Home Chat General Chat

Disappointed by splits

jibby26jibby26 Posts: 261
I have completed my first 2 tri’s in the past fortnight now and have been firmly bitten by ‘the bug’, but can’t help but feel disappointed by my bike splits, they are no better than training rides. My first tri (including transitions) I did 31.74km in 01:12:17 at an average speed of 26 km/h and yesterday I did 25km in 51:44 at an average of 29km/h. I’m on the fast side of average in the pool and have been one of the first of the wave into T1 in both events but then seem to get passed by everyone else in the first few k of the bike, which only serves to be demoralising.



The next sprint tri I’ve entered in is in 6 weeks and want to do an OD in September, my birthday is in a few weeks and I’m thinking of doing the Salisbury fast twitch for it (crazy I know, but you only live once). The question is, I am being overly harsh on myself? And is doing another tri in 3 weeks too soon, should I be focussing on bike training instead?



(Conehead, before you say “rookie training day" they are too far north for me. If you organise one anywhere south of about Milton Keynes i’ll be the first to register)

Comments

  • Jack HughesJack Hughes Posts: 1,262
    Why not have a go at some Time Trials! If you are not in a club you will need to find some open ones - there may be some "turn up an ride" near you, especially now that the evenings are getting lighter.
  • jonEjonE Posts: 1,113
    Most people tend to belt out of T1 like the proverbial Bat out of Hell,treat the bike like the run with negative splits,start slow and increase your speed,don't try to hold on to the speed throughout the bike.Study the race route,map it out on mapmyride,look at the gradiant and decide where on the route you can make best time.no point looking for a good time on a hilly course if you train on the flatlands etc.You could train specifically onthe course it self.Best of luck.
  • jibby26jibby26 Posts: 261
    Good idea Jack, I'll see if I can find some near me.



    I did negative split jon.E, which I guess is why I feel I didn't push hard enough. All the training I've done has been long rides (50+ km), shortish (20km) harder efforts or Turbo trainer sessions so finding the right pace is a real weakness. I've been taking the approach that being able to ride at least double the race distance is a good thing, how often is it worth doing race distance rides at race intensity?
  • clarkey30clarkey30 Posts: 270
    Jibby i personally like to overtrain, i.e. my actual training (not commutes) are around the 35 mile mark for OD's, and in every ride i try to hammer myself into the ground constantly trying to beat the last time.



    It just gives me confidence in that come race day i know i can push it hard for well over the 40K.



    Im very very concerned by my prospective run times this year though, as my first race is in two weeks and im up to running 10 minutes at the minute and its still not pain free.
  • jonEjonE Posts: 1,113
    Jibby ,I personally look at the bike segment as to how much it will affect my run,as my origens are originally run based and my bike being totally pants I would always get a better run split to time spent training,and look to see wherever the extra effort on the bike would compromise the run and equate to either a better or worse time.



    Clarkey,I too am off the running at the moment so most of emphasis is on biking,so I now may be shiffting to a more bike based Triathlete than my original run based one,so I will have to see if more biking benefits to a better time overall.
  • MowfMowf Posts: 272
    I was in the same boat - it just takes time. Get out on your bike and you can train your legs to sustain a high power output, which is essentially what it's all about.



    At risk of starting a big debate, I will say that age-group triathlon is

    disproportionately weighted towards cyclists. The fact that it lasts for ages and is the 2nd discipline means it is bound to have the greatest impact on who goes faster.
  • md6md6 Posts: 969
    jibby, I am not the most experienced cyclist, but i have found that my bike times have been dropping as i have tried to keep the bike on the big front ring as much as possible. My commute is now completely done on the big ring, and there are a few (very small) hills. I have also started to do some hill repeats (not on the big ring - yet) on some rather steep (for me) hills. I've done this for a few weeks now and i have noticed that my commute (8.5 miles each way) has dropped from about 46 mins each way to a 32 min pb for the same journey. Obviously being a commute there is some effect from the traffic/lights etc but this is clearly a quite good increase in a little over 4 weeks. Maybe something like that could help you?
  • jibby26jibby26 Posts: 261
    Thanks for the tips guys, that's some improvement md6. Guess it's lots more time on the turbo in the evenings and a trip to find some hills on the weekends.
  • GHarvGHarv Posts: 456
    HTFU [;)]
Sign In or Register to comment.