Kush's semi-training thread
- Thread starter kush
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kush
Active Member
Battenkill count down
3 days 0 hours 25 minutes
I've been training for last 16 weeks specifically for this race.
Since Dec 26, I had 155 hours and 2400 miles, almost all on the road. So not huge (probably half of Jim's), average about 10 hours per week, or a typical non-rest non-taper week is about 12-15 hours.
The plan got kind of ugly towards the end with tough 3 hour rides before work in the middle of the week. In general, the work is on tue-wed-thu for 1.5-3 hours each and sat/sun for about 3-5 hours each day.
Last few weeks looked like this -
- 2/27-3/12 - hard 3 week block
- 3/19 - off
- 3/26 - stupid hard 16 hour week
- 4/2 - start taper with short punchy workouts. I'm enjoying these.
My FTP is at an all time high, as of a couple weeks ago it was 326. My weight is all time low, at 167-168. Though I thought I could go lower, but not to be. Still, this is 4.3 w/kg, so I guess respectable. My best 5 minute power is 406w.
The HOH was a good result, a bit surprising actually. So I think in general the plan has worked very well, but we'll see what happens on Saturday.
So there are two priority events and thus two peaks this this year:
- Battenkill Apr 14
- Green Mountain Stage Race in Vermont on Labor Day
Rest of the stuff is filler. I might be able to swing the Killington Stage Race on Memorial weekend, negotiating with family now. I love stage races. That be my focus now. I'm skipping Catskills though, as that would be too much, and I've been there done that.
I'll do the Fair Hill on SS next weekend, and SSpalooza end of april.
I'll do probably two triathlons, Spruce and NJ State. I guess I might going to need a TT bike with two stage races and two tri's 🙄
Last year I trained more ad-hoc, less base, more hockey and a shorter taper. This year much more structured, longer taper, and I sacrificed the hockey as it tends to mess with my schedule. We'll see if it pays off.
So I'm ready, my bike is ready, my nutrition is ready, my family is coming and we're staying the whole weekend. Kids will be on bikes, ride with pros, and probably do the kids race.
My teammates Iggy, 26er Chris and Falco are going to be there with me so that's very cool. I can tell you now, there aren't going to be any team tactics, last year we did well with the parking as a strategy, but that's about it. At this level, team tactics are just an illusion, or something nice to pretend about waiting on the start line 🙂
In general, Battenkill isn't very steep or very long. HOH is harder imo. But at serious race pace, the rollers start to hurt badly towards the end. The dirt imo isn't very important factor. Though last year I was able to make up what I lost on the uphills, going down hard on the dirt sections, so it depends on how I'm climbing.
ANyways. My favorite race. I'm stoked.
3 days 0 hours 25 minutes
I've been training for last 16 weeks specifically for this race.
Since Dec 26, I had 155 hours and 2400 miles, almost all on the road. So not huge (probably half of Jim's), average about 10 hours per week, or a typical non-rest non-taper week is about 12-15 hours.
The plan got kind of ugly towards the end with tough 3 hour rides before work in the middle of the week. In general, the work is on tue-wed-thu for 1.5-3 hours each and sat/sun for about 3-5 hours each day.
Last few weeks looked like this -
- 2/27-3/12 - hard 3 week block
- 3/19 - off
- 3/26 - stupid hard 16 hour week
- 4/2 - start taper with short punchy workouts. I'm enjoying these.
My FTP is at an all time high, as of a couple weeks ago it was 326. My weight is all time low, at 167-168. Though I thought I could go lower, but not to be. Still, this is 4.3 w/kg, so I guess respectable. My best 5 minute power is 406w.
The HOH was a good result, a bit surprising actually. So I think in general the plan has worked very well, but we'll see what happens on Saturday.
So there are two priority events and thus two peaks this this year:
- Battenkill Apr 14
- Green Mountain Stage Race in Vermont on Labor Day
Rest of the stuff is filler. I might be able to swing the Killington Stage Race on Memorial weekend, negotiating with family now. I love stage races. That be my focus now. I'm skipping Catskills though, as that would be too much, and I've been there done that.
I'll do the Fair Hill on SS next weekend, and SSpalooza end of april.
I'll do probably two triathlons, Spruce and NJ State. I guess I might going to need a TT bike with two stage races and two tri's 🙄
Last year I trained more ad-hoc, less base, more hockey and a shorter taper. This year much more structured, longer taper, and I sacrificed the hockey as it tends to mess with my schedule. We'll see if it pays off.
So I'm ready, my bike is ready, my nutrition is ready, my family is coming and we're staying the whole weekend. Kids will be on bikes, ride with pros, and probably do the kids race.
My teammates Iggy, 26er Chris and Falco are going to be there with me so that's very cool. I can tell you now, there aren't going to be any team tactics, last year we did well with the parking as a strategy, but that's about it. At this level, team tactics are just an illusion, or something nice to pretend about waiting on the start line 🙂
In general, Battenkill isn't very steep or very long. HOH is harder imo. But at serious race pace, the rollers start to hurt badly towards the end. The dirt imo isn't very important factor. Though last year I was able to make up what I lost on the uphills, going down hard on the dirt sections, so it depends on how I'm climbing.
ANyways. My favorite race. I'm stoked.
Good luck Ilya.
Team Tactic #1
My best suggestion for team tactics would be this. The guys who want to sacrifice themselves would be best to be in the front at the start of the hills. Sort of give it a solid try then kind of ease back. When someone leads up a hill, the pack will respond but tend to let that guy sit in front until it's clear he needs to be passed. At Battenkill, pretty much everyone is a little afraid of blowing up, so they won't pass unless it's clear.
So if you can control the start of the hill, it better allows Ilya to sit in and hide, and cuts the tougher part of the hill down by a little bit. It might not be much, but it could help a bit.
This has 2 disadvantages - first it allows everyone else to hide a bit. Second, it likely shortens your race by a hill or 2.
You'd probably want to do this in the middle of the race, not the beginning. Then that assumes all 4 of you are in it still in the middle. You won't be. I think we started with 9 or 10 and by mile 30 there were 3 of us left? Something along those lines.
Team Tactic #2
If someone appears to be really strong and just waiting to jam a hill and drop the group, throw a stick in his spokes.
Otherwise Ilya is right, though I think he overstates how well we parked last year.
Team Tactic #1
My best suggestion for team tactics would be this. The guys who want to sacrifice themselves would be best to be in the front at the start of the hills. Sort of give it a solid try then kind of ease back. When someone leads up a hill, the pack will respond but tend to let that guy sit in front until it's clear he needs to be passed. At Battenkill, pretty much everyone is a little afraid of blowing up, so they won't pass unless it's clear.
So if you can control the start of the hill, it better allows Ilya to sit in and hide, and cuts the tougher part of the hill down by a little bit. It might not be much, but it could help a bit.
This has 2 disadvantages - first it allows everyone else to hide a bit. Second, it likely shortens your race by a hill or 2.
You'd probably want to do this in the middle of the race, not the beginning. Then that assumes all 4 of you are in it still in the middle. You won't be. I think we started with 9 or 10 and by mile 30 there were 3 of us left? Something along those lines.
Team Tactic #2
If someone appears to be really strong and just waiting to jam a hill and drop the group, throw a stick in his spokes.
Otherwise Ilya is right, though I think he overstates how well we parked last year.
ArmyOfNone
Well-Known Member
I think you should go with tactic #2
this and don't listen to norm.
kush
Active Member
Thanks guys!! Means a lot.
By the way. I am not superstitious but I didn't mention anything about "shit happens". Like mechanicals, falls, and so on. It could happen, and kill the whole thing.
However, shit happens usually because I didn't do something, it's not really bad luck. If it's mechanical, I probably didn't take good enough care of my equipment. If someone rides into me, I probably didn't pay enough attention. So I think 90% of stuff is because of me, and 10% might be bad luck. Just speaking from experience.
But I can say things like "I haven't been sick in 2 years", and "I have not flatted since last summer", and not be afraid of bad luck.
This chart is looking good:
By the way. I am not superstitious but I didn't mention anything about "shit happens". Like mechanicals, falls, and so on. It could happen, and kill the whole thing.
However, shit happens usually because I didn't do something, it's not really bad luck. If it's mechanical, I probably didn't take good enough care of my equipment. If someone rides into me, I probably didn't pay enough attention. So I think 90% of stuff is because of me, and 10% might be bad luck. Just speaking from experience.
But I can say things like "I haven't been sick in 2 years", and "I have not flatted since last summer", and not be afraid of bad luck.
This chart is looking good:
When your PMC looks like the Hindenburg, you tend to ignore it 🙂
I just looked, nope not there. Just looked at the options and I had it unchecked. It's kind of neat to look back and see the massive stretch with no 0s. Lot of good that did me.