There is no target, just go. That's 15 (ish) minutes of riding. Skinsuit should be tight, other than that no specific recommendations. A BP3 skinsuit only saved me .02-.05 cda vs a two piece tri suit.

What %FTP? I think for a 7mile TT your goal should be to go as hard as you can. I can't imagine a whole lot of pacing going on over a 15ish minute effort.

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Rodney
TrainingPeaks | Altra Running | RAD Roller
http://www.goinglong.ca

I'd say 110%. looking at 15-18min at most for a TT. well, that is what I do when I am fit. when things are off(ticker issues), closer to 107%

BP 2 or 3, as well might be pricier, you know they are likely to be skin tight and not wrinkled/baggy and cover arms. just don't use pins on a 3.0 if you get one of those

even TTs as short as 3k, pacing is as important as any other TT, maybe more so.

15ish minute power will be EDIT *around* 108% but could be as high as 115% for some, or less for others.

This could be a decent bit more or less depending on your anaerobic capacity. Your own personal mean maximal power chart for the season may shed some light on this, assuming you have some hard efforts somewhere in the 10 to 20 minute range.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

http://alex-cycle.blogspot.com/...-perfect-pacing.html

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

you must have a boatload of 'W' to be able to do 116% for 15 min. When I do 116%, I start to fade at about 6-7min in and I would not want to be fading for half the event.

For me it is 117%+
116% was my wife.

Both of us are more gifted anaerobically than aerobically, so we probably are on the high end of this percentage.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

you need to do track :) hello Houston from hence you came to Austin

my 1 min power sucks, so do all short interval power numbers

I'll agree that pacing is important. Saying pacing isn't important is about the same as saying pacing isn't important in a 5K run.

That said 116% sounds quite high for us slowtwitch types!

My 5 minute record is 121% FTP. I cannot imagine being able to hold a mere 15 watts less for triple the time. So I'm thinking maybe under 110% for me, but maybe I should actually try. Ouch.

For what it's worth my 5 minute power is pretty equal to my FTP in terms of performance.

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24 Hour World TT Champs-American record holder
Fat Bike Worlds - Race Director
Insta: chris.s.apex

That is not the first time I've been wrong (and won't be the last time) but explains why I've blown up on every "short" TT I've done :)

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Rodney
TrainingPeaks | Altra Running | RAD Roller
http://www.goinglong.ca

The whole 8-15 minute range is psychologically really hard. I'm not great at suffering but I'm great in believing in my power duration curve.

This has allowed me to punch waaay above my weight in short stage race TTs before.

slowtwitch types might want to try 114% if you don't have enough data to make your own estimate. Great idea to practice ahead of time to find out for sure!

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

I can't imagine a worse strategy for that distance, unless your goal is just to get to the finish line...

A 7 mile TT is typically one of those events where 10 seconds is 20 places--and it's also one of the most difficult events to pace since it's all >threshold power, basically surfing the vo2 curse while exhausting anaerobic capacity. The worst examples of TT pacing I've ever seen all come from this distance, mainly because once you dig the hole, there's not much time to get out. In short, pacing matters. Do folks think IP'ers "just go for it"? I mean, the race is only 4K long...

For the OP, if your threshold power is well-defined, then I'd start at 105% or so for the first 90 seconds, then try to evaluate how you feel--lift it a bit if you can. Alternatively, I'd do a 15 minute all out effort, fresh, in training--also targeting 105% for the first 90 seconds, and look at the average power. Then use that number as your 90 second target. The key though is really not going too crazy at the start.

Agree...I also have a steep curve, and I held 120% for 9 minutes (4 mile Merckx TT) in 2013. Pacing was near perfect as I had done many 7 minute intervals at about 95% of that effort leading up to the race.

-Physiojoe

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-Physiojoe
Instagram: @thephysiojoe
Cycling coach, Elite racer on Wooster Bikewerks p/b Wootown Bagels

ehh....... not really :/ at least I don't think so. I economize around 2x20 @95% during the week and two long slow rides in the 60-70% range on the weekend.

116% sounds like a nightmare O_o I'm not that anaerobically gifted. I'll shoot for 110% and see how that works. I'm working these TTs into normal training for two 70.3s I'm doing this year so it's best to err on the side of conservative. Just doing it for fun and to practice pacing.

That seems like a reasonable approach. Thanks!

Seems a bit high, especially when you compare to the rule of thumb about FTP ~= 95% of 20-minute power.

Add another 5% to that and you get an extra 40 minutes. It's not a linear curve by any means.

Just to be clear I wasn't pulling that number out of thin air. I actually went and looked at years of data for two people (me, and my wife)

One was 117% the other 116% difference, when at peak fitness.


If you don't train the anerobic system much, or don't have much anaerobic talent compared to your aerobic talent, reduce the %. That is why I put little stars around *around*

Or look at your own MMP and CP curves. CP is a good model for this partcular test case.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

To add another *actual* data point my best 10 mile TT last year was 107% FTP. Probably wouldn't get much more than 1-2% more than that for a couple of miles less, if that.

hmm..

It still seems off to me. In looking at fairly recent data on 20 different athletes, they'd all flail if they started a 15 minute TT @ 115%. This includes a guy with 1MP that is literally at the "top of the chart". For most of them, including a former national crit champion, it would border on disaster. So, this is a large sample, including folks of both genders with very high anaerobic capacity.

Any reason a powertap might be biased toward short term power?
Out of curiosity where do your averages fall in your data?

Only thing I can think is that our peak FTPs both tend to happen in the summer, and it is really hot here. So perhaps they are deflated.

If so I will pretend mine was 300 now

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

I think jack and wifey are off on their ftp if that is the case.

how about the ROT of for every doubling of time duration take 95%, so for 15min=ftp/.95/.95=1.108xFTP, which is right where I fall :)

Perhaps I'm mistaken, but doesn't this translate that your 20 minute average is greater than your FTP? So, in a 20 minute(ish) time-trial race, you would expect that one could feasibly complete the effort greater than FTP. Also, I'd expect that a race environment would allow an athlete to push a wee bit harder than an uncontested test day.

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

Ha, this is awesome.
I went and double checked my data. Sure enough, not 117%.
A stray ride that must have been on the garmin I bought recently was producing that big 15 minute number. Previous garmin owner is strong as shit =)

I'm at 109%

Wife is still around 116% though. But she is off the chart on 1 minute power

Thanks for the catch, everyone

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter