50 Mile MTB race
- Thread starter Angry Dad
- Start date
Do you mean 92% of the distance of your 50 miler? I've never been one to subscribe to these kinds of formulas. If I were going to be doing a 50 mile race (and I have), I'd be out putting long miles on the road bike. 50 to 100 milers. Save the off road beating for the race. Supplement your training with some 10-20 mile off road rides to keep the skills up.
Nope, I mean 92% heart rate. I can keep 92% for 2 hour races, just never tried it for 3 hours. Im wondering if I should try and stay around 85% the whole time. Of if you guys keep pounding 92% the whole time. I have been doing 2 hour road riding when its warm enough, and some trainer time also.
I have no idea what kind of terrain you are talking about here but the 50ish mile races I have done would result in disaster if you pushed the same pace as a regular race. Eating to keep your energy up will also become an issue as compared to a regular distance race.
words from the master. For longer stuff i usually shoot for an avg HIGH of no more than 85%. i shoot for an avg between 75 and 85%.Ridemonkey said:
Do you guys actually look at a freaking HRM when you race and even pace yourself by one?
nope.............I think if I knew what mine was I'd slow down
for stuff less than 30 miles i dont bother with it. For longer stuff i dont obsess over it but i do check. On different days your body does different things. It also reacts differently to cold weather v warm weather etc. So i set a zone, 75-85, and when i feel really good i look at it to make sure i'm pushing hard enough and when i feel bad i make sure i'm not pushing to hard. i do have problems with the strap something slipping down to my stomach and i have to keep pulling it up. that gets annoying after a while and i end up just taking it off. Maybe I need to invest in one of the bra models with the strap build in.Westy said:
I suspect my HR is actually lower during most race situations than when I am sitting on a trainer. If I push myself past a certain point It takes me such a long time to recover/clear my legs out again I am slower than if I just took it easier in the first place. I see so many people burn themselves out in the begining of a race, I wonder if they are going by their HRM and without being warmed up their HR does not reflect their actual output. I've always thought that it was better to push yourself harder at the end of a race when you really don't have to pace yourself anymore.douglas said:
Instead of a Camelback you could just fill up some falsies with your favorite sports drink. You would certainly get some strange looks suckling on yourself.The Toninator said:
No kidding! Me too!douglas said:
I'm a SLOWWWWWW starter and it takes a long time for me to warm up. I need to work on that.Westy said:
Same here, sometimes it takes a good 20 minutes for me to get things moving. I have found a little technique that helps a bit. At the begining of a race don't go all out but just over my lactic threshold for about 5 minutes. Then I back it off for a few minutes and let the acid clear out of my legs, after that I am usually good to go.The Toninator said:
Westy said:
makes sense/good idea...........but (for myself) I seem to better if I do push pretty hard at the start, hopefully put some space between me & most of my competition, then ease off some - make them work/tire out to catch me.........but I also mainly have been doing shorter races.
if I did a 40, 50 or 4 plus hour race I would go with a more conservative stragey.
I'm a slow starter as well. I ususally get stuck mid-field to start and then have to play catch up. Not that I've ever finished better than 15th. lol
Westy said:
In long races I do because I get sooo into racing that before I know it, I'm "balls to the wall" and pushing my max heart rate and that is baaaaad in a long distance race. I just monitor mine to make sure I'm not busting out of my range.
douglas said:
If you ever get a chance to ride a trainer with a power meter you may want to confirm your strategy. By warming up at an easier pace I can put out about 20% more power than by going hard early.
Ok, so the general census is to lay back during the race. Im definently not a slave to the HR monitor, but I do check it becuase I tend to blow up....often. So Ill stay in the high 80's...which come to think of it, would make me a slave to the monitor for this race if Im trying to stay in a certain zone. Did I just confuse everyone?
Westy said:
I would think my results would be similar on a trainer
but for 20 mile or shorter races, when you dont go out fast, you get stuck behind people/caught in traffic jams/riders falling/etc and it can be real tough to make that time/distance up compared to the guys that managed to get ahead of the big pack
PLUS - it could be being I raced DH for a few years my body can take that go hard at the start for the 5 minutes or so better than most of the other guys I normally race against
do you guys do a warmup/preride lap before your races?
I do on the wedeneday race series I do / but they are pretty short races (8-12 miles)
I do on the wedeneday race series I do / but they are pretty short races (8-12 miles)
no that's the thing i need to work on. We're not allowed to preride before our races so a good trainer warmup is pretty much the only way.douglas said:
I try to warm up but usually you have to stage then stand there for such a long time it is almost a waste.douglas said:
Same for me. I definately need to warmup longer.The Toninator said:
Note to self... Bring trainer to Dalton!!
Last year the Saris tent had trainers you could ride while waiting for your team mate to come in. A good idea especially for the cold night laps.McGRP01 said:
My warm-up for xc is typically about an hour! If it's a long endurance race it's shorter. Basically, the shorter the race, the longer the warm-up
Very cool to know!! Thanks Westy!!!Westy said:
for 12 hour stuff i do a quick warm up 10 minutes just to get the legs moving and try to make the first lap a warmup.Heidi said:
Yep, the longer the race, the shorter the warm-up. Heck, I'll get warmed up in the first hour I figure.The Toninator said: