I am working with my coach on a solid game plan for IM Cda coming up pretty fast here! I need a reasonably aggressive plan as I am in with a chance at a Kona slot if all the stars align right on race day :-). Training has gone awesome and I am feeling fantastic physically and up until today, mentally too, but then my coach threw me a curveball.
He says he wants me to maintain 205 watts on the bike. Now I realise that to all you guys thats nothing, but you have to realise I am a 5ft7, 120lb (ie 'tiny'!) girl (OK maybe not a 'girl' - I'm 43!) - that puts me at over 3.8watts/kilo that he is expecting me to maintain for 5:40 (ish) - OOCH! I have a very narrow band of power in all 3 diciplines - I simply have no top gear, but can keep going reasonably fast forever as evidenced by my CP being 230 watts, I did 226 watts in a 20km TT and yet can maintain 211 watts on a CT for 2 hrs!
From everything I read, to avoid blowing up on the run (which is my strength by the way) you should aim for around 70% of CP - thats only 161 watts and I am positive I can hold more than that for the bike leg (I'm thinking around 180 watts).
I don't want to sell myself short on the bike (esp as I know I will have to push the whole race if I do want to get that slot!) - but at the same time I don't want to go so hard and gain myself maybe 10mins, only to have blown up my legs and end up having to walk part of the marathon (from my training I am reasonably confident that given strong legs off the bike I can pull off around a 3:45-3:50 marathon).
What are your guys thoughts - does 205 (89%) of my CP sound overly aggressive to you?
Coach thinks I can do it.... but I have such a fear of blowing up on the run at that intensity - at around 180 watts I am pretty sure I would have the legs I need for a solid run...
Advice...?
What is CP? Was that 2hr,
What is CP?
Was that 2hr, 211 watt ride "hard", or "steady"? Were you turning yourself inside out to maintain, or just going with it?
Up until the last 10km I
Up until the last 10km I felt very comfortable then had to work over those last 10 to maintain the 211... (but I was completely alone on the computrainer doing this so boredom and mind games setting in after almost 2hrs!) I have been chatting with my coach and apparently my bad - I was looking at the wrong# from my last test results and my CP (Critical Power) was actually 300 watts so 205 is 68% of that and therefore (in theory) should be do-able. He has told me (and its probably true) that I need to get past this mental block I have on the bike - what in theory should be fine, I find pretty hard, but the reverse on running - what should be hard I find pretty comfortable! But he did say that although my testing indicates 205, if I need to back off on race day thats my call.
I guess now I know I was looking at the wrong # I need to stop being such a princess and 'suck it up buttercup'
I'm not sure what a CP
I'm not sure what a CP is(max power maybe?), but I would say that comparing a number that you can maintain for 2hours is not likely to be the same as 112 miles at IM Cda.
"Coach thinks I can do it". But, what do you KNOW you can do? What was your wattage on your most recent century ride leading up to this race? How did you feel afterwards...good enough to tackle a marathon at 3:45?
--Jeff
http://www.pingjeffgreene.com/
my 2 cents : you hired a
my 2 cents : you hired a coach. Listen to what the coach says. If you don't want a coach and want to figure it out yourself, then you are wasting your money on the coach. If you don't believe in the coach's advice but still want a coach, then you need to find someone you will trust unconditionally.
sorry if that sounds harsh.
think you are right
think you are right yakn4ever - I need to stop 2nd guessing advise and just do this. Bottom line is there is a small part of me afraid of pain, and lets face it.... to get even close to a Kona spot is gonna require pain. I have been told what my body can do, had that evidenced by testing, now time to over-ride that negative part of the brain and just do it!
From experience, the worst
From experience, the worst feeling is having left wattage on the bike course. I've got the same mental block as you. I can find the comfortable, uncomfortable feeling on the swim and run, but just can't get there on the bike. It is totally mental.
Hit the number!! The only thing stopping you, is your brain.
yakn4ever wrote:my 2 cents :
[quote=yakn4ever]my 2 cents : you hired a coach. Listen to what the coach says. If you don't want a coach and want to figure it out yourself, then you are wasting your money on the coach. If you don't believe in the coach's advice but still want a coach, then you need to find someone you will trust unconditionally.
sorry if that sounds harsh.[/quote]
well said!
On your long bikes are you doing extended intervals of say 30-40 minutes and at around the same power of 205?
Alot has to do with your overall bike fitness (how you can handle 112 miles at a sustained effort), but if you can pull 205-215 on repeat intervals of 30-40 minutes with 10 minutes of rest for 4-5 hours then you should in theory be able to pull 205 for a whole 112 miles. Two things to also think about is fatigue in training. When you get to the bike leg you will be fresh from no hard riding for 1.5 weeks (hopefully). That alone should get you another 10 watts for the whole 112.
Just remember, your pushing 205-215 watts in training at a severely fatigued level, so doing 205-215 consistently for a 112 should be easy when your rested.
vjohnson wrote: Hit the
[quote=vjohnson]
Hit the number!! The only thing stopping you, is your brain.[/quote]
YEP!
haha - its ON guys!! thx so
haha - its ON guys!! thx so much for helping me get my head clear... jarhead - yes - I can maintain 211 watts for 2 hrs on the trainer and def do repeated long intervals at that 205-211 intensity (Coach has me hitting 215-220 for 45-60mins which hurts like hell by the end but I can do it)
Also sat down with a friend of mine yesterday who after a couple of (for him) disappointing results nailed a 1st place in his AG @ IM Texas 3 wks ago which also helped get me in the right head space. I'm feeling very relaxed now, have my race plan all written out.... now time to taper in style, not over-think anymore and go out there, rock it ... and HAVE FUN :-)
Selina, My bad, just saw
Selina,
My bad, just saw your clarification about a 300w CP instead of 230, so 68% seems much more reasonable than going 89%.
Also thought you would find this CP article interesting(I did anyway):
http://blog.quarq.com/analysis-of-jordan-rapps-ironman-texas-perfor
Good luck to you at IM Cda!
--Jeff
http://www.pingjeffgreene.com/