So next season I have 3 TT races planned, in addition to a few more road events. There's a 24km one in Spring, a 180km one as part of an ironman team relay in summer, and a 47km one in fall. I didn't do any TTs up to now, and am wondering how to prepare properly.
My typical week would be say 5 days of training (like 3 endurace oriented, 1 focusing on power endurance ie 3x15min of mashing at aerobic level, and 1 intervals), and then an extra easy ride on the weekend. My goal for next year is to do over 10k km in total, with the season going from around late April to end of September. Depending on the weather there might be some riding before that, but mostly nordic skiing and running up mountains.
Would it be sufficient to ride as low as possible the whole season (in the drops whenever appropriate, and generally working toward a lower position), with 1-2 days per week on the TT bike, and maybe stepping it up to 3-4 in the month before a race?
Since I'm also planning for two or three 30-60min hillclimb races on the road bike I thought I would probably not adjust the overall training regime a whole lot, just take the intervals from the hill to the flat before a race.
Adjusting training for the occasional TT event
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I would say that you would have to identify 2 positions for your events. One for the shorter events, and one for the long. The 24 and 47km ones can be raced in the aggressive position, while the 180km should be in the more relaxed position.
My first question would be whether you have ridden your TT bike considerably before. If you have not, its a good idea to do a few weeks of threshold training on the TT bike so that you can maintain similar power between the two. As far as prep work for it, you should be fine if you had a well thought out base period and know what it feels like to sustain threshold for durations of 20 minutes or more.
For the 180km relay, you will need to log some serious distance in the saddle. Take your TT bike out for some long easy rides at first and work up your power until you are hitting endurance pacing for 3-4 hours. 2-3 of these rides a week should be plenty. The goal is to identify potential problems with your position (discomfort) and be able to generate consistent power over the distance. It is also a good practice for nutritional needs.
To prepare for the final TT, start with intervals of 4x10, then work to 2x20, then 2x30 (possibly 1x40 too). The goal is to be able to teach your body to sustain threshold for long durations and to know what it feels like. It will also help prepare you to hold a steady state power for the duration and not dig too deep and find yourself coming up short in the final few km.
My first question would be whether you have ridden your TT bike considerably before. If you have not, its a good idea to do a few weeks of threshold training on the TT bike so that you can maintain similar power between the two. As far as prep work for it, you should be fine if you had a well thought out base period and know what it feels like to sustain threshold for durations of 20 minutes or more.
For the 180km relay, you will need to log some serious distance in the saddle. Take your TT bike out for some long easy rides at first and work up your power until you are hitting endurance pacing for 3-4 hours. 2-3 of these rides a week should be plenty. The goal is to identify potential problems with your position (discomfort) and be able to generate consistent power over the distance. It is also a good practice for nutritional needs.
To prepare for the final TT, start with intervals of 4x10, then work to 2x20, then 2x30 (possibly 1x40 too). The goal is to be able to teach your body to sustain threshold for long durations and to know what it feels like. It will also help prepare you to hold a steady state power for the duration and not dig too deep and find yourself coming up short in the final few km.
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"It's an aerobic sport, dammit!" 
In other words a good aerobic engine is good, regardless of the event. What varies the most for a TT is the positional difference. I would recommend at least one session per week in your chosen TT position, and getting closer to the event I would incrementally increase this to 100% of training in TT position. Most important is doing the hard efforts in the TT position. Pay close attention to how you hold your body during these - maybe check on a wind trainer mirror/camera how things are going. Excessive hip roll, flat back, head low etc.
In other words a good aerobic engine is good, regardless of the event. What varies the most for a TT is the positional difference. I would recommend at least one session per week in your chosen TT position, and getting closer to the event I would incrementally increase this to 100% of training in TT position. Most important is doing the hard efforts in the TT position. Pay close attention to how you hold your body during these - maybe check on a wind trainer mirror/camera how things are going. Excessive hip roll, flat back, head low etc.
"Physiology is all just propaganda and lies... all waiting to be disproven by the next study."
"I'm not a real doctor; But I am a real worm; I am an actual worm." - TMBG
"I'm not a real doctor; But I am a real worm; I am an actual worm." - TMBG
first i go with ghost 234 about the longer rides. Maybe you should tell us if the tt's are uci-sanctioned or not. You could have a bit more comfort in a more forward orientated triatlon position, but then your difference with your road-racing bike could be difficult at first.
A trick you could do is :train with the lower handlebar-position on your tt-bike, for instance zero spacers under the stem especially doing your intervals for tyhe first event and when you have to start your long rides for the ironmanrelay (Roth?) put one or two spacers under the stem and you feel like you are riding a trekking-bike! (or almost)
A trick you could do is :train with the lower handlebar-position on your tt-bike, for instance zero spacers under the stem especially doing your intervals for tyhe first event and when you have to start your long rides for the ironmanrelay (Roth?) put one or two spacers under the stem and you feel like you are riding a trekking-bike! (or almost)
