RPK79

Last year I did three duathlons and ranked well in my age group and not horribly overall. I've been cycling longer than running having just picked up running two years ago, and it shows in my standings as I am one of the stronger riders, but fall short on the running legs (no pun intended).

As luck would have it I started a job in a large office complex that has a free gym for building employees, so I've begun running every weekday. Currently I'm doing 30ish minute tempo runs M|W|F and then on T|T I'm doing intervals (5 minute warm up, 5 1x1's, 5 minute cool down).

I'm Zwifting using the workouts in the 4 week FTP builder plan. I've been riding every day except for the Tuesday/Thursday as my evening schedule doesn't allow for it and I figure I can go harder on the HIIT runs without having to worry about riding that evening.

Should I be doing more? Less?

I plan to practice transitions come spring as I know I can shave off at least a minute overall there.

_ForceD_

I would say that you might benefit from some "brick" workouts once or twice per week. A brick can vary just about as much as you want it to. You can search for bricks with distances/intensity/frequency/etc. that would be most suitable to you. But basically, a brick workout is a short, but maybe more intense bike workout followed immediately by a run workout (immediately like almost in race conditions). It's not a "transition" workout...i.e. you're not focusing on what you do in the transition area. But rather, on the transition of your muscles going from cycling to running. You can do them on the road, or at the gym on stationary equipment. The purpose of them is to get your legs accustomed to the transition. And, IMO, they do work.

Dan

RPK79

Yes, I do some bricks during nicer weather, but at the moment the bike trainer and the treadmill aren't located in the same place. Thanks though. Solid recommendation.

highrpm

I've been working on getting my running speeds up too this year. Two suggestions:


Replace one of your 30 minute sessions with a longer run, at least once per week. A long run meaning around 1.5 hours.


On the intervals, push yourself on max speed every time. Try to get the max speed up.


Pick up a copy of the Hansons Half-Marathon Method. It's pretty good at describing ways to get your speed up.

RPK79

Hmm, I had been ramping up the intervals and then bringing them back down, but I can mix it up.

I was doing longer runs when I was running outside, and I actually have been doing one slightly longer run a week, but 1.5 hours would mean leaving for work that much earlier. IDK...

cycleworld51

Thanks solid help.

musicmaster

As someone who has spent the last 15 years running, that's a great way to get yourself injured.

Please do not do max speed workouts, almost ever. Unless you're training to be a sprinter, your muscles aren't used to firing that fast and it is a great way pull a muscle. The only type of "max-speed" stuff a triathlete (or any distance runner) should be doing is 100-200m strides, where you start off as a jog and slowly build up to your top end the last 30-40m. If you go all out, you're hitting your anaerobic system which won't help you during a triathlon (or duathlon)

The question is what distance you're training for. I assume it's 2x5k. Running a 5k isn't about how fast you can run all-out during an interval session. It's about how fast you can aerobically handle for 5000m (3.1 miles). For someone who is new to running and running less miles, I'd suggest workouts like 10-12x400m or 5-6x800m - getting in 5k worth of intervals with 30-60 seconds of rest. As far as pacing -- go run an all-out mile (4 laps around the track). Do a warmup with a few strides after the warmup (see above) and go run a mile.

Say you go run 6:00 for the mile. That's converts to around a 20:45 5k (roughly 6:40/mile pace). Your goal should be to run those 10-12 400m repeats (with 30 seconds of rest) around 10-15s/mile faster than your goal 5k pace. So say 6:25 pace, that'd be 1:36 400m repeats. If you're doing 800's run them at 5k pace with 60 seconds of rest -- so 3:20 per 800m.

Every month, do another mile time trial to see how you've improved.

As far as structuring runs, this is how I would do it for 5 days/week running with a limited running background for 2x5k Duathlon.

Day 1 - Tempo - 10 minutes warmup, 20-25 minutes at 5K pace+ 30-40s/mile (so if you're that 6:00 miler, 20:45+ 30-40s mile would be 7:10-20/mile pace), 5-10 minute cooldown
Day 2 - Easy run - 30-40 minutes easy at conversational pace
Day 3 - 10 minute warmup, 10-12x400m or 5-6x800m repeats at paces above, 5-10 minute cooldown
Day 4 - Easy run - 25-35 minutes easy
Day 5 - 65 minutes easy + 10 minutes at tempo pace (75 total)