by xrodolfox » Sat Oct 30, 2010 8:53 am
I train for sprints.
Thus, in practice, I tend to do 2X or 3X the total distance/discipline (ex. 3000m swim workouts, or 6 mile runs, or 30 mile ride), but I do almost all of it in intervals. I very rarely do a straight 800m swim, or a 12m bike, or a 3mile run. There is no mental hurdle, so I never do that sort of distance in practice.
Instead, I do things like 5 X 200 + 5 X 100 + 10 X 50 swims on intervals, some with lots of rest, and others at a pace.
What I'm saying is it all depends on distance and goals. Most folks that do marathons don't actually do anything that's marathon distance in training, but do weeks and a weeks that add up mileage.
As a coach, what I see very often is folks who are training for a swim portion on an Iron distance race doing straight sets of 2.4 mile swim; no break, straight through, trying to simulate a race. Every training session. That's what I often see. These athletes then show up on race day, and fail utterly. Their brain is prepped for race-day, their body isn't ready for speed.
So it all depends on goals.
If you want to be a top amateur iron distance athlete, you need to put in the total miles. There needs to be a big base of aerobic fitness to draw from. For that, you just need to spend a lot of miles and do lots of hours of work.
However, that doesn't mean LSD all the time. That DOESN'T mean doing 112 mile bike rides straight.
There are several things to work on long distance races if you want to seriously compete: endurance, mental prep, and speed. Each requires special attention, but often, you can do at least two at the same time.
I'm just worried that this thread is reading too much like "doing 2.4 mile swims is going to help make you an ironman success", when that is just not true. Sure, doing a straight 2.4 mile swim is great for the mental prep, but besides that it only works aerobic fitness, and does absolutely nothing for speed. Speed is needed not just to place, but also to finish.
Part of the reason I am cautious about LSD, is that I've met two athletes who were training 3 miles straight at practices while training for iron distances. These folks could do the distance, easy. However, on their own race day (each was separated by many years), they each fell apart on the swim. Their bodies were used to the stamina, but not speed.
I doubt MikayP will be doing ONLY long slow distances, but I'm cautious for the other folk who read this thread and think, "hmmm, I'll do an ironman! I'll train 112 miles straight on my bike, and I'll be ready for race day", when it is just a recipe for disaster.
"The worker has the right to leave his boss, but can she do it? And if she does quit him, is it in order to lead a free life; where she will have no master but herself? No, she leaves to sell herself to another employer. She's driven by the same hunger. Thus the worker's liberty is only a theoretical freedom, lacking any means of realization; an utter falsehood."
-Bakunin