Jul 10 2008
Tabor data
So I’m finally getting around to taking a closer look at the data from last weeks (7/2) Cat 4 Tabor race. The graph above is just a snapshot of the race itself and is smoothed by 5 seconds. The raw data is pretty noisy and I think the 5 sec. is a little easier to interpret here.
7 laps, each of them lasting about 3 minutes making a 21minute race (give or take). I don’t bother hitting the lap button anymore usually because I can never remember to be consistent in doing it. So I’m ballparking from the peaks.
For reference, I have a threshold power of 355w (the dashed line). Granted, I’m just under 90 kg so the 355w is nothing earth-shattering here.
The nice thing about this race is that it’s pretty clear where the uphill and downhill is. Each uphill portion seems to last just under 2 minutes. I was peaking just shy of 700 watts and averaged about 400-450w for the full effort. Based on the limited anaerobic work I’ve been monitoring, I’m confidant that I was in the match-burning range.
The uphill of lap 4 (around the 48:00 mark) was where I tried for a break. I didn’t peak as high, not because I was tired but from keeping a very strong but steady pace up the hill. It was a between-prime lap and the pack wasn’t going that hard, which was primarily why I went for it. I hammered it down the hill, skipping the 30 sec rest in an attempt to open up a gap.
The next uphill (51:00), I had maybe a 3-5 sec gap so I thought that if I dropped power output a bit to something more sustainable over the rest of the race, it would work. I felt 450 watts or so could possibly do it.
Well, it didn’t. There’s a teeny little sag around 51:30 where I got sucked up. Going by the flat at the start line, I let it sag a bit more (52:00) and absolutely struggled up the hill to keep up with the pack. There’s a little blip at 53:00 where I needed to put some effort in on the downhill to hang on, hitting almost 37 mph.
The 6th lap at 54:00 was about hanging on. The bell rang and I was fairly well cooked at this point. HR was at or neat 180 which is a few beats shy of my max. I stayed with the pack around the reservoir until the pace picked up. I made a very, very brief attempt at keeping with the front group but gave it up pretty quickly and just coasted in.
So what did I learn from this…
- Excelling at Tabor is an exercise in anaerobic endurance. Any training plan to do well here needs multiple 1-2 minute intervals well above threshold power.
- From the first few laps where I was fresh, it took about 450 watts to stay near the front of the pack. That’s about 5 w/kg average. Surges in the ballpark of 700 watts (7.75-8 w/kg) are close to what’s needed to win some of the sprints. I didn’t seriously challenge many of the sprints so I’d plan for even more.
- Right now, I’ve got a pretty lean matchbook when it comes to hard efforts. Granted, I haven’t done a shred of consistent VO2 max or anaerobic work since last fall. So we’ll just make a note in the training log [Needs Improvement: anaerobic endurance] and call it good.
- I don’t think I have enough info on what it would take to make a break and stay away. A better way to look at it would be to look what I did…and not do it.
Looking back, despite concentrating mostly on tempo and a little bit of LT interval work so far, I managed to stay competitive. I stayed with the main pack, did not get dropped, and even managed to push the pace a bit. I knew full well that I’d done no training to date that was relative to this type of race. But I went for it anyway and got some good info on what my current limitations are.
Looks like you also wore yourself out keeping with the hard accelerations uphill. Might save some energy by finding your own speed in the peloton.
Ordinarily, yes. I would sit in and feel the peloton out. That’s what I did last year to eke out a few top 10’s in the Cat 4.
This year I just wanted to try something different. I was also looking to see what my limits are at this point of the year.