fuji / motegi coach's meeting

On Tuesday I had a skype meeting with my coach.

As the season comes to an end, we talked about the 200 km race at Fuji Speedway and the upcoming 7h race at the Motegi circuit

Fuji 200 analysis

It was harder than expected, like a fast moving road race.

In hindsight, I should have tried to stay in the group and do as little work as possible.

The timing of the bottle change was costly.

I felt I was fading towards the end too. Dehydration was also a factor.

Motegi 7h Enduro

Nature of the race:

We think this will turn out to be similar racing.

Due to the length of the course, we think "staying power" will be the deciding factor as riders slow down, pit or quit.

This is the course.

The nature of the race is 7 minute laps.

Of which 5.5 minutes should be spent trying to do as little as possible. Cruising in the group.

The other 1.5 minutes will be on the climb. This is where the big efforts are made.

After the bell is rung (7h) you get to complete the lap you are on.

The winner in May did:

60 laps in 7h04. (av 7 mins per lap) (288 km, 2,400 m climbing)

Rider mix:

4h solo, 4h team, 7h solo and 7h team become mixed together (4h start 4 mins earlier) and like fuji, 3h30 to 4h becomes a little hectic.

Race Schedule

Registration 5 ~ 8:30
Ride the course 7 ~ 7:50
Race start: 9:04
Race Finish: 14:04

Lap splits

Lap split times will be available on the web.

Strategy

I plan to ride the 7h non stop. I am lucky that my coach will support me on this ride. He will ride the course and provide me with information about time splits and pass bottles.

We identified the best part of the course to use as a "feed zone".

I will try to do as little work as possible.

I will be ready for an increase in pace after 3h 30.

I will follow the moves that go on the 4h mark.

Training schedule before the event

This week is a rest week. I did one big ride on Thursday (200 km)

There will be three weeks of training: Builds 1,2,3

Followed by a Rest week / Race week

Specific training

I will concentrate on two things:

• 1. volume

• 2. intervals specific to the demands of the event.

1. volume

I feel I neglected volume prior to Fuji 200 (compared to Tokyo~Itoigawa for example). We think some long rides will be good preparation for this.

2. intervals

We identified 1.5 minutes of hard riding each lap. We feel intervals in training should be longer than this at 2 to 3 minutes. I envisage 6 minutes of easy riding followed by 2 minute bursts.

Motegi is likely to be the last race of 2016. I'm motivated to do a solid month of good training in preparation for this.