I’ve been training exclusively with TrainerRoad for XCM for the past three seasons, and I keep running into the exact same issue in races. After about two hours, or around 1,800–2,000 kJ of work, my performance drops off a cliff. I can no longer hold decent power on the climbs because my legs simply have no strength left (high heart rate, but low power for that heart rate).
It makes me wonder whether my interval sessions are actually targeting the kind of endurance I need to improve, or if they’re just following a generic training approach that doesn’t address my specific weakness.
I’ve already ruled out other factors such as nutrition and recovery, so those are well covered.
I always make an annual plan with A and B races. Last one race was yesterday and I found again the same feeling.
I train hard year-round, yet I keep running into the same problem every time I race. I haven’t been able to figure out the root cause on my own, which is why I’m asking for help here on the forum. I’m hoping to identify whether there’s a flaw in the way my training is structured or something important that I’ve been overlooking.
Maybe it’s something simple that’s right in front of me, and I’m just not seeing it!
If you’re regularly doing 3-3.5 hour rides and your weakness is consistently that you’re dropping off a cliff at about 2 hours, it seems like the issue is that you’re going too hard and not fueling enough during the first 2 hours. Have you experimented with lowering the power during the first 2 hours to try to maintain a more consistent effort for the longer rides (saving some for the last 60-90 mins)? How is your fueling?
Without knowing how you train, it is impossible to answer. However, I’d also ask a few other questions:
The symptoms sound as if you are running out of glycogen.
Judging by your work during 2 hours (1,800–2,000 kJ), I reckon your FTP is on the higher side, and it is quite normal that your body steadily switches towards fat burning as you have depleted your glycogen stores.
What does your nutrition and hydration look like?
What does your pacing strategy look like? Perhaps you are starting out too aggressively.
Regarding training, it’d also be nice to get the cliff notes of your training history plus relevant information such as age.
I agree that this sounds like it could be a fueling issue. I know you said that nutrition isn’t an issue, but what does your fueling strategy look like?
In terms of training. I’d be happy to take a look at what you’ve got going on. Can I share the details here in this thread?
3-2 days before no fiber, fats, veggies, dairy etc. Simple carbs with clean protein (pasta, rice, tuna no oil, tofu, rice cream unflavored, jam, honey…)
2-3h before race: breakfast, usually a rice cream and honey bowl with a few whey protein and pinch of salt.
1h before race hipotonic with bicarbonate
Race: first gel at minute 20 aprox. After that I aim for (52CH Iso bottle 1:0.8 + 45CH gel) x hour. 100mg caffeine at start, 100mg caffeine before last part of race. Sometimes I eat more gels, or add some 20CH gummies.
I tolerate very nice the intake, never have a stomach or similar issue
so for a race you’re aiming for roughly 100g of carbs per hour? have you tried to go higher? i’ve always had stomach issues but i’m able to do 140g of pure sugar with water an hour and it’s made a massive difference during long events. I notice every one else fading at a much more rapid rate than myself.
Totally agree! I just did my A race on Saturday. 7hrs of mostly just pure maple syrup out of hammer flasks and some electrolyte mix in one of my bottles and a few cups of pickle juice at aid stations. Felt nearly as good at the end as at the beginning.
The races I usually compete in tend to have a long climb at the start, with gradients that can reach 20% or more. We are talking about 45-60’ efforts. Since the terrain consists of mountains or forest trails, it’s very difficult to maintain a steady pace, but I always try not to spend too much time above my FTP—or, if you prefer, not to exceed my threshold heart rate by too much. It’s hard to do it to not lost the pack. What I’m trying to do is not fall too far behind the leading group. It’s on the first climbs that I can open up a bit of a gap so that later, on the descent, I don’t have to deal with slow traffic (my descent skills are good)
And I’m glad you asked me that question, because that’s exactly where my doubts come in: should TR help me, give me recommendations, or guide me toward workouts that allow me to maintain a high, sustained pace? Is this my weakest point and TR doesn’t detect it? Or simply I’m depleting my energy going too hard at starts?
Sometimes I reach 120g; I usually stay between 100 and 120g, and I don’t usually notice much of a difference. Maltodextrin + Fructose 1:0.8 (liquid and solid)
That’s the contents of one bottle, which I supplement with 45g gel and 20g gummies or another solid food (never less than 100 grams per hour in total).
Let’s roll things and resume the conversation;
Should I aim for 120g of carbs if I tolerate it?
Should I include longer threshold intervals of 20-30mins to get used of high sustained power starts? If so, why TR no detect that weakness and include it automatically?
Is time to exhaustion a key in my races and I not well trained at it?
As I said before, I’m trying if there’s something wrong in my training and identify it. Thanks all for your thoughts!
