Specificity for 80mi gravel race w/5 climbs

Training
1

I’ll be doing an 80mi gravel race (B/C priority) in prep for Almanzo. I’m 6 weeks out. The race has 5K feet of total elevation gain and includes 5 key climbs. Outside of these climbs the race will be interspersed with 30-90 second punchy climbs and rollers. I’m trying to put together a little training block that will give me race-specificity to tackle these key moments. Right now I’m wrapping up a 6-week block of Sweet Spot training and will be doing a ramp test next Tuesday—currently in a recovery week.

Climbs
Climb 1 @ mile 28 (1mi @ 5%, PR 8:09)
Climb 2 @ mile 36 (1.3mi @ 3%, PR 6:16)
Climb 3 @ mile 41.5 (1.77mi @ 4%, PR 11:25)
Climb 4 @ mile 55 (1.2mi @ 7%, PR 9:14)
Climb 5 @ mile 66 (2mi @ 3%, PR 11:33)

I’m stronger now than I was and will pace the earlier part of the race better so I feel confident that I can go harder. My current FTP is ~295-305w (3.78 w/kg)

I looked into Sustained Power Mid, but found that it lacked the specificity of shorter, low VO2 work that I need for this race. This block is based more on specificity around 5-7 minute VO2 work and some longer 10-12 minute supra-threshold work with early week high-intensity VO2.

Plan Option 1 (follows Sustained Power Build Low)

12%20PM
12%20PM3104×1898 704 KB
20%20PM
20%20PM3104×1898 702 KB

Plan Option 2 (custom that replaces the longer Saturday rides above with medium duration (5-7 min) VO2 max intervals)

19%20PM

25%20PM
25%20PM3104×1898 708 KB

2

How about general build followed by climbing road race?

In real terms those aren’t massive climbs and rolling road race would probably be fine too.

For a normal ride around here I figure about 10m ascent for every km on average which is roughly what you have there.

3

I agree with you in that these aren’t big climbs, they are thresholdy, but I plan to ride them at over FTP.

Appreciate the input! I’ve also got Sustained Power Build on the table. I don’t like how much focus is put on shorter duration work in the General Build plans. Sustained feels more appropriate given the demands.

Climbing road race looks like a solid plan with a good mix. The race is 7 weeks away (-1 for a taper week) so I don’t have time to do a full build.

4

Looking for feedback on the above.

5

You’ve identified it as a b/c race so just keep training. Do your build. Don’t taper. Do the race.

Schedule for your A event.

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