There is a large bike shop in Puerto del Carmen, but only a few stalls in the IM village - it’s not like any other IM event I’ve been to, where there’s usually tonnes of stuff for sale. I think there is a lot more in Club la Santa on the other side of the island when you register,
I couldn’t find anywhere that sold valve extenders before the race, and as luck would have it, I snapped one on race day.
There’s definitely a few sections where roads needed resurfacing, and although I caught a flat, I’m not sure the road surface warrants particular concern. I ran with GP4000 S II clinchers, regular tubes.
Last FTP test I took before IMFL (around 8 weeks before the race) was 305. Now a month afterwards with a grand total of 172 TSS in the last month…300!
I was pretty shocked to see just how little I lost, or, the other question is would have have seen a significantly higher FTP if I were to say have taken a ramp test the week before the race? And do any of you do a test that close to raceday? I opted not to take the test if only because if it was higher, I would bump my target power up as well because…well who wouldn’t! But I figured that if I stuck with my FTP and power plan associated with it, worst case I get off the bike a bit fresher.
EDIT: Oh, and of course I clicked “Ignore new FTP” and stuck with the 305 because…well egos man egos
I think you peaked (at ?? W) and measured yourself on both sides of a tramp up/down.
Don’t be concerned about testing yourself: it’s more data you can use and then you decide what to race at with more inputs (FTP, conditions, recent long rides,…)
I did a ramp test a week before IMAZ more to measure my progress & future comparison and less to finetune my target pacing. I had a 3.5% bump (227–> 235W) since prior ramp test (@ T - 5wk) so I raced ~5W higher (170W NP instead of 165 so 72% at new FTP . It would have been 74.5% at old one so still within 70-75%). I knew from last long ride that 180W would have too much to set myself up for a decent run.
One thing I do like about what it gave me is that I get into built a bit quicker. As is, I would have been doing full SSB and then another round of base right away. It did feel like a lot of base. [But I’m far from an expert at training plan building.]
Seems spot on w/what TR has said/recommended in the past. That is, if you have the time, do a Base-Build recycle before Specialty. More than one way to skin a cat and all, but I have done this and liked it.
Hi
For what it’s worth - the bike course has changed in the last 2years and the section that had notoriously bad roads has been removed. The whole course now i would say is on good roads but of course even on good roads you still see the odd person with a
puncture. I was in Puerto Carmen about 4 wks ago cos i had a puncture jaja it is rare i promise jajaj but ive got clinchers - there are at least 3-4 bike shops in puerto and the one closest to the start is a dedicated tri shop so can only imagine theyd have
everything youd need. Any questions i can help with just shout
Personally I prefer to target one discipline leading into my triathlon season, so this year it was going to be running but my ankle is not 100% yet, so its now cycling. Therefore I am doing SS base and cycling focused workouts with running and swimming sprinkled in. Once the spring happens I will start my full plan and just go with it until my A race, and do my B races/pseudo A races in-between the blocks (fits well into either peak weeks or start of blocks/end of blocks).
IMO a full triathlon cycle is a lot of load and I even struggle to do an entire cycle, let alone doing base build base build specialty. Not to say what you have there is good or bad, but thats a lot of triathlon training for a long time. You know you best, but I would advise that it might be worthwhile to do some base prior to starting your 2020 triathlon training plan as sweetspot or even run focused without high structure and when it comes time to start triathlon training, you go into it so as to do base, build, specialty and complete the blocks without repeat. This would likely lower the burnout you might have if you start trying to do base build base build specialty as all full distance training. It’s a lot of load. Alternatively maybe do Base LV, Build LV, Base MV, Build MV, Specialty MV and see how it goes. Just seems like I would personally start feeling some burnout by the second build going into specialty.
Also might be worth mentioning that the B race is a 70.3 slotted right in June 28th, after the first week of FD build MV. Personally I would be trying to taper into that or if you wanted to train through it, making the FD MV base end on the 28th (1 week recovery week) and then race 70.3, have a week recovery and go into MV build for 3-4 weeks and cut the specialty by 2 weeks, leaving 1 week recovery after the B race. Alternatively you could use the B race as a peak week “workout” at the tail end of the second base phase and then have the week after the race as a recovery week, then start mid volume a week later and cut from specialty. I personally need at least a week after a 70.3 before I can feel like pushing high training loads again if I race it. I think that second full distance build block might be a bit too much slotted between the 70.3; i question if you will get the full value out of that entire block with the 70.3 placed where it is
Hi mate. Tripassion lanza in PDC is spot on. Swapped outta di2 cable for me last minute. They have everything you will need.
I used clinchers last year and will do so again this year. The roads are fine in my opinion. Only saw maybe 2 athletes with flats the while day.
On a separate note, there was no vaseline at any if the run stations despite race notes saying there would be. I’d have put some in my run bag if I’d known.
so this year I’m also taking the Jan olbrecht interview that I listened to on Scientific Triathlon a bit to heart, as it also touches on some of the teachings of Lydiard. I can’t remember if I added my plans here or if it was in another thread, but I’ve got myself a lactate meter and will be doing a lactate profile every other month.
Funny part about switching to a lactate profile is right now it looks like the 2x8 test was pretty close to estimating MLSS, better than the ramp test. The ramp was more dependent upon how much high power you could endure, while doing 2x8 (as long as both of them were within about 5 watts) is more about enduring a kind of high power, recover and then do it again. I’m now seeing that the short power build work was probably improving my VO2 max, but not moving my FTP, as I would always have trouble with the post short power build 2x8 test. After SSB, the 2x8’s were usually within 2-3 watts, but after short power, the 1st one would gain about 5 watts, then the 2nd one would drop by about 10. I thought it was just a bad day or a fluke, but now that I’ve got a lactate profile after doing a LOT of short power work last year that I basically was elevating lactate at all intensity levels with the focus on the short power.
So this year I will be going back to training like a normal triathlete, volume and sustaining power and only do the short power sharpening for the last 3-6 weeks before my B or A races. I think that since I am already at level thee on coach Chad’s strength chart, without doing any lifting, that I just have a fair amount of fast-twitch muscle, so I need to focus on volume and longer intervals to keep them from overpowering my slow and fast-oxidative fibers. Seeing Bradley Weiss win Xterra worlds after mostly focusing on 70.3 and still doing well at 70.3 worlds says that the power demands for the full length xterra is closer to the normal demands of a 70.3 than a World Cup XC mountain bike race.
Looking for some help to plan for next season. I have 70.3 WC late November '20 and i’m finding hard to fit it in with local US races(Full IM) since it is too late into the season for us.
I have Chatanooga and Florida on sight, tending for Florida - them problem is that with Florida being held on November 7th, i’m left with 3 weeks between races.
I think my body can take the load of doing both races(i’m far from being a top contender on the WC will just aim to finish it decently) but the thing is that anytime I complete a full IM training Cycle It is really hard to mentally get back into training routine. Things could be different next year because of the WC and i could have some extra motivation to keep training but would appreciate to hear from anyone that had this experience.
I feel ya on that one. I tested out last year doing a full build, specialty and then repeated specialty weeks through the race season and my run fitness peaked way too early. It really showed up when I use the garmin connect VO2 max chart. While the absolute values can be taken with a grain of salt, it’s still a decent metric of pace/HR… Although some of it lowering during the summer months could be caused by the temperatures, I still usually run before dawn. My goals for next year would be to just do enough intensity to get that little uptick, then go back to easy aerobic work (which will be at a faster pace than before due to increase in fitness) for at least a few weeks before doing a little bit of sharpening before other races. That drop I had in September I definitely believe was doing too much work and not enough easy stuff/recovery.
So there’s the 70.3’s WC November 28th for which i’m already qualified and signed up so this one is happening but i really want to do a full on the second semester because i feel like i race better the half’s when i’m training for a full.
Usually i try to fit in a half IM one month before a full(2018 - Galveston and IMTX, 2019 - Waco and Cozumel) but i don’t have that option for 2020 because Taupo will be too late into the season so what i’m thinking is to invert things and go for IMFL and 70.3WC. My “A” race on that case would be IMFL. I’m not close to be a top contender for the worlds and i just want to participate on the event and complete it decently but I wanted to hear from others about continue training after a full IM.
