alot of TT talk lately, so I’ll chime in. tomorrow I’m doing my first 10 mile TT of the season. basically it’s pretty flat with one small downhill, one slight uphill towards the end. i was just planning on going out around 17-19 and then kick it up 21+ for the last 5 or 6 miles and all out sprint the last 1/2 mile. any other thoughts on how I could do it?
(typically I finish stronger–the longer I go the stronger I get. i’ll try not to fly out of the gate, but my nerves might get me, even though this is more for fun and personal development). BTW, I have a road bike only.
meow.
kittycat
In my last TT (20 km) I went out too slow. This was a deliberate tactic that backfired. The rider behind me, who I usually can beat, had nearly made up the two minute interval at the turn. I really hammered on the way back and got back some of that time, but not enough to make up what I lost in the first half.
Go out slower if you want, but not too slow like i did.
For something short like 10 miles your warmup should be even longer than your race. Make sure your warmup includes some race type efforts. I like to use a trainer for my warmup.
Start out at 21 and see how long you can hold it. Pick it up at the end if you have anything left.
Good luck!
That is a good strategy I think.
I read a study in some book on mental training that described an experiment where the administrators of the research prject told the test subjects, elite level 800 meter runners, to do an effort at 80% of their maximum percieved exertion. They recorded the times.
During the next trial the test administrators purposely over-stated the need for the athletes to put out at least a 100% effort- to go flat out, and that the results were super important to their continued success in the program. Basically, the reasearch administrators tried to simulate as much stress on the athletes to perform 100% as they could.
The results were that when no pressure to perform at 100% for time was the environment, the majority of the athletes did *better *than when they were pressured to go 100%.
I think that is a part of the reason your strategy works. Also, 10 miles is bastardly distance for a TT- just long enough to be really tough but short enough to be tempted to go all out the entire time. Moderating those two approaches: Pacing and going all out, seem to be the key to having a good ride.
Good luck my precious little kitten. Have a good ride.
Hey Kittycat!!
Good luck, that’s great that you are doing it, hopefully I will be this brave soon. You should come up to Ault Park on Wednesday night to watch our Revolution boys (and Trigoneroadie too :-)kick butt. Marisol is usually there too.
As for strategy I have never done a tt so all I can say is keep a cool head, be confident and have a blast. Let us know how it goes.
yes I’ll try coming up Wed to check it out. Last week one of the Flyers got third, and I sponsor them, so that’s pretty cool.
if you spot me, please say hi. i have short blond hair (like a bob) and it’s kind of trendy. Also I’m a munchkin, coming in around 5’4 or 5’5. i think i could spot marisol…so I’ll keep an eye out 
I did my first 10miler a few weeks ago - like yours flat but a bit windy. First off - its going to hurt Now that we have that out of the way.
As someone else has already mentioned - warm up is very important. Take a trainer as its safe to do the higher intensity stuff on the trainer rather than out on the road. Long warm up slowly building up to some short high intensity efforts (90% plus of max), I warmed up for about an hour or so, mostly in the 75% zone aside from the build up. Also worth finding out how you are allocated your start time - if it first come first serve then you can try and chose by being early or late to sign up. I like early as I can time my warm up and roll to start line a bit better or if you have a local rival make sure to get in line behind her!
Strategy is going to depend on terrain and wind. In this case the terrain appears relatively neutral so the wind might be a factor. Also as Cerveloguy has mentioned you cannot afford to go out too easy as its too short a distance to make up much time, plus you have to factor in fatigue late in the ride. So on the 2nd half of a negative split your hard effort might well not be very fast, especially with a head wind. I would suggest coming up with a strategy based on conditions of the day, but the negative split idea is the best if the conditions allow it.
Another thing that might help, I know it has helped my wife, is to know in advance your which gears at what cadence will give you what speed. If you need a site to figure all that out PM me. We base our race around cadence so we find out what gear combo at the pre chosen cadence will give us in terms of speed, this also helps us determine other gearing and cadence options if we need to change plans to accommodate for terrain and wind.
The mental side of the equation is huge - how you deal with your demons! No disassociation allowed!
Have fun. Its fun about 5mins after!
I would advocate racing based on perceived effort or better yet, HR rather than speed. You should be able to sustain your LTTHR for the duration of a 10 miler, and should seek that out immediately off the start and hold it there. If you are worrying about speed, gears etc etc you are not focused on form. Form and focus is the key here. You will be breathing real hard for 95 percent of the race. The only times you may not be gasping/gulping down air should be at the very start and just before and after the turnaround. As others have said do warmup properly. There is no one best way to warmup, as long as your muscles are warm (including your heart) and you have done a couple of harder efforts to get yourself ready for the ‘shock’ of the longer effort you should be fine. If you have kept your HR up around threshold or higher and are feeling good after theturnaround, just push in as hard as you can and never ever let up…
have fun!
James