Absa Cape Epic Training

[Vincent]

Hi Linnega,

 

How is your training for the Absa Cape Epic comming along?

 

Who else is hard at work?

[CVANC]

You will see CVANC featuring on the last stage - Vigne a Vigne

[Vincent]

Hi C,

 

All going well we can meet and have a chat?

[CVANC]

No problem; happy birthday for tommorow

[Vincent]

Thanks C,

 

Word nou oud jong !!!

[Velouria]

Busy slogging away with Epic training already. 

[Brakkies Sport Fotos]

eish, the dukwiel brigade is eating the tar around Grabouw and Franshoek

[linnega]

Sadly I'm not doing the Epic in 2007.  My partner bailed on me and other commitments have come up.  I will try to get organised again for 2008 but for now focusing on doing some of the shorter events (if Sani2C will have me, I'll be there).

[bruce]

Hey CVANC,

 

Tell me a bit about how you are training for the Epic with Power?  If one applies the concept of specificity then you should be doing loooonngg hours in the saddle!!

 

For your base do you do L2/L3 or are you doing sweetspot most of the time.

 

I see there has been discussion regarding reverse periodisation which I have been thinking may apply to something like the Epic.  I.e. use L3 to increase your ftp, then as the event appoaches increase volume and maybe ride L2/L3.

[CVANC]

Hi Bruce

 

You've got it - sounds like you read my article?

 

There is a basic paradox in multi day stage events that you rarely if ever do sustained efforts at or above threshold power, but power at threshold is the primary determinant of endurance capacity.

 

This isn?t to say that endurance rides aren?t important ? they are key. Another aspect to consider is specificity. The closer to the event, the more "race like" you should be training.

An example for a periodization plan for the Cape Epic might be:

- Transition
- Endurance phase [tempo training]
- Top-end training [Power level 5, 6]
- Threshold training [Power level 4]
- Tempo blocks
- Taper / Sharpen / Race

That is more or less reverse periodization in terms of intensity. The general idea is to first raise threshold power as high as possible then build the endurance required for the event. The final big tempo blocks are key and you should aim at getting a ride in that is at least 6-hours and not usually more than 8.

When to end that final tempo block and enter the tapes depends on your base and race intensions. If the goal is a good solid finish, you probably want to enter the taper about 2 weeks prior to the event.

If your intention is race domination, you?ll want to end it 3 weeks prior and after your freshen up (about a week) do a week?s worth of higher intensity MTB stuff to bring on top end ? but that?s something I would strongly recommend for future events - you need a huge base to pull that one off. A three week taper will leave you flat (less fit) if your base isn?t big enough.

[bruce]

So your CTL would be somewhere in the the Stratosphere and your family would be looking at old black & white photos

[CVANC]

So your CTL would be somewhere in the the Stratosphere and your family would be looking at old black & white photos

 

 

[bruce]

On a serious note - I got a phonecall the other day from someone that I had chatted to about training with power.  It is funny how you tend to see the world from your own viewpoint and have to shift it when someone is doing something else!!

 

I had told him that he would reduce his number of hours and the quality of his training would improve - assuming he would be doing road races.  Anyway, he obviously spent some time mulling this thing over and phoned me and told me that he didn't understand how that would work given the fact that he was training for the Epic - oops.

 

So, that got me thinking about how to train for the Epic and I thought a good way would be to raise your ftp has high as possible first, then add the long hours of endurance, at a much higher tempo than if you had done it the other way around. - applying the concept of specificity this would leave you in much better shape!!

 

Then a little light went on in my head and I finally understood why people speak about reverse periodization - which is not actually reverse, it is actually just applying specificity.

 

One day I'll have this stuff figured out.

[Brakkies Sport Fotos]

CVANC / BRUCE.

 

 

 

So, what does this all means for me who do not have a power meter. (is it the polar power meter or powertap?)

 

 

 

How do you translate the big words for someone who harley knows how a 720i works   

[BikeMax]

 

CVANC / BRUCE.

 

 

 

So' date=' what does this all means for me who do not have a power meter. (is it the polar power meter or powertap?)

 

 

 

How do you translate the big words for someone who harley knows how a 720i works    [/quote']

I think that if you want to train without power then the best way to train for Epic is to try and find a balance between the endurance needed to finish the estimated time each day, with the fitness to ride it a decent pace.

 

A lot of guys build endurance by spending many long hours in the saddle at a slowish pace - these guys were generally taking ~9 - 10 hours to complete a stage last year. They were limited to the pace they trained at and as such spent longer in the saddle and used more energy and had far less recovery.

 

I would aim to build both intensity and duration steadily over time and ensure that pretty much each week is a little harder/faster and longer than the previous one (up to a point)

 

Look to gradually increase the time you can ride at a "tempo" pace - say 75-85% MHR or as hard as you can sustain for the duration you are riding.

 

By building threshold power in this way you are increasing the ceiling - and by doing this you have more reserves and dig a hole that is a little less deep each day and by finishing faster you also have a lot more time to refuel etc and sleep.

 

Just remember to ride quality - a slow or easy ride does little for fitness and does not increase your ability to ride faster.

 

Hope this helps in some way.

 

[bruce]

The first thing you do is take the big words and turn them into acronyms

 

Seriously, the concepts don't require a Power Meter, it's just much more accurate to manage.

 

You can use Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) to do this, or Heart Rate.  What you would need to do is ride a Time Trial type effort - minimum 20 minutes preferably longer - and see what your average HR is - this would correlate with your threshold HR and you would do a lot of your training at say 5 - 10 beats below that HR.