Very Hard is generally too hard. If you have to rate a workout that hard, TR will look to turn things down on you. But that’s the right thing for it to do. DO NOT TRY TO GAME THE SYSTEM. Always, always be honest about the rating. That rating and how you answer the questions are critical to setting the right PL’s and right FTP, so you get the right training stimulus.
Having to stop indicates Very Hard, or All Out. You’re right - you can’t take breaks and then just rate them hard and act like you completed the workout as designed. Taking breaks does change things so you’re effectively not completing the workouts as designed, but then trying to tell the system things were okay so it continues giving you workouts you can’t complete. It’s a vicious cycle that negatively impacts your training. It’s better to let the system turn them down to a lower PL, then complete them as designed.
Personally - I’d fix those things first. They’re distorting your progressions so they’re not accurate. How off they are depends on how frequently you’re mis-rating.
Where were you for FTP at this time last year? The volume could be a factor because you were doing more at your peak, but you’re not right now.
Personally - for volume I’d start by adding 30-60 minutes of Z2 to the end of your interval sessions and starting to add more volume on the weekend. I also couldn’t manage 3 intensity sessions a week except in short doses, so as you ramp up volume you might want to consider a masters plan. You can add as much Z2 as you have time for, as long as it doesn’t impact the quality of your interval sessions.
There’s a lot to unpack here - might be worth you starting another thread on this so you we don’t go overboard in the Leadville thread as it’s more of a general training Q&A and not Leadville specific.
This may be a dumb question, but is anyone here doing LV this year with the goal of 12 hours that will have support that I can ‘hire’ to support me? I know the org does a good job with neutral support, but I’d love to have the ability to simply switch packs and know I’m getting the same drink mix versus whatever they may have at the aid stations.
I would hate to have the support have to wait around for me, hence me looking for riders of around the same time goals.
I’d suggest trying to find a group who is supporting multiple riders and not planning to move. That will increase the chances your arrival aligns with someone in their group. Facebook has a good/active group, you might post there as well. If you are hooking up with someone only supporting a single rider, there is a reasonable chance you could end up hours apart even with similar time goals and fitness. It’s a long day with lots of room for things to go sideways even with great planning and prep.
You can do that with neutral aid also. They will go get your drop bag, and if you have a premixed pack in your drop bag, you just swap to that and off you go.
After enjoying the race last year but missing my goal by quite a bit, I’ve ramped it up in multiple ways this year. I completely fell apart at Powerline and limped home (HR below 100 for the last 2 hours type of limp).
This year:
I got a coach. This is already paying off in huge dividends. My w/kg ftp is now 4.03 and last year I peaked right at 4 w/kg ±. I’m hoping to get this to at least 4.25 with a stretch goal of 4.5.
I didn’t let myself gain significant weight this winter. I’m only a few pounds heavier than when I did Leadville last year and hope to be 10 pounds lighter this summer than I was last summer. Most recent years (now in my 40s) I’ve ballooned 20-25 pounds in the fall/early winter but avoided that this year with much more discipline.
My big weeks are already in the 15 hour range (which was my peak last year) but the biggest difference is two days of structured intensity. It’s amazing what 2 hours of intensity a week has already done for me.
Last year I was feeling pretty rough by the end of 6 hour endurance rides. Hoping to rectify that this year and feel strong at hour 6-7. Already did a nice solo century fat tire ride in 9H 20M. No way I could have done that last year at this time.
My wife is doing the one day! Excited to be on this journey with her.
Here’s hoping it’s not too much too soon and I’ll be able to handle the load and continue to improve through to August. Hoping to gnab a red corral slot at Lutsen which will be a good sign that I’m on track.
Nice work, it sounds like you are setting yourself up for success.
That 6-7 hour thing has been really helpful for me in training. If on a ~9 hour pace at Leadville, you should be starting the powerline climb about 6.5 hours into the race. It’s always in my head during training because I’m often getting home from my long training rides at the 6-7 hour mark. And I have a nasty 1/3 mile steep climb up to my house. And it’s usually blistering hot. My barometer for readiness is how I’m feeling heading up that final climb for home. Could I go another 2+ hours if I had to at that point? Sometimes the answer is no (not ready). Once it gets to “maybe”, I call that ready.
Hi everyone, not sure if this question should fall into this thread or not but since I’m attempting Leadville for the first time I thought I would start here. Prior to getting a lottery entry my family had a beach vacation planned July 26th - August 2nd and I plan to fly to Colorado August 3rd for the entire week leading up to the race. My questions are should I add this planned beach vacation to my TR plan and let adaptive training adjust? Also, would you recommend I add any off the bike training while at the beach? I don’t plan on taking my bike with me because of salt/sand and not having a great place to clean it each day. TIA.
That looks like Week 1 of a 2 week taper to me. Volume should be way down anyways so it’s not a bad time to take off.
Finish a big volume specialty block going into your trip, and then don’t be afraid to take the whole thing off. Make sure to eat healthy and try and sleep well and recover. If you’ve got a spin bike at the hotel, do some recovery rides, some spin-ups, maybe just a little intensity but don’t stress too much and focus on recovery. The week of Leadville you’ll be getting used to altitude and doing just a little intensity to prime the pump…
With those numbers and weekly training time it sounds like you are setting yourself up for a really fast time! The long zone 2 rides will help to build the “durability” needed towards the end of the race. It sounded like Lutsen last year was a disaster with the weather but I would think Red/Silver corral would be in the cards. If you can keep it up with recovery weeks built in I think you will have a great 2025!
I was around 4.3 last year and barely missed red at Lutsen, although I was right there. Despite the conditions being the biggest all-time epic shit show I’ve ever even heard about, I think I raced relatively well that day comparatively. Leadville was about the same performance wise - 8:43 so still a Green Time but may have had red in me that day if I’d gone for it a little earlier, but that could have also blown up on me. If it was weather like 2023, that was definitely a “red” performance.
I will also say that w/kg is a general guideline. You have to be able to really layer long-day durability on top of that and be able to ride at high percentages of it through the day. I’ve found myself at least relatively strong and passing more than are passing me by the end of both of my Leadville trips. I have a friend with roughly the same w/KG - and I beat him by almost an hour at Lutsen with him only 5 minutes back on me at the midpoint.
How is everyones training going? I just finished a base phase and FTP went from 317 to 324. Since the 8th Jan I have lost 9kgs so now down to 86kgs. So sitting at 3.75w/kg at the moment which I am pretty happy with just under 5 months out. I would like to lose another 7 kg and if the FTP remained at 324 then that would put me at 4.1 w/kg. I am doing about 12-13 hours per week currently with a 90 min vo2 max session, a 2 hour threshold session and the rest of the time made up by commutes and 60-90 minute endurance rides on TR t o fit around family commitments etc.
So a good start for me with plenty of time to make more changes!
I’ve seen mention of watching a Leadville race video online (perhaps via Rouvy?), and using the GPS data to replay the resistance from the head unit, in sync with the video on the Wahoo Kickr. Has anyone seen or heard about that working? It would be a great way to get some training in.