As a natural runner, I have always had trouble to get strong bike split. I have also noticed that is the same for most of natural runners(or people comming from a running background).
So I’m wondering if reducing the running to focus on the bike for 3/4 month could be worth a try?
Short answer is yes. A stronger bike leg will almost always translate to a better overall time when executed properly. By getting stronger on the bike, your bike split will improve, and you will likely be fresher going into the run. In addition, bike training translates well to your running, while the reverse is not true.
Remember, tri racing isn’t about the fastest splits; it’s about the fastest overall time. Being strong on the bike is almost always the best way to accomplish that.
Definitely not trying to sound sarcastic or anything negative here, so apologies if it comes across that way. You are saying biking is a weakness and running is a strength. If you are asking if reducing your running and increasing your biking will improve your bike performance? I would say yes.
Absolutely…taking a block of training and focusing on a weakness is almost always a worthwhile effort.
If running is your strength, you aren’t going to lose that strength by putting it on the back burner for a few months.
Offseason is the perfect time to do this…if you can spare a full year and just focus on the bike (potentially including bike races if you are comfortable with that) is even better.
Good buddy of mine is a fantastic runner (runs a ~3:05 IM split and has KQ’d twice). He is a good cyclist but not great. His FTP is much higher than mine (30-40w) and we weigh about the same, but I am a much stronger cyclist overall. If he took a year and just focused on the bike, he would absolutely crush everyone.
I would second the idea that if you are a strong runner, cutting back on your running will not really hurt it too much. Within the context of triathlon, it’s often pretty easy for a strong runner to “maintain” their run performance even while reducing volume. Particularly if you are supplementing it with a different form of training stress in increased cycling.
I wholeheartedly concur with Kurt. As someone who is similarly naturally stronger on the run, I’ve reduced my time dedicated to run training to focus more on the bike. As Kurt said, I’ve found that being strong on the bike translates well to the run so take advantage of your natural run ability and really focus on that bike leg.
Thanks for your feedbacks guys.
With that in mind my plan could be like:
-sustained power build right now
-specialty 40k tt
-ss base
-him build
-him specialty +race
does it make sense?