BeeDub

Sorry for such a newbie question, but I wanted to get the pros advice, so this I came here. Please help me.

Some friends talked me into a team triathlon in a MONTH (yikes). I'm doing the 40k cycling leg, using my brother's Trek 2300. I'm a 6'3", 225 Lb male in fair shape. I'm not much of a cyclist. My goal for this event is to not humiliate myself doing this. I hope I'm not in over my head.

What suggestions do you have for a training plan?
Should I get a heart rate monitor?
What other advice can you give me?

my58vw

First how is your current cycling shape? I.e. how many miles do you ride a week, how strong and fast of a rider are you, how fast do you expect to want to go, etc. Depending on all these factors will determine how much you can improve in a months times.

But regardless you are probably going to get the best you can by simply riding alot of miles at the pace you are thinking of at this point. Of course there are quite a few good training plans out there for someone who wants to do something simular to what you are thinking about!

Guest

If you can get a HRM, all the better. You can find out what your race pace is by riding hard for 30 minutes and recording your heart rate during that 30 minute effort. From there, just do your rides no more than 5 beats lower and 5 beats higher than that number.

Go at it 4 days a week, and if your fitness level increases, bump it up to 5 days a week. Note your heart rate as you get fitter. Check in 2 weeks, then 3 weeks for your heart rate. Do the 30 minute ride as your test. If you find you're able to keep higher heart rates for longer, then you'll have to change your progam to reflect this. Often, people's lactate thresholds are lower, but as they get fitter, you can increase your lactate threshold.

Aim for 45 min to an hour of continuous riding.

Eat well and stay hydrated during your training period.

The week before your race, try to do a simulated ride on the course. Make sure your run through is continuous.

The night before, get plenty of rest. Make sure you're fully hydrated (should start hydrating about a week before) and carbo loaded (start carbo loading a few days before the race).

The day of the race, take a good hour before your start to do a good warm up. You want to start with a lower heart rate and work to your highest heart rate by the time you get to your last 10 minutes of your warm up. Interval your warm up with a ladder interval, or just straight increases in heart rate over time.

Good luck.

Koffee

my58vw

Koffee as usual saving the DAY!

pearcem

Listen to Koffee. Great advice. One thing to consider is that if you have not done a lot of cycling, make sure to stretch after your warm ups and after you ride to help prevent injuries. You can defidently do this. 40k isn't a long distance to most cyclists who start out in pretty good physical shape, and by training like Koffee said, you'll be set. Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

Guest

Well, he won't be as strong is if he trained for it... say... 3- 6 months ago, but he'll be a lot better off than if he sits on the couch drinking Duff Beer all day.

Koffee

BeeDub

Thanks so much for the advice - and encouragement.
I rode the past three days with a race heart rate pace of 165. I averaged 20 mph for 15 mile rides. Hopefully I can improve on that over the next few weeks before the Spudman Triathlon.

Guest

Aim on getting to riding at a fast pace at 30 miles. It's more important that you finish this race strong then fade away halfway because you haven't trained for longer mileage races. You'll have to work for it, but be aggressive about increasing your mileage.

Koffee