up in the center, or the right of center. Seed yourself about 2′ faster than your expected time. Second, at the turn to parallel the beach, sight off the top of the hill in front of you (or you’ll be looking directly into the sun).

What’s Your Top Bike Tip?
You’re basically warming up until about mile 40 of the bike. Don’t worry, the hammerheads will come back to you or you’ll see them on the run. The bike course is very unforgiving and they will pay, don’t worry.

What’s Your Top Run Tip?
Run very easy for the first 6 miles, then settle into your pace, preparing for the real race that starts at mile 18. At mile 18, put your head down and get it done. Count the number of people you’re passing and keep your head in the game. You can do anything for 8 miles!

Additional Resources

TeamEN Race Reports from Ironman Coeur d’Alene
Please visit the links below for IMCDA race reports from our Team and learn from their experience!

Four Keys Pre-Race Talk
Rich Strauss will be at the race to support the 30+ TeamEN athletes racing this year, and to deliver the FREE Four Keys of Ironman Execution Pre-Race Talk to the public. The talk will be on Friday, 10am, meet at the K-Swiss booth in the expo. Look for Rich in an Endurance Nation jersey, or Follow TeamEN on Twitter.

TriathlonExecution.com
We’ve bottled our Ironman racing experience and Four Keys resources to create Race 101, the sport’s only Ironman execution seminar series. Visit TriathlonExecution.com for more details and free resources!

Endurance Nation is the world’s only 400 person long course triathlon team. With affordable self-coaching resources, free tri-rallies on Ironman courses, and the race weekend experience we create for our members, we are changing what you should expect from a coaching relationship. Membership is by invitation-only. Please go here to learn more and to join our waiting list!

Popularity: 23% [?]

Class is “In Session” at Ironman Wisconsin 2009

The Endurance Nation “Four Keys” To Ironman Execution

It’s June of 2010, and it’s time to mark the 2.5 year anniversary of our ground-breaking race execution guidance. What started as an article after Ironman Florida in 2007 has now evolved into a true movement. Ironman and Half Iron triathletes of all ability levels are taking advantage of our proven race guidance achieving incredible results!

Some use the Four Keys DVD, others are initiated after attending one of our free on-site Ironman Pre-Race talks. The newest converts are taking advantage of our brand new Race 101 Online Learning Course. Regardless of which option you choose, know that improving your next race can be significantly cheaper than those new wheels you are considering, or easier than that new whizzbang training method you’ve read about — master the four keys, focus on what matters, and race to your potential!

We have a lot of experience with what works, what does not work, and we’ve honed this message through the results of our athletes, our observations while being ON the course during the race, and the feedback we’ve received from pre-race talk attendees. Over the years, thousands have used the Four Keys to set massive PR’s, earn Kona slots, place themselves on the podium, and win age groups.

This is the official Endurance Nation Ironman Kool-Aid, we hope you enjoy it. Help us help you!

The Four Keys

1. Execution, not Fitness. All you’ve done for 9 months is build a vehicle. Ironman racing is about how you DRIVE that vehicle, it is NOT about the vehicle. The majority of athletes on race day are fitness-focused (look at my T-shirt, look at my abs/veins/etc, look at how fast I can go in the first hour of the bike, etc.) It’s easy to get caught up in the buzz and energy of the day, but creating and sticking to the right plan for you is the only thing that will lead to the best possible day.
2. The Line. Nothing on race day really matters until you reach The Line on the run. The Line is the point at which continuing becomes very, very difficult. You define success as simply not slowing down at The Line. EVERYTHING before The Line is simply about creating conditions for success for when the Line comes to you.Additional Kool-Aid flavored thoughts we’d like to put in your head regarding this point are:

• A successful race = a good run. There is no such thing as a good bike followed by bad run, period. In our world, if you showed up with solid run fitness, had a “good” bike and a poor run, we will ALWAYS assume you messed up your bike pacing, until proven otherwise.
• If you think you can ride faster than we’re telling you, prove it by running well off the bike.
• Ride your “should” bike split vs your “could” bike split. Your Could split is what you tell your friends you could ride on a good day, when you’re out together for your Saturday ride. If you say you “could ride a 5:50,” your Should split is likely 6:00 and is defined as the bike split that yields a good run (see #1 and #2 above).
• In our experience, 80-90% of the Ironman field doesn’t know how to race. If you find yourself doing the opposite of everyone else, you’re doing the right thing. If Jimmy is “king of this random hill” at mile 46 of the bike…don’t join him! Lots of people passing you in the first 40 miles? That’s good, don’t join in. Going backwards through the field on a hill? Great!
• Think you made the mistake of riding too easy? You now have 26 miles to fix that mistake. Make the mistake of riding too hard? That mistake now has 26 miles to express itself, to the tune of X miles at 17-18′ walking pace vs X miles at 8-12′ running pace. Do the math. How great is that bike split going to look as you are walking/shuffling the last 10 miles of the run? The Ironman run course is littered with fit doodes walking and talking about what a great bike split they had. Don’t join them.
• Every time you feel yourself about to roll the dice and race, look at where you are. Are you at The Line / Mile 18? If not, please stick to the plan!

3. The Box: All day long you are going to race inside a box defined by what you can control. Ask yourself “What do I need to do right NOW to create the conditions for success at The Line? Is what I’m doing right now counter to this goal? From what we’ve seen first hand on the IM courses, we believe you should ask yourself “Am I participating in some short-term tactical masturbation?” If yes, STOP!!

On the swim, the Box is the space your body occupies in the water: focus on your form and the rest will come. On the bike, the box is probably about one aid station long. On the run, the box begins as 2-3 aid stations long but often diminishes to “from here to the next lampost/manhole cover/mail box.” Regardless:

• Keep the box as big as you can for as long as you can.
• Keep in the box only the things you can control. Let go of the rest.
• Exercise this decision-making process inside your box: Observe the situation, Orient yourself to a possible course of action, Decide on a course of action, Act (OODA Loop).

4. The One Thing. If you swallowed the Kool-Aid we’re serving you here, you will show up at the Line, in your Box, ready to git’erdun and simply not slow down. But we’re not done yet. There is still some psychological stuff you need to address. During the course of your race day, expect your body to have a conversation with your mind:

“Look, Mind, you’ve had me out here slogging away for 132 miles. This is really starting to get old and very painful. You need to give me a good reason to keep going forward. If you don’t have one, I’m gonna slow down and you can’t stop me!”

Before the race ask yourself “Why am I doing Ironman?” Your goal here is to determine what is the One Thing that put you in this race. To finish in the daylight with a smile on your face? To run a 4:10? To honor your family or a loved one?

Whatever your One Thing is, be absolutely clear and rehearse your mind/body debate beforehand. Be warned: your body can be a helluva good negotiator at mile 18, especially if your mind hasn’t prepared its rebuttal arguments beforehand.

What have we not talked about so far? The things you are likely most torqued about: heart rate, pace, speed, watts, how to eat, what to drink, etc. We believe that if you can keep yourself focused on the Four Keys above, the rest of the day is relatively simple and you don’t need to worry about these relatively small details. In other words, all the whizbang guidance in the world can’t help you if don’t have your mind right about the Four Keys above.

But because you’re a Type A Triathlete and you want the details, here they are:

• The Swim: Swim only as fast as your ability to maintain form. When you feel your form go, slow down. Counting strokes is an excellent technique for bringing your mind out of the race and into the Box of maintaining your form.
• The Bike: JRA (Just Ride Along) for about 45-60′. Then shift from JRA to Easy (5:45+ should split) to Steady (sub 5:45 should split). Gauge how well you’re doing by how well you’re NOT doing what everyone else is doing.
• The Run: Jog for 4-6 miles, with a jogging, do-no-harm pace and heart rate cap. Jogging is defined as a pace you could sustain for hours if we kept feeding you. After 4-6 miles, shift from jogging to “running,” running comfortably, getting what you need, and preparing yourself for the Line, where things become very uncomfortable. At the Line, just suck it up and giterdun.

Conclusion
That’s it, that’s as complicated as racing Ironman needs to be and we can’t say it any more simply. We’ve basically given you a Vegas betting strategy, having managed and observed many rolls of the dice through our experience as Ironman coaches leading a team of 400 long course athletes. If you can keep a macro-level focus, the little things will fall into place and you will have a good day. But as you stray towards the Ricky Racer side of the execution scale, you begin to rattle the dice.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Become an ENFan Today! It’s FREE!
You’ll receive a FREE Four Keys of Ironman Execution DVD, a 10% discount on any EN plan, and an invitation to create a FREE 14-day TeamEN trial membership!

Popularity: 13% [?]