based on the above, I’d suggest ditching your plan of starting the race w/o your hydration pack. Just take it from the beginning so you have plenty of fluid from the get-go. throwing a bottle in your jersey is a poor substitute…and will bounce all over the place as you hit the flint rock.
You can chase calories if you fall behind and get back to where you need to be…but if you start chasing hydration early in the day at Unbound, you are just gonna suffer (and possibly DNF).
I am prob going to pull out of the race this weekend.
Highs in the 90s and doing 7k feet of climbing in an 80 mile race might cause me to dig a bit too deep.
Tried to do some vo2 and body was having none of it.
I think making sure im healthy and recovered will net a better result then pushing all the way till the end.
That seems prudent. I’m still paying the price for my long training ride a couple weeks back. Picked up some rather unpleasant saddle sores for the first time and my legs have no stamina in them.
When I started reading this thread I thought either I’m reading the journal of a superstar or this guy is gonna blow up in training.
Absolutely no disrespect to you, it’s this go hard or die trying attitude that I love in people.
Next time, he says with the benefit of hindsight, keep something in reserve each ride, save your 100% for race day.
Bravo though. You both/all did more tough rides in training than most people will do in a lifetime.
Forgive me if I’ve missed anyone. ABG started the thread right? Then one or two others got involved?
I deferred a couple of weeks ago. Lost too much time on the bike, then the anxiety of having lost too much time on the bike… I wanted to give myself the best chance of not only being successful but having fun out there (which is really the ultimate goal). Driving 8 hours under-trained and under-prepared just seemed like pointlessly taking on a miserable feat.
I did start this thread. I wanted an open platform to the positives and the negatives in training for such a big event. I was also hoping for feedback that would make this a better experience for me and a place people could bounce ideas off of each other. I think as we get closer we all get scared that we have not approached this correctly.
Having tackled big events like this, I know how hard it is to not play mental gymnastics. No matter what, 200 miles is a LONG day on the bike. There will be things that go wrong, there will be things that go right. Embrace the ebb and flow of an event like this and just roll with the punches. Take care of yourself and don’t do something you are not capable of and you will be fine!
Does anyone have any pacing advice for a fella doing the 100 miler?
I am thinking around 7 hours is feasible given my current fitness, and I was curious if I should just go Zone 2, or something like 70% FTP as my average. Any thoughts are appreciated from more experienced folks.
I’m not a racer at all, just wanting to finish the ride without blowing up.
IMO, this is far too aggressive and I would bet money (w/o even knowing you) that you’ll be fatigued on the start line.
Some questions/thoughts:
You have 12 solid days of riding w/o any time off the bike, to me this is a recipe for serious fatigue going into the race.
I would get rid of the Anaerobic work on Monday the 24th and keep it to a VO2 max workout, don’t burn yourself out, with full gas efforts.
Your race week seems really really heavy with the 4-hour ride mid-week the VO2 workout 2 days out. I’m not sure what you’ll accomplish with those workouts so close to the race date. I would do Gendarme -6 on Monday and Longfellow on Tuesday and then take an active recovery ride on Wednesday and Thursday completely off the bike. Friday’s are openers, probably not this workout. I’d do something like 20 min Z1/Z2, 10 min @ low Sweet Spot, 3x30s VO2, and then be done.
A good taper is very individual, but a couple of things seem unanimous. Cutting duration by 40-60% while maintaining intensity has the best results. While maintaining duration and cutting intensity yields inferior results. Maintaining both is a recipe for a disastrous race.
I would structure the week of May 24 as follows (I don’t know your flexibility)
Take this with a grain of salt, as I don’t want to blow your plan up because I don’t have your training history, but some things stood out and I thought I could help. At this point, you want to shed fatigue and maintain some intensity that is similar to your race specificity.
Don’t worry about losing fitness at a greater rate of fatigue, it won’t happen unless you stopped riding right now.
I’m just a guy at a keyboard who has listened to a lot of AACC podcasts but that seems like a lot of volume for a taper (especially 4 hours of endurance 3 days out!)
As with most racing you’ll be going by RPE mostly, given the terrain and other factors.
Just start out riding slower than you think you need to go, like if you’re saying to yourself, “This feels kind of easy” you’re doing it right, this will allow you to go deeper later or run a negative split where the second half of your race is faster than the first.
The other thing that will pay huge dividends is not doing too much work on the front of a paceline, which you’ll likely find yourself in for most of the race. No hero pulls. The person that pedals the least will be the freshest toward the end. However, if you find yourself in a group that is too fast, it’s ok to let them go and get swept up by the next group which will likely be just right for you.
+1 to this and when you inevitably go out too fast and maybe start to feel bad don’t panic. Re-focus on establishing a realistic pace, pay attention to your nutrition and hydration and keep pedaling
I deferred last night. My recovery is finally coming around but like you said, I want to give myself the best chance of making the most out of this legendary life experience. I’m registered for some cool races later in the year (the Hellhole Gravel Grind 3-day Stage Race and UnPAved) and will likely add some more local Georgia races like the 3G and GA State of Gravel as well. Lots to still be happy about and progress made towards making myself a faster cyclist. I started late last year at 252lbs and a 147W FTP…I’m down to 210lbs and was at 272W before my downward spiral. I know I’ll be down under 190lbs by this winter and hopefully I can continue a lot of my first year gains to reach 300+W by next year. Stretch goal of 4W/Kg by Unbound 2022.
I learned a lot about myself over the past month and a half, about how NOT to manage big jumps in work stress and time commitment while still increasing training load (and running a caloric deficit). All the classic hindsight about how obvious a serious bout of overtraining was destined to happen, but I wasn’t paying attention to the cues, large or small. Work is a four letter word, but it’s my fault for being an arrogant dummy about my stress levels.
Something else I hadn’t considered was that I should have scheduled a training break for the spring. I’d come back to cycling on 09/28 and had consistently trained every week until the end of March. As my fitness returned I was enjoying it and wanting to play with my new toy, but I should have given myself a mental and physical break in there somewhere. Without a winter break I ended up wanting not just a rest week but a true week off the bike just to reset everything.
In the end, while I’d rather be there for sure…I’m content with my decision and feel much more at peace than I thought I would. Good luck to everyone taking part this year…now I’m going to go start putting all this gear away for next year.
Good luck to everyone heading to Kansas. I’ve raced this a couple of times and it’s an amazing experience. Reminder that the game for most folks is pacing and nutrition based on your fitness. The unexpected will happen and will play a big part on how your day will go. Be flexible and adapt to the situations such as mechanical, nutritional, or hydration. Keep a level head. I would also recommend that you need to be as fresh as possible going into the race. You cannot make up training in less than 19 days. Can’t wait to hear all of your stories!
