PART 1 can be found HERE if you missed it. This blog is part 2 of a 4 part series...

2. Pacing

So we have the baseline endurance ability in place. Now we have to take the first step to make this baseline ability work ON THE DAY. If I have trained properly for endurance the majority of my training will have been aerobic, because endurance is aerobic and the majority of endurance training is aerobic in nature. What this means in practice that I do the majority of my training in zones 1 and 2, with a nicely balanced proportion in zones 3 and 4, a smattering of Zone 5 and the anaerobic portion is probably a low percentage of the overall. In truth it may change for each individual and the other races or goals they have throughout the year, but for the sake of simplicity I'll focus on the Marji being the core objective. This is the detail of a plan, it takes place before the race, but on race day it does inform us as to how we should ride an endurance race: in an endurance style. Here is my race file with a heart rate zones overlay:

So from a pacing perspective we could say that this file showed OK pacing - the start is not too aggressive, I don't try to go too hard for a protracted period of time, it flattens out nicely for a long time in the middle, but certainly it's not brilliant pacing - the back end tails off a lot, the rider is clearly either struggling or losing the mental capacity to push themself.

To start to make that file real we need some context, and the important considerations I come up with are: 1) I'm not very fit at the moment and have not raced much so my calibration is out for what I'm capable of 2) I'm overweight so there is going to be a tendancy to push at a known effort but expend more energy than I'm accustomed to 3) I'm riding a single speed so I've got to try and take the wheels where I can off the start and that long straight tarmac section, the intial climb is also not going to match the gearing if I've got that right for the rest of the course.

Now the file makes more sense. We can understand why there's that higher heart rate going on at the start, but there's still no denying that I paid for that towards the end.

A well paced file when I'm fit looks more like this:

There's a hard start, to establish a gap, and then I settle in, there's no radical tail off though, so how fit we are and our current condition overall has a big bearing on how we should approach pacing something like the Marji.

In hindsight I needed to start a little more conservatively, lost maybe 50 places in the first third of the course, and finished much stronger towards the end. The BIG take homes from the heart rate file, if I wanted to come back next year and perform better are: I need to keep training, regain more fitness and have a few races in my build up to Marji, losing body fat would be highly beneficial, and a geared bike would make a measurable difference to the outcome.    

Next we want to look at what actually happened in the race because a heart rate or power file only tells a part of the story. My position in the race at each of the splits tells an interesting story, here they are:

Jackson Park 1: 82nd

Jackson Park 2: 34th

Finish: 30th

So from a positional perspective we can say that I choose a pacing strategy that worked well for me on that bike that day. Phew, that feels much better! OK, so I've started a bit too hard for my current fitness, but we now know why, and then I've settled in and worked my way constantly towards the front throughout the entire race. The good lesson here is that pacing is much more than a power or heart rate file, especially when it comes to a mass start race, and even more so if we do something dumb like race geared guys and girls on a singlespeed!

Now, seeing as I was the rider on the ground who produced tthis heart rate file and these time splits I can tell you, without looking at any other files, that there is a distinct possibility here: that some of the athletes who got to Jackson park before me the first time didn't pace this race so good. From JP1 onwards I didn't speed up, and in fact we can see from my heart rate trace that I am feeling the pressure and towards the end of the race the ability to push myself is tailing off a lot. Out on the race course though I'm actually doing a lot of overtaking and moving further up the field the longer that race goes on. I can tell you that I was overtaking others because I could walk faster up hill than they could, I literally never overtook anyone whilst riding. People who can't walk up hill with a bike are TIRED and they went out too hard. We have to have seriously overdone things on that first third of the course to get out-walked, even if it is steep and amongst rocks and roots.

Now perhaps they did no walking or running leading into the event. Neither did I. So maybe everyone could have benefited from some hike a bike training, and some running as part of the mix (which is why I include some in the plans I build for the Marji bike races) However, overall effort is what breaks down ability when it comes to endurance so it is much more likely that a lot of folk in the top 80 at JP1 started too hard and then kept it going too hard all the way to that first time check. Having analysed thousands of race files over the years I can confidently say that this is a big gain area for riders at almost every level (most of the pros have usually got this nailed to be fair) so it is well worth doing a post-race analysis, and using our conclusions to adjust how we race next time. Anyone who does this stands to gain in the form of a faster time and finishing higher up the results next time out. It is well worth starting that process today whilst the memory of the race is still fresh enough in the mind. 

Action: Before analysing your files or your time splits ask yourself how fit are you really right now. Being super fit can change how hard we can go out and how long we can hold a high pace. Tailing off is not always a sign of poor pacing, and going real hard at the start might have won the race for you if you were able to hold that for longer than everyone else and not tail off too much towards the end. However, if that's not the case, if you got caught, lost places and went backwards then you maybe want to learn from that and pace it better next time. Every race should be a learning experience. Next check your splits on the race results and use it to guide better decisions next time you race the Marji. Did you lose a considerable number of places between split 1 and split 2, or split 1 and the end? Did some people who got to JP1 behind you finish a lot nearer the front than you by time they got to the finish line? Both are indicators that it’s possible to pace this a lot better. If so you want to start a bit, or maybe even a lot, easier next time out and possibly further back on the start line. Next check your race file, does the heart rate slope down radically to the right? Does the average power decline throughout or drop off a cliff at some point and never come back? If so the same applies: you started too fast/hard for your fitness, form or conditions on that day and if you learn from that experience and take action you can go faster next time.