Advice Needed
When you need help, who better to ask then those in the know, and it seems like you all are in the know much more than I when it comes to this question.
You see, I've noticed some things from my recent high intensity training and racing and I need some training help. Here's my problem:
I'm good for the first hour or so, but after that my average HR starts to dwindle, along with my percieved power and speed. I start to bog down, and I don't have that zip. My HR never peaks like early in the session, but my body doesn't have the energy to go full bore.
How do I better this in my training. More endurance? Longer LT training? I'm a bit confused and blurry on what to do next. Obviously some more endurance would help, but I'm thinking I need to start training in the red for longer periods.
My result from the Rhetts Run were promising, but I had a few things in lap three that ruined the rest of the race. I came unclipped and jammed my manhood worse than ever before, got jammed up on a climb by a Sport racer causing a short dismount and fumble, and then had a flat. This pretty much killed my last lap. If I had not had those things happen I think I could have keep the needle dug and finished top 5 in a 16 man field. That would have been absolutly stellar for my first real Expert race against some super stiff competition. I have the speed, I have the skills, but I need to be able to keep the pace up for at least two hours. I noticed the same thing when I won the Warsaw race. I was good for the first hour or so, but started slacking off after that.
So what do you all think. Suggestions welcome...
you're on mark
First off, great race in spite of the overall results. The experts are stronger than ever this year. Yes, you're absolutely right, you need to put in some longer efforts at high intensity. I don't think you need to be doing 2 hour LT efforts, but I'd suggest doing some longer interval sessions with shorter recovery periods. That will give you the ability to deal with the race-like conditions. If you were training for a TT, that would be different, but as you well know a mtb race is all about pinning it and then backing off a little and repeat as needed.