Hi guys,
reader of the forum, podcast listener and trainierroad user since one year, I’m currently preparing for a BRM400 here in Switzerland happening last weekend of June. The route is not public yet but is forcasted to be 400km and 6’000m of elevation (248miles and 19’685feets for you on the other side of the pond). For this race, I don’t have any particular targets, I would like to complete the route in less than 24hours if that’s more, no issues about it. Completing it will be such an achievment already for me. I have a high stress job (sales manager) with frequent aborad trips which makes my training difficult to manage. I went down from a LV custom grand fondo plan last year to a master’s LV gran fondo plan this year which I feel is more adapted for me now because it maximize my recovery. Also, I’m doing most of my workouts ealry morning now, again to maximize recovery and sleep.
While I’m not a feather (90-91kgs for 180cm; 198lbs and 5’9), Trainerroad has made me much faster (current FTP is 272) on sustained efforts and continues to do so, which is great on the climbs.
Trainerroad sessions are great for physical training, and I will also complement them by some longer trips during the next months (1 to 2 times 200km per month) in order to get used to those long days out.
So here are my questions, what mental and physical trainings can i add to my plan for the next weeks?
What about the pacing and race strategy? Any experience and thoughts to share?
OK, from my experience, may or may not work foe you. Don’t try to power up climbs , you will just tire you self out. Don’t be afraid of “granny gears”, they are your friend, what ever your comfortable/ relaxed cadence is, try to find a gear the match that and spin up.
A thermos of sweet coffee for 4am is nectar of the gods. I dont try to sleep on a 400, (i do grab a couple of hours on a 600 if available) water, shops, bivi/rest spots, all pre planned as far as possible.
if you have a good one a riding buddy is a great help for moral,
Mentally take it bite size, checkpoint by checkpoint. no more than 5/10 min at a check point unless its a planned rest.
carbs and electrolytes in your bottles, carry spare mix, geep fuelled before you needed it.
Not much else i can think of
best of luck
Thanks for that!
A lot of it is in the route/effort planning as I understood.
What about the training aspects till then?
Personally I don’t do anything specific But I ride BRMs thought out the year. and if i am not riding an event on a weekend I take my sef of for a 160 or 200 depending on weather etc.
I am new to TR , but in the past of a lot of climbing has been involve, i like to pick the big alpine climbs 1000m - 2000m 10-15% and slog up them on Rouvy. whilst watching TV. 3 a week ?
Sorry I can really add more. oh ,I will probable rides a 300 a month before my 400 but thats about it.
IS this you first 400? What time does it start ? many of ours(NL/BE) start at 21:00
Best of luck
Yes, this would be my first 400. I did a 200 last year in April, and I have another one planned in a month.
I plan as well to do 200 on my own in 2 weeks, and probably another 200 or 300 in April and/or May following your advice. The main topic here is to be able to do long rides and fine-tune the bike aspects of it (bags, food, toolkit, etc).
For now, TR is working on my base fitness since I’m lacking here a bit. I started to work on long threshold phases (this hurts!), so a bit the same as what you are describing with the long ascents.
The BRM400 is starting at 08:00 in the morning. So you will have done a good chunk already during the day and arriving at night. During the past years, some were sleeping a bit, some not at all.