BionicChris

It's been a good winter for me - I moved into the top quarter on Strava for the majority of climbs in I did in Mallorca this year, taking between 10 and 30% off of my times from a year ago. My TT pace on our local loop improved by another 30 seconds on my previous PB, and my 20 minute power was 315w, a small improvement. Everything seemed great, so I thought what the hell - I'm going to go and try racing.

Entered the first one and after 10 miles @ over 28mph average my heart rate was at 96% of max, then I got caught in an accident and dropped off the lead bunch, chased for 2 miles and couldn't catch up. Heart rate was so high I couldn't sustain it at the pace

Medically I am all good, had all my organs checked out only recently, so I have no concerns about that.

I desperately want to be on the pace in racing and be able to sit with the lead group on a 25 mile race, but even without the accident I think I would have been dropped after 14 miles.

I see it as my TT'ing is constant power, but each lap of the racing was like 3 x 1 minute with 10 second off for a chicane between each minute....

Where do I go now with my training - zones, power, HR, intervals... I'm lost!

GeorgeBMac

Do I get this right?

You want to go at 96% of your max heart rate for nearly an hour (25 miles @ 28MPH)?

Frankly I don't think anybody could do that... 96% of your max heart rate is certainly above your anerobic threshold -- and the anaerobic system is used for short, hard bursts & sprints. For longer distances you need to use mostly the aerobic system. So, if you want to go fast for a long time, you need to raise your anaerobic threshold so you can stay in the aerobic zone at speed...

Carbonfiberboy 

You want to talk to folks on the "33". But you have that just right - TT power is where you start, but for short course racing you need anaerobic interval training. It's the ability to go anaerobic and repeat time after time. So lactate clearance and all of that stuff. Strength, too. Here's the recipe book from the 33:
https://www.bikeforums.net/33-road-bi...cipe-book.html

You should be able to do very well with appropriate training and experience. Other than pack skills, experience is mostly about how not to work so hard all the time - just now and again. and again.

BionicChris

No, I am aware that I cannot do that - I was suffering like hell because I needed to work hard to stay with the pack, and then worked even harder to try and chase back after getting dropped.

Thanks for the responses, I am booked in for a few more races and TT's over the next month, so hopefully i'll see more improvements - after all, it won't get worse than my first attempt!

GeorgeBMac

Was it Greg Lemond who said: "It never gets easier. You just go faster"

Like Carbonfiberboy mentioned: experience has a lot to do with the end result.

Best of Luck!

Dutch Jazz

The extremely high HR is probably also partly due to the stress of being in your first race. When I did my first race my HR was through the roof as well.

BionicChris

Nerves certainly played a part, I was extremely tense and overly cautious in the pack. I did a 60 miler the day after the race and my knee started giving discomfort so I haven't done any training yet.

Luckily my next race is a smaller field and a "30 minutes + 1 lap" race which should suit my TT'ing fitness level a bit more.