How To Pace Your Half Ironman Bike

How To Pace Your Half Ironman Bike

Use percentage of your threshold to guide you to your best bike. 



What percentage of my power threshold should I plan on pacing the bike leg of a half ironman? How about a full Ironman?


The percent of power threshold that someone should plan on pacing the bike leg of any long-distance race is different based mainly on experience. For my Half-Ironman distance athletes I like to see them be between 80-85% of their threshold, and for Full distance 68-78% of threshold with beginners being around the lower end of the range. 

I also want the athlete to ride at a consistent power output with the difference between average power and normalized power being as close to zero as possible (e.g., no spikes in power for hills or sprints).  Lastly, I have my athletes do 2 training rides of race distance using their projected target % of threshold to test it out with race day gear and nutrition, so changes can be made if need be.  

