Depending on the weather and your conditioning, 12 hours could be possible. I'm telling you, people consistently underestimate this race because it is a flat course. Currents, chop, jelly fish, heat, humidity, flats and flooding on the bike course, wind, and bugs on the run have brought down many an athlete.

My experience is with ChesapeakeMan, but essentially the same course/conditions.

He just laid down a 4:41 HIM, 6 weeks from IMMD. I think unless there is a hurricane or Eagleman like temps, he'll do a lot better than 12 hours :)

in case anyone still cares. i was really curious about my ftp settings being 257 in the past at cadillac mt and why my ftp is now 205. i can't use the 257 since it was last year, even if my training is now 2x what it was last year. so, i did what was logical. i went back to acadia.

i rode from the southwest harbor to acadia then past cadiallac mt and did a 20 min ftp test up the mountain. looking at my strava, just the mountain segment at 233watts. i started the lap timer prior to the mountain as i knew i would finish it in under 20 mins and my strava segment (20:01, lucky guess aye?) was 233 watts. i think it would have been higher, but i got to the summit and had to ride back down so i could ride a bit of uphill again as my flat and downhill power was not very high. i really felt i had more in me (well, i did). i ended up meeting up with friends, towing them around the island and going up the mountain again. the 2nd time i averaged 201watts (i was not pushing because i was towing a friend up and just kept a steady pace).

so i think it's safe to assume that my ftp is NOT 205watts. especially if i'm riding 201 watts 60 miles in after pushing 233 watts for 20min ftp test... right?

would it be safe (and smart) to reset my ftp settings to 233 watts (ironman maryland is 3 weeks away). or should i just keep it at 205. i know i'm not going to get any cycling gains at this point. i rode my last half at .74 (of 205) and ran a 1:33 off the bike (my previous open half mary pr was 1:36). and i wasn't sore afterwards. biked home, showered came back out for beers and to cheer my teammates on. i'm assuming it's safe to say i could have gone 3 mins faster in that race?

comments/concerns/opinions?

thanks,

john

4.5 w/k guys should be crushing IM courses.
IMMD seems to be a very fast course. I'm 4 w/kg at 70kg and for me a .72 IF or 200NP on that course should get me around 4h 45m... While the same watts at IMFL would be 4:50.

SW Harbor to the Park Loop RD entrance of Cadilac Mtn is kind of a hike? How long did it take you to get there? Were you tired and what was your HR? Perhaps you were more than warmed up before you began your test. The climb up to the top is pretty darn steep - not sure of the % grade, so I would think (not knowing anything about you) that your watts would be much higher. What was your HR? Did you reach maximum? Perhaps other variables impacted it (usually there is lots of traffic)? All this to say, I wonder what the test would look like if you went all out on a flat course, without traffic, in good conditions, or indoors on a trainer.

i thought it was a little of a hike. it took me about 26 miles to get to the base of cadillac. i was riding z2 but decided to do a ftp test.

the grade is 5-6% the whole way up. i don't think it pitched more than 7 or 8, but def no lower than 4-5%. i did not reach max hr. i think i was hovering in the mid 160's for the climb. it was cold, no traffic as it was still early in the day. i can't seem to hit good watts on a flat course. i find it MUCH easier to ride 200 watts up a hill than it is to ride 200 watts on flat ground. can anyone explain that?

i find it MUCH easier to ride 200 watts up a hill than it is to ride 200 watts on flat ground. can anyone explain that?

Given this piece of information I'm not sure why you're testing your FTP going up a hill rather than either finding a 10 mile flat stretch of road or doing it indoors on the trainer. The max elevation at IMMD is ~ 50 feet so you want to find the max power you can put out in the TT position and then base your pacing off that. You don't have long to test, practise and then taper for the race...

I am a similar size and also find climbing easier. I never really figured out why though. I think it's fairly common that people put out more power sat upright than on the aero bars, however.

ahhchon wrote:

so you're saying the ftp that i should use is the one in TT position for 20 minutes? makes sense. i have just never read that. never had a coach tell me that etc etc.

regardless, i'm not going to base my ride off the new FTP. i'm going to base it off of the 205 that i attained on the trainer indoors, just to be safe.