Hilly race prep

General
1

Hey everyone!

I’m getting ready for a hilly half Ironman with about 1,800 m of elevation, and I’ve noticed a couple of weak spots in my prep:

  1. I need to raise the watts I can sustain on climbs (basically improve my FTP).

  2. My run pace right after the bike – I just can’t get into my “normal half distance” pace on a hilly course.

The race is 6 weeks away, so I’m looking for practical tips or workouts I could add to the specific training phase of my plan to improve both sustained climbing power and my run off the bike.

Any advice would be super appreciated!

Thanks :smiling_face:

2 Likes
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For the bike, I would do long threshold workouts to raise your FTP. Do these just below to slightly above your current FTP. These will mimic the kinds of climbing you’ll have to do with the half IM. Does that help, Karolina?

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Without changing your FTP, would the amount of watts you are able to sustain not be the same as normal - whether you are on a climb or not? Only your speed would change, but if you can hold 200W for 30 mins for example, just hold that going up the climb as well?

I know what you mean regarding the pace on the run after a hilly course, I had the same at IM 70.3 Swansea - I think this is where RPE comes in. I use stryd power on my runs and I just readjusted the goals when I got onto the run - found a power I was “uncomfortable” with and tried to stick with that.

Keen to see any other ideas anyone may have on this however as I am prepping for Alpe D’Heuz Triathlon next year!

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That’s exactly the idea. Do the tempo/threshold intervals at the wattage you can sustain up the climb. That way you can train for hills without having hills in the neighborhood!