Running off the Bike - Tips

Following our YF brick training, here are some comprehensive tips from Shem on how to ease into bike-run transition.


1. Ease up on the bike before getting on to the run. While you will not have the luxury of a 10 min warm down riding into the transition area on race day, it really is worth stepping off the gas and spinning yourself in for the last kilometer or so in an easy gear. It loosens up the legs, clears them of excess lactic acid and gets them accustomed to turning over at a running caence.

2. Take it VERY EASY going into the run. Start with small small steps but set your run cadence high. Give it some time, 10 mins or so, to let all your body systems readjust to running. During this time, concentrate on getting into a nice easy breadthing rhythm and stepping lightly. Don't worry about your stride length, your legs will automatically find an efficient stride once they have warmed up. Don't worry about other competitiors flying out of T2, if you're meant to, you'll get them later on : )

3. Don't have a feast of gels and carbo drinks or gels at T2. Wacking in a large amout of electrolytes and carbs at this point could really stuff up the concentrations in your tummy. Instead, try to keep hydrated and well-fed on the bike so that you're not "dying for a drink" or "starving" coming into T2. As you set out on your run, you may want to get a sip of water to rinse out your gel/ gatorade sticky mouth and throat. You should only start on the gels once you have "regularized" from the bike-run transition. (ie.. when you are runing comfortably). Throughout the run, stay alert about how your stomach is feeling. Try to pre-empt when you will start feeling weak and fading/ hit a low energy point. Aim to get a gel in 10- 15 mins before this point. Always try to wash a gel down with bit of plain water as this will keep the electrolytes nicely balanced.

4. Have been cracking my head the last few weeks on how to approximate a half ironman run pace. I keep telling you that the threshold pace we hold at track is NOT your half IM run pace.. but the question of how much to back off threshold pace always remained a bit of a mystery to me. Well.. I did a bit of experimenting yesterday and found that I as running well at 10% lower than LTHR. The pace was comfortable (not comforatably hard) all the way. 3/4s the way into the 1 hour run, my legs started to "dull ache" (not burn- like when the we do speed work). After that, it was a matter of staying strong in my HEAD and HEART to hold that pace for the rest of the run. Cardiovascularly, I was ok, I knew that my legs, although aching, were actually OK (no latic build up) too. I just kept on telling myself that it would be over soon, and that it would be worth it.

5. The big difference from last week was that I was not trying to follow anyone. We are often tempted in our heads to follow someone that we think is "about our standard". If you're not racing to pay the bills, I'd say this is bad race strategy. I just found my own "groove", paid attention to my own little details, (hydration, nutrition, breathing, stomach comfort, cadence, and holding a good form) and had a really well- paced and enjoyable run.