Bike effort during a triathlon

[RyanM]

I am signing up for a bunch of sprint/oly distance tris next year.
During the bike leg should you be going as hard as you can or try to keep yourself at your LTHR?
Thanks

[psycleridr]

for a sprint you would go all out as your total time will likely not exceed 2 hours. For an olympic depending on your fitness level you will likely hold back some. It is different for everyone and these are the questions that you should answer for yourself during training as it is different for everyone.
What is your strength/weakness? Bricks workout are important to get used to running after a hard bike effort. Training is not just about getting ingood shape but about tweaking your race plan.

[RyanM]

Thanks for the info. When training for a sprint, should some of my days be all out on the bike to get used to riding anaerobic for the 15miles?

[psycleridr]

Once again training plans are different for everyone but you should do a few brick workouts and even some full event (on your own) to gauge your increasing fitness/improvement. Are you training with a power meter? Heart rate monitor? These tools are helpful but not necessary. Also start doing some research. A good basic book is IronFit. If you are more into technical stuff you can try the Time crunched Training plan series or the Training bible by Friel. All good sources of basic (and often more) info

[RyanM]

Thanks again for the info. I train with a heart rate monitor.

[stevesbike]

pacing is more complex than going 'all out' for a sprint length tri - also need to be careful to keep in mind that one never goes 'all out' in an endurance event but stays at or below threshold depending on the length. Even at that distance you need to consider that aerodynamic drag differences between the run and the bike leg. This link describes the relation for ironman distances but the same principles hold for all lengths:

http://www.endurancecorner.com/Energ...20Ironman%20II

[Creakyknees]

riding anaerobic for the 15miles?

Nobody can ride anaerobic for 15 miles. You will be at threshold, with some excursions into anaerobic territory (e.g. on hills).

How often, how far anaerobic? Only you can determine that... based on training and experience.

[thatsmybush]

Just make sure you have enough left in the tank in order to turn yourself inside out for the 5k run.

Swim and Bike for show...run for dough.

Bricks, bricks, and more bricks.

Sprints are run on the aerobic threshold, go over the edge to often and you will blow up. Training and (did I mention) bricks, will teach you to know how hard you can push and for how long.