3 hr Bike + 20 min Run. March 15, 2019 ~God’s Mode~

BRICK

3 hours at 195 Watts + 20 min Run off bike

brick workout is any workout that combines swimming, biking and/or running into a single session. The most common example is the bike to run brick, where you go for a run immediately after finishing a bike ride.


What a beautiful day today in Canada 🇨🇦. Sun rays gently pet my face. The sound of birds singing give me so much joy. I breath fully into my lungs, I stand strong on my feet, I AM ALIVE! I am full of energy and my soul is singing. 
I am so happy to come out of my Pain Cave and shake up my legs on a little run.

IRONMAN 70.3 Marbella 2019 is around the corner and I feel that I reach my peak form. Training volume goes up and I begin to feel fit as f@ck! I feel the explosive power within my body.


Warm-up:
15 min easy

Main set:
3 hours @ 180-195 watts
At mins 30 & 60 of each hour, ride x 7 mins @ 260-275 watts with 3.5 min easy riding after each interval.

Cool-down:
15 min easy

Using the sweat rate and fueling data I’ve collected over the past few weeks I develop the following strategy:


Hydration

Goal: 
Prevent loosing more than 3% of weight through the fluid loss. In my case 68 kg (150 lb) = 2.1 kg

How?

Sweat Rate: ~1400 mL/h
Liquids Required: Exercise Duration x Sweat Rare = 3.5 * 1400 = 4900 mL
5% Solution: (255 g carbs / 4900 mL) x 100
Sodium Requirements: 0.5 x 4.2 = 2450 mg


What?

Electrolyte Solution:

Gatorade G2 (591 mL) x 8 bottles = 4728 mL
Carbohydrates: 12 g x 8 = 96 g
Sodium: 270 mg x 8 = 2160 mg
Calories: 50 x 8 = 400


FUELING


Pre-Exercise: 30 min Before

Workout is done early at 5:30 AM. After the night fast.

Two bananas + cup of coffee + sugary drink (Aloe bullshit) + BCAA with Creatine Monohydrate

Felt good, not overly stacked. Just enough.

75 g of high GI Carbs = 300 calories


During Exercise


How?
Formula: 0.3 x 150 = 45 g/h x 3.5 hr = 158 grams of carbs 
What?

Carbohydrates: 126 grams / 880 calories
Calories per hour: 880 / 3.5 hr = 251 calories/hour


RESULTS


Pre-Weight: 67.5 kg
Post-Weight: 68.2 kg (post bike) 67 kg (post run)
Liquids Consumed: 4137 mL
Weight Lost: 3437 ml (3.4 kg)
Sweat Rate: 982 mL/hr (post bike) 1040 mL/hr (post run)

Weight Loss: 5 % body weight

5% is too much. Bad job here.


BIKE


Yesterday I’ve had a quite hard day with 3.5 km swim, followed by 16 km run. On top of it I had some work commitments to deal with. I also didn’t eat enough calories to cover the energy expended. 

Considering the fact that I woke up at 4:30 am, I was concerned about how my body will handle 4 hours of consistent training…

To my HUGE surprise I felt really good and strong. In fact, holding 195 Watts for 3 hours was so easy, that I even thought there might be something wrong with the power meter. (No issues with equipment. Calibrated power meter before the ride). With so much power in my legs I began to wonder how long will it last for until fatigue begin to creep up? I was expecting my power go down and HR go up as I go farther. I was really surprised to see that 1, 2 hours into the ride my HR significantly dropped, but power stayed the same. It felt even easier to hold that power, so I put the higher gear – my speed and cadence increased. What is going on here? Why do I feel so strong? Past two days I’ve been pushing my body so hard, but I am feeling so good… Is it something related to nutrition? Sleep? Hydration? Why? I shouldn’t be performing so good … Is the power meter broken? No it’s not.

It felt I could ride like this for days. Is this some sort of breakthrough? I am confused but happy…

I want to feel this way every day. How can I maintain this energy levels consistently?

I am really happy with bike performance and the way I felt.
Great job Sasha!


RUN


First 10 minutes were and easy run @RPE 3. Didn’t feel very strong. 

Next 5 minutes were at RPE 4, so I picked up the pace. I got surprised by how much stronger I felt compared to running at the slower pace just a moment ago. What’s going on? I got the feeling that I could run much faster so I speeded up even more.

Feeling strong! I’m so confused…


Distance Covered:
150 KM: 145 on bike + 5 by feet.
Time Elapsed:
3 hours 50 minutes.
Energy Expanded:
2787 Calories 


Lessons Learned

  • Start eating right from the beginning and stay consistent.
  • Pre-meal doesn’t have to be huge, as long as you’ve got enough during-fuel.
  • Proper bike position changes RPE and power output. Seat position is REALLY painful 😖. The cover I put on helped, but not much. I need a new seat
  • Higher cadence (80-90 rpm) makes it easier to hold bigger power.
  • Sweat Rate of 1400 mL/hour is on the high side. At this intensities I could go away with approximately 1200 mL/hour.

What will I do Differently?

  • Try liquid sources of carbohydrates. A coke?
  • Get the freaking new seat.
  • Use the restroom before run.