If you’ve already done other middle-distance races – and we’re assuming you have if you’re chasing a personal best (PB) for this distance – you’ll have had real opportunities to learn from each of those experiences.
So to start, review your previous races and write down what went well and what you could have improved. This list will provide you with your training objectives and help you avoid doing the same thing you did before or missing potentially key opportunities to make up time.
The answer for improved performance is not to just add more hours to your training schedule; instead, training smart and being more specific with your training in line with your strengths and weaknesses will result in greater improvements.
Where's the best place to start?
The first step is to understand where there’s the most time to gain. For example, if you swim under 30mins, ride under 3hrs, and run over 2:30hrs, you may need to focus on delivering a faster run as the other two performances are strong.
Using your race position from each discipline in past races can help you identify your strengths and weaknesses relative to the rest of the field. But also consider your transition times: you could save a lot of time there without realising it!
Check out your competition
Next, compare your results with what the people are doing at the next level. What does that time look like if you want to get your bike down from the top 50% to 25%? This information guides our training.
Consider getting a coach
Once you know what you must focus on, self-reflection can be helpful to identify how you can improve it. This is also where a coach or someone else can help you objectively identify how to improve.
This step is moving from ‘I need to get my bike stronger’ to having the route map to do it.
Be self-aware
You’ll need to focus on mental skills more than just your physical ones to achieve your PB, as they will unlock your capability. You must be self-aware of your strengths and weaknesses and also begin to take an active role in directing your training.
A lot of the process of working out how to improve is achieved through these skills.
Go the distance
Everyone is different, of course, but to get to the point where you can improve your time, you should be very comfortable going the distance.
Training becomes less about pushing out your endurance and more about being able to push hard for each of the durations.
Many people’s racing intensity will be just under their thresholds or around sweetspot, but you’ll also need to generate those intensities after fatigue.
A good test is interval sessions that target the time you want to race for.
Middle-distance brick session
To chase a PB, you need to look at some breakthrough sessions, so after a warm-up, try this brick session:
Bike
3 x 10mins at sweetspot, 3mins recovery, 5 x 3 mins at VO2 max, 3mins recovery, 3 x 10mins at threshold, 5mins recovery. The aim is to hold that power even under fatigue.
Run
5-10 x 1km repeats at or just above threshold; 1min recovery. Do this session off the bike.
Top image credit: Zone3/James Mitchell
