Key sessions and testing current fitness is very high on the importance scale when training for an event. I meet so many people who have a vague time they’d like to achieve for their goal event but they don’t even know their thresholds and aren’t doing specific workouts at the paces needed to achieve those goals on race day. They are getting fit and training lots but they don’t have a clue how it’s going to feel doing the speeds needed to achieve the goal. I hear so many times that 5:00 (for example) feels easy so they think a 3:30 marathon off the bike is do-able. So I ask what their heart rate is at the end of a long run at that pace compared to threshold heart rate.. the answer is usually ‘no idea’. With todays technology any one can figure out their thresholds pretty close without going in for a lactate test. This is the first step. You need to know your levels if you’re going to set realistic goals and do key workouts.
Feeling good at a specific pace on a long run is not a good enough indicator for what is acheivable on race day. Long bricks or brick repeats for example can help you realize how manageable goal paces are and these should be done regularly especially in the final 10-12 weeks going into a big event – esp. an ironman. This is also a great time to test a fuel/hydration plan.
My group of young aspiring elites are mostly training for short course events and testing the half distance. They’ve trained very well through the winter and improved their levels dramatically. But even with them sometimes doubt enters there minds if they are going to be able to run a goal pace on race.. so what do we do… incredibly hard workouts at goal pace. One of my athletes did an interval session of 1600m-1200m-800m-400m with full 3min recoveries at a a pace she’s never done before. She was so cooked after the 1600m she thought she couldn’t keep going. But she toughed it out and wouldn’t you know she increased the speed on each following interval. Then when it came to test day she was still apprehensive if she could hold the pace but I was sure she would – because she had already done it ( a little faster than goal pace) in a harder session in training. Result – big PR under goal pace with enough fire left left for a fast final 200m. If you can’t do it in training you can’t do it on race day! Do it in training and you might just do it on race day.
