Leadville - What's it going to take?

Larry Gilbert

Calling for advice from the EN nation ....

I've done long road rides before (150 mile, 7-8 hour rides).  I've done long hilly rides before (200k Horribly Hilly).  I've riden in the mountains in CO (Mt Evans, Vail Pass, Independance Pass, etc).  But I've never done a 10-12 hour, 100 mile MTB race.  I'm doing ToC in May, so that should give me some great base miles to start with.  After that, what kind of training am I looking forward to and here are some initial questions:

1) Should I become a cyclist only? 

2) Is it OK to work in some runs?  And if yes to running too, how often per week and how many miles per week?  

3) For my cycling, during the 10-12 weeks before race day, how many days/week and miles/week?

4) I'm told that road riding miles are OK, it's really about time in the saddle.  Is this true?

5) I was originally thinking I would do Leadville in mid-August, and then refocus on running and maybe try to do a fall Marathon and qualify for Boston.  Is this too aggressive?  Maybe the answer to question #2 will dictate the answer here.

Thanks in advance!

 

ht001

Hi Larry....I took the liberty of forwarding your questions to one of my friends who is a MTB riding animal with your questions...here's how she responded. Hope this is at least marginally helpful. She's a really good MTB racing resource because she's done so many of them, and done them really well. She rips my legs off on a regular basis on the mountain! I have another friend who did this on a single speed (whack-o IMHO) but I can try to get her thoughts too...haven't talked to that one in a while though.

1) Should I become a cyclist only?
For this 1 spring/summer, leading up to Leadville, I would say yes. You should be riding, riding, riding. If you want to do an easy, recovery day and swim, occasionally, it should be fine.

2) Is it OK to work in some runs? And if yes to running too, how often per week and how many miles per week?
Again, training your muscles to be as sport specific as possible, is going to benefit you the most. An occasional run won’t hurt your training.

3) For my cycling, during the 10-12 weeks before race day, how many days/week and miles/week?
Depends on your current base. If you are currently riding 50 miles/ride, increase it by 5%/ride/ per week.

4) I'm told that road riding miles are OK, it's really about time in the saddle. Is this true?
Time on the bike you’ll be racing will be the most beneficial. There are quite a few sections that are on dirt and road and fast. There are also a lot of sections that are on dirt, technical, and grinding. Being able to ride 100 miles on a road bike will be helpful and good training, but is very different than riding for 10 hours in Leadville, at 10,300-12,400 ft, with ruts, mud, etc. Pace work with lots of hills will help. Elevation is the most significant element of Leadville. There is a huge difference between Denver at 5280 ft and Leadville at twice that. That said, I know flatlanders that have done well.

5) I was originally thinking I would do Leadville in mid-August, and then refocus on running and maybe try to do a fall Marathon and qualify for Boston. Is this too aggressive? Maybe the answer to question #2 will dictate the answer here.
I can’t answer this one but I can tell you that it took my legs and lungs about 6 weeks to fully recover from the Leadville 100.

Larry Gilbert

Thanks Olivia - good suggestions. Sounds like she knows her stiuff

Coach Patrick

I think you can be a tri geek for now and roadie through TOC; maybe do a half just before / after TOC and then pack up tri - mojo and go epic on your MTB bike. That gives you 10 weeks to get 100% dialed in. I would be looking at double weekend endurance rides, with 1 longer ride on wed (like 2-2.5 if you can). Tues/Thurs would be short hard interval stuff (Trainer?). Mon/Fri become swing days. I'd do at least one, maybe two epic weekends with like 5-6 rides over three days (take a friday or monday off).

Man I am stoked for you!

Patrick

phaedrus

I think it would be great if you would be willing to keep us all posted on the training approach you ultimately decide on. . . I'm sure there are others in the haus that have aspirations of doing this some day and it would be pretty cool to start building some data / info on training for this monster. If nothing else, I want to live vicariously through you on this one

Larry Gilbert

@Patrick - thanks so much. I was thinking along those lines. I think trying to get somewhere around 200-225 miles/week with most of it on my MTB bike is the goal to shoot for. Maybe (just maybe), I would try to run a short 4 miles 1-2x/week in an effort to cross train and keep some runs in. But I would lose them very quickly if I find my legs are feeling too tired. I was also thinking that maybe Tues/Thurs would be commute to work days (50 miles round trip) as a way to get some quality miles in.

@mark - I will definitely keep the updates coming. I'm really looking forward to this one and am very excited!