Endurance Planet ATC 325: Zwift Racing Tactics, Indoor vs Outdoor Power Differences, and Crosstraining and Fueling for Ultrarunning
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On this episode:
Ryan & Steph ask:
Let’s say you now have 17 months to prepare for your 2020 ironman distance race (Roth–due to covid we will now be racing it in 2022, along with doing a cycling tour in France after the full-distance tri).
As far as bike training goes, the majority of training and racing we’ve had for the past 10 months is on Zwift (some summer outdoor rides plus the only other race since covid being the Cedar City Belgian waffle ride of 125mi last Oct). The majority of training and racing for at least the next ~6 months will also be on Zwift. While Zwift has actually been really fun through all this, providing lasting friendships that likely would never have happened, and we have perfected a devastating attack OFF the back of the pack…. we would also like to be able to attack FROM the back of the pack just once or twice. How, as an endurance athlete, would you go about boosting your 15 second to 1 minute power, which would help achieve this goal in Zwift racing? This seems to be most important in Zwift racing that we’re finding. And because we like to be difficult athletes, how might we utilize this in our 17 month build to boosting our 6 hour power.
What the coaches say:
- On the most basic level, you’re trying to change muscle fibers mid-ride; one of the most important aspects of making this change is to make sure you’re not doing it when you’re already cooked/exhausted (but you don’t always have that choice).
- Make sure you know when to attack and if you can.
- You can ruin your race if you attack and you’re already cooked.
- If you’re going to attack, you need to choose that time wisely.
- Generally, an attack of over 40 seconds is a mistake. An attack over 40 seconds will most likely make you blow up.
- When Lucho was an elite Ironman athlete, his rule was to never cross zone 4.
- If you want to attack, you need to be confident in your ability to elevate and to continue to keep that faster pace.
- If you want to attack from the back of the pack, make sure that the pack is small (6-10 riders).
- Ryan should probably attack on a hill.
- A good strategy for an attack: Max effort for 15-20 seconds to create some distance from the other riders, then you’re going to relax and ease back off to steady-state. The chase group will have to catch up, and once they do, you’ll be all rested and ready to go again.
- What should training look like for this?
- 2 minutes at zone 2, then 1 minute at zone 5. Repeat for a total of 10-15 minutes.
- 1 minute in zone 4, then 30 seconds in zone 6; this is more realistic as it will mimic race strategy.
- 2 minutes in zone 3, then 30 seconds in zone 6.
- When you can no longer reach the goal wattage – you’re done.
- Check out Ryan and Steph’s Twitch and Youtube channel!
Annie asks:
What the coaches say:
- You see your friend’s power output, but you don’t see effort!
- When riding outdoors, there is an increased use of motor units being used to drive the bike. On the indoor trainer, you lower the percentage of muscle fibers being used which lowers your wattage; because of this, 200 watts outdoors might feel easier than 200 watts indoors.
- Don’t worry about a perfect transfer between indoor and outdoor riding – so many variables go into it. You may want to set up zones independently for indoor vs. outdoor rides.
Mel asks:
What the coaches say:
- Tawnee is personally a fan of mixing it up when possible and being an overall fit, resilient athlete. At the same time, we don’t want to sacrifice the bigger goal of building a body that is ready for the type of mileage you want to run.
- Cycling doesn’t help speed-based runners. But for ultrarunners (where running is slow), cycling can be useful to the overall development of an endurance athlete.
- Athlete/runner aside, strength training will help you as you age.
- Lucho would recommend avoiding fast-food (McDonald’s, Jack in the Box, etc.), junk food, etc. But it’s also okay every once in a while.
- If there are obvious errors in your macros, work on that.
- Make sure to eat enough!
- Ask yourself, how do you feel?
- Buy organic when possible, grass-fed meats, buy local or from farmers markets, soak grains before consuming, and avoid industrial seed oils.