So I just went and did my last long simulation ride of the intermediate gravel plan. I did about 80 miles and about 8000ft with a couple hours of gravel climbs and some gravel bike friendly descents in there. It took 7 hours with a TSS of 392; I think it was a good representation of one day of my gravel event.
With an easy week coming up, I’m certain I’ll be super fresh (i.e. not still mentally scarred by the FRC intervals ) and push the envelope on all my personal records at least one day at my event.
But my event has 5 consecutive days of some tough gravel riding. Today’s ride was pretty tough. Could I do it consecutive days? It’s really hard to say. My approach to this race (to survive) is to eat and sleep as best as I can, employ some CBD, and try to present day by day. Could you share some other mind games or success stories that can help me imagine being successful?
Nice work @likhi.ondov - for a TSS of 392 you should feel quite tired, ‘whacked’ as I like to say.
For a stage race - in my experience they are grinds and you are going to get more and more tired as the stages go by. Expect that and plan for that. Your power will decrease as your fatigue increases.
There’s good news - so does everyone else’s. Maybe there are short stages you can catch up on recovery? Add massage and/or compression boots & percussion recovery (like a Hypervolt) as well as copious amounts of recovery food and hydration. Sleep sleep and SLEEP. Stay off your feet - outta the heat when you are not racing. Use ice baths/cold showers/soak in mountain streams.
It all helps but do expect to get tired! Good luck & have fun!
Like @FRANK said… get out of the heat!!
The heat will completely zap you. Relax, eat lots of carbs (plus a little protein) and SLEEP! There is no way to avoid all the fatigue, its just the nature of the beast… but you can avoid some of it by setting yourself up to recover as much as possible between stages.
For mindset: One thing that helps me with multi-day events is to set goals for each course and sometimes even sections of the course, rather than just one overall goal for the event (but I do set those too though). That way I have something to focus on each day.
Also when your legs start screaming at you… remember that your mind is powerful! You are capable of going much longer than you think. Mind over matter, one pedal stroke after another
How lucky am I that two coaches jump in here to reply? Greatly appreciate it.
Only 1 week out from the start line.
Here’s how training’s been going following a semi-training reset on February 1 following time off for an Achilles injury. I enjoyed the progression getting here.
I know Frank and Lacey have already given you some helpful feedback, but I just wanted to plug two of Lacey’s articles.
Take some time during your taper to read these and spend some last-minute time working on your nutrition plan.
Lots of things go into good recovery during a stage race, but at least in my opinion, the most common mistake is simply not eating enough carbohydrate!
I’ve been generally winning in the kitchen. BUT it is wasn’t until just now I did some math for that “speedy recovery” meal. At my weight, the first 4 hours post 3+ hour ride would have me eating a total of about 345 g carbohydrate; as rice is a huge staple in my day to day meals, I can visualize the recovery meal as 6.5 cups of cooked rice (also like 3 or 4 eggs). I’ve never been so excited
Hey @likhi.ondov!
The speedy recovery is only necessary if you are doing really hard efforts and have very little time between rides/races (think 8-12 hours or less).
Also when doing the speedy recovery, its per hour not all of that at once.
For example if you need 75g of carbs per hour, you could do a smoothie with say 2 dates, a banana, 2 scoops recovery mix. That will get you around 70-80g of carbs. Then in the next two hours you could have a full meal with say 1 and 3/4 cups cooked rice, 1/4 cup of beans, an egg, a serving of electrolyte recovery mix (most have carbs), some corn and then some veggies.
Again, this is only for really hard efforts. Think for stage races, team training camps, etc where it is pivotal to perform your best with very limited time to recover.
) and push the envelope on all my personal records at least one day at my event.
