Need for Speed

Hey y'all it's been awhile! So a quick check-in, yesterday was my first brick workout since I've officially started Ironman training! We're still building base mileage, so it was a 1 hour trainer ride followed by a 1 hour run. It actually went really well, I PR'ed over the first 5k and had my average pace a full 30 seconds faster than I intend to run the Ironman! So we're doing good so far! I'm currently building my race schedule for 2014 (including the possible insanity of attempting the Leadville 100 or at least the 50-miler) and the honey and I have been Christmas shopping like crazy! 

Thanks to the generosity of the wife, I have been using my trainer most of the month since a massive cold front hit Colorado and I've been discovering the goods and bads about indoor training. I do virtually all of my rides on the trainer currently and since it effectively doubles as a bike stand, I've been doing some tune-ups and adjustments to my bike and riding position. Since I've been spending so much time doing this, I've been trying to find some ways to raise my average speed for the Ironman! So without further ado, here's 5 ways you can raise your average speed this off-season! 

1. Lighten your bike.

As someone who rides a 30 lbs. bike, I should know, it's hard to push that much weight at higher speeds. So one of the easiest ways to gain speed is to lose the excess weight which is often stored in unthinkable areas such as tires or even your seat post! 

2. Lighten your arse

Losing a few kilos is much less expensive than lightening your bike and it's one of the more efficient ways to make yourself faster. One of the biggest differences between a Tour De France rider and you is your strength to weight ratio. Increase that by decreasing your excess body fat and you'll get much better both on hills and the flat lands! 

3. Aerobic fitness, aerobic fitness, aerobic fitness! 

Contrary to what you probably think, raising your lactate threshold and anaerobic strength is only half the equation and it really only helps for hard efforts on hills and sprints. You need a huge amount of aerobic fitness to keep up with the pros speeds. So doing a lot of miles in the aerobic zone will give you a much deeper strength well to draw on when the going gets tough. 

4. Figure out your nutrition

You need to figure out your nutrition plan if you want to sustain higher speeds. If you do great for the first three hours but start to have issues after that, you probably are botching your fueling! Figure out something that works for you and stick with it to blow by your weekly club rides!

5. Train hard, Rest harder

You spend all day, 7 days a week training and you wonder why you aren't getting anywhere. Your body needs time to rest and adapt to your workload, otherwise you won't succeed in your regimen. Try to get a minimum of 7 hours of sleep every night (the pros sleep 10+ hours a day) and take rest days during which you do no activity. But also mix in rest days during which you put in miles in your recovery zone. Called active recovery, this helps to flush the lactic acid out of your muscles and promotes healing. 

Getting faster takes time but anyone can do it! The true trick is training smarter, not training harder!