Did anyone else catch the bit where both of them said they hadn’t done a VO2 Max workout in weeks, maybe since post SBT? I know they are on a different level than most riders, but I really have to wonder what the thinking is behind leaving those off the schedule?
So is it lots of Z2, SS, and some threshold sprinkled in?
Inquiring minds want to know.
I think it would likely be worth it to put in more effort at the start to be able to go more comfortably up Kevins. I would try that if doing it again. Problem from the blue corral is I’d probably be right into the next corral in front slow traffic but in theory those riders would be somewhat faster. Purple corral I think it would work well if you’re pacing for sub 9.
That wind coming back into Outward Bound was awful.
They do have rules against it for a reason. It is what it is, this wasn’t her first race…she certainly knew she was risking a DQ doing it. She could’ve stopped for 5 seconds and grabbed a bottle when she missed but she didn’t which I don’t understand.
Watching the live feed, she missed two consecutive handoffs. I’m not going to speak from experience on handoffs in that context, but that’s a race skill people practice. Other riders hand off bags with bottles and fuel which seems a little slower to manage but less risk of dropping. I would imagine for them to DQ her, it wasn’t any sort of slight grey area
After reading about all these sub 9 finishes I am a little reticent to post this. That said I had a well executed race and met my goal of sub 10.
Three take aways:
I hope to come back next year. Thanks for all the pointers.
This is freakin wild. The fact it was the official LifeTime media team too makes it sting more. Gaston would have def gone sub 6, probably even faster if not for that. What a bunch of kooks.
Super stoked to report that I went sub-9 (8:54:54) on my first Leadville attempt. I had a great crew, adjusted my ftp down ~17% to 3.6 w/kg, and stuck to a pacing plan that would result in a ~2.5 w/kg normalized power over the day.
I ate & drank as much as I could, walked a few times, and for a few minutes after Powerline inbound, I felt like the goal of getting the big buckle was slipping out my hands. Thankfully, I felt refreshed after the St Kevin’s descent & dumped the tank to do a ripping effort through the final gravel-road-gravel section, with a very fortunate tailwind up Boulevard.
It’s true what they say - whatever you’re going through, don’t stop moving forward. There were times I felt cramps coming on, so I’d back off the gas a little or stand. If it got too steep, I walked. If it was windy, I got lower.
I really had a lot of self-doubt last week, but kind words & encouragement from friends and my wife being able to be there for the weekend really motivated me to seal the deal. What an event!
Kate Courtney had probably the most epic post race interviews I’ve seen. It’s at 7:36 of the live feed video. Her passion and excitement post race just radiates throughout.
Man this race is hard. My 2nd shot at a big buckle and failed again. For reference, I came in 4.1w/kg and a much improved mountain biker. I knew I’d need a good day to pull it off. Paced to Twin Lakes perfectly catching tons of free speed, hitting my HR and power targets, well fueled, and about 4 minutes ahead of my target pace.
Coming down the singletrack to Lost Canyon I was paying too much attention to avoiding the pro male coming up the hill, lost my front wheel and ate it. A little scraped up and my knee was throbbing, but nothing serious. Felt like I bounced back quick and passed ~75 people going up Columbine. Hit the goal trail and couldn’t work my way through the Conga line. Ended up 16 minutes behind pace at the turnaround.
Couldn’t get with a group after passing through twin lakes, everyone either seemed too fast or too slow. Struggled through Powerline and basically limped it in to barely break 10 hours.
That said. never a bad day in this race. It’s truly a special event and the crowd support really kept me going.
Side note: saw multiple guys in my range(aka not remotely elite) riding drop bars on their MTB. Really stupid and the loose course conditions exacerbated it. This race is dangerous enough as evidenced by the number of big crashes yesterday. Don’t be that guy and risk others safety because you think you’re Keegan Swenson(you’re not).
ETA: I placed 110 spots higher than last year and was 13 minutes slower. In awe of the people who broke 9 yesterday. That’s incredible.
It seems to me that she straight up lied to the camera by saying that “she had extra, so missing a feed wasn’t an issue”. That implies she never received what she missed. When in reality it’s not the case, and she didn’t mention that she got the bottles later on.
Yes. I caught that too. I actually by chance was going a ton of sweet spot duration rides. 3x30s. My threshold rides were 6x10s. Things like that.
My heart rate was pinned in my tempo zone for 6 hours. I only had 1 min 20seconds in threshold. Power is weird because of the altitude. The day before I did 30s 1m 3m and 5m efforts to find where my new sweet spot is at altitude. I tried to pin it right at 240w with a FTP of 315.
I honestly believe sweet spot training and threshold training made this race for me successful.
8:29 - 4.02 W/kg base on FTP at 6600ft.
Anxious to hear how your day went.
Watching her on the live stream made me super uncomfortable. I was sure she was going to scissor her fingers and then knock out her teeth. I know that’s a dumb worry, but yeesh.
Why would you expect someone to do VO2 work leading up to Leadville? IMO the time for VO2 work prior to ultra events like this is months in advance. Maybe you touch on some time above threshold if you’re expecting to do some paceline, but VO2 work just isn’t all that relevant in the buildup to a race like this, in my opinion.
It’s a big advantage to be able to fly through a hectic feed area without having to look for your specific crew, and then meet them in an isolated place where they’re the only ones around and things are more controlled for you individually. That’s why there are rules against it. Whether it was intentional or not, I can’t speculate.
rules are rules!
The response to your post is a completely different thread, so I’ll post that elsewhere, probably in Software.
I came in at 9:04. A bit disappointed in not getting a big buckle, but super proud of the effort I gave and had an incredible day. I weighed 204, and have a TR AIFTP of 316 living at 7,000’ (3.42W/kg). I went 4:55 in the SR50 and felt confident I had the fitness for sub9 on a great day. I was on pace +/- 2 minutes every checkpoint through Twin Lakes Inbound. Despite always riding in a group over the next 20 miles, I came into Outward Bound 6 minutes off pace. Did everyone else lose time in that stretch from the Twin Lakes dam back to Outward Bound? Cramps forced me off the bike many times up Powerline, and I was cooked. Up until then, I rode within my limits all day, and going in had planned on pushing hard from Powerline all the way back in…. I just didn’t have it. Got to Carter Summit 8:15 in, 7 minutes off plan. Knowing that going sub9 wasn’t realistic, I swiped away from my elapsed time on the Garmin and emptied myself to the line, getting there just under 49 minutes. Proud of the effort I gave. I’ll be back next year for the big buckle!!
Power meter still jacked up 
Lot of segment PRs with lower power, so I didn’t really look at it for pacing. Used HR and RPE for pacing.
Missed nutrition goals. Rotated bladders with Maurten 320 and Skratch high carb… Maurten wasn’t sitting well in my gut, so ended up behind on sodium, hence the cramps. Pickle Juice shots were effective, but I didn’t have enough of them. Made up the carbs with chews. Water in my bottles was crucial for cooling off, rinsing eyes, and helping with upset gut. Apparently there was a traffic jam of cars pulling into Outward Bound in the morning, so my crew didn’t make it to where we had planned. I lost 40 seconds figuring that out.
Losing 10-15 lbs is my focus through the end of the year–it was so obvious how I couldn’t keep up with people on climbs. 41 people passed me from TLD to the top of Columbine, and then I passed 60 people from Columbine back to OB, and then 20 people passed me going up Powerline.
Congrats to everyone on a great day!
Reminds me of high school kids at a track meet walking across the track mid race without looking. 
Tough with two way traffic. Seems like a wide area, maybe have some flags to divide an outbound lane and inbound lane to limit some of the chaos?