I have been using TR for a long time and followed the podcast. I recently bought a Garmin head unit and saw their Power Guide. My question is, can TR not have a similar system (graphic) that I can use to compare the fitness of my various systems (aerobic, anaerobic etc.) vs what would be required for a race given a completion time or intensity level. i.e. I feed a file of the race the AI analyse the trail and my current position and I know where I am from a fitness level.
I know that the system works toward a goal but the goal is vague ( distance and time). I will appreciate your feedback.
Reason for the above , I did a 70 km 1.3 km elevation race last week. My take was that it will be easy, I was dead, extremely difficult. I am now worried if I will be ready for my next race.
Looking at Garmin’s Power Guide, though, I can see how it would be cool to integrate something similar into TR.
I’ll share that with the team!
Regarding your past performance, it’s really hard to say why you struggled. There are dozens of factors that could have affected you on that particular day, so it’s best not to try to spend too much time digging into what exactly it was, and instead, take any lessons you’ve learned and apply them alongside all of your other wisdom toward your next event.
There’s no reason to think that you’re going to struggle again, just because you had one bad day.
Training, fueling, and pacing are all key parts of successfully reaching your goals on race day, but there are many other factors that can be outside of your control. Focus on nailing what you can and enjoying the moment, and you’ll likely have success more often than not.
If you are not dead at the end of a race something is wrong. You are either in the wrong class and won or you were not trying. Racing is hard. Fun but hard. I think you are ready for your next race just by what you have learned in your first race. Good luck.
Everyone races with some degree of “not ready”. Don’t believe that voice in your head that everyone else has had perfect preparation leading up to the event. Everyone is bringing something—training has been interrupted, life has been stressful, barely slept the night before, mechanical issues, etc.
Go through your last race objectively and learn what you can to make the next one better—better pacing, nutrition, hydration, etc. Then you’ll have another data point to make the next next race better.
Bestbikesplit can do something like that, though not with anaerobic efforts thrown in.
In general though, I think this will only ever work for TT-style races, where you control your own effort. It’ll never be possible for mass start races, because a lot depends on how the race develops. Who’s in your group, how aggressive are they, do you have team mates, etc. Also, to win race like that, you (only) have to beat the other people in the race. The whole race can be slower or faster than in other years, all that matters is who crosses the line first.
Agree. You have to race the race, but you can at least have some idea of where your fitness is related to who you are likely lining up with. My w/kg is enough to finish around the middle of my sport XCO races. It’s helpful for me to know that I can (and should) let some of those guys go at the start.
