I did the Pacific Crest Olympic Triathlon this last weekend. The Endurance Labs and doing the 70.3 race earlier this month left me with lots of endurance in the tank. I had a hiccup with the electric shifting on the bike. I was stuck in one gear. The heat was getting to me reaching 94 degrees on the run. Here are a few pictures. T1 is 30 miles out in the mountains. T2 is in Sunriver, OR. Tina
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Wow! Well done!
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Thank you Endurance Lab, living up to the name. I had a 100mile sportive this weekend which was only going to be a training ride as I was meant to be riding it with a friend who was much slower. I had decided to ride the hills hard and then wait for him. This idea was thrown into disarray when he decided to ride the medium route instead and do the 100km route instead.
So the day started well, I felt I went out a bit hard, first 2 hours at 0.9IF, the route had no long climbs but loads of small steep hills, up and down all day. NP was 40w higher than average power! It all went a little wrong at 55km when I was directed onto the wrong course by a marshal and ended up on the 100km route rather than the 100 mile route. I did not realise the mistake until 20km later when turning round was not really an option. I was so annoyed. After a bit of a hissy fit I pushed on and finished the ride with an IF of 0.85 which was way higher than I had planned.
So the positives is the weather was awful, about 3 hours was in heavy rain, and I still felt fresh when I finished. So I grabbed a coffee and then headed back out onto the course to find my friend. Did an extra 45km at an easy pace. So did not get the 100 mile, but close. Sitting here this evening I feel much better than the last time I did 100miles, September last year!
So despite not doing 100 miles since September and only doing 100km a couple of times since then I managed to complete the ride strong. So Zwift and the Endurance Lab works, but maybe I need to work on my observational skills rather than trusting the big flashing arrows of Zwift to tell me which way to go!!!
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That’s great, Andy! 3hs in heavy rain is even more draining, because it requires even more attention/energy. And it sounds like you had your nutrition on point as well!
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This is awesome, Tina! Way to go.
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Good luck Andrea and be mindful of the heat - I did a 140km sportive yesterday (Velo Wales) and it hit 30c which made for a pretty hard ride; I made good use of the extra water stops and the friendly locals who took pity on us overheating cyclists and topped up water bottles…
You’ll do great @cullenac!
I have a 24-hour “race” (organizers say it isn’t a race but there is a leader board so that makes it a race in my book) on August 10/11. I’m starting to work out the food. It’s on a 4.8 mile course with additional short “vacations” (checkpoints off the main course) announced the day of the event. They have some support but I’m mostly on my own. My husband will be able to meet me at course checkpoints with supplies. I plan on eating only real food, no bars or gels. I will have an electrolyte bottle and refills in addition to regular water. But how much food should I plan on needing and what should I consider in deciding what that food should be?
@cullenac I managed to get a photo from the top of the Tymble…it took me 33 mins to pedal to the top, thankfully there were a couple of shady patches on the way up to give a little bit of relief from the relentless sun.
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That looks fun!
So, I am in Odense, Denmark, now for ITU Long Course World Championships. I’ve been posting a blog on Zwift Insider of the training. Here is week 30. I got to do some training in DC, and it was way hotter than Quebec. Week 31 should be out soon. Week 30 – The last week of training, it’s gettin’ hot in here | Zwift Insider
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@anon30517170 I didn’t think the climb was ever going to end BUT I had great fun flying down the other side 
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Yeah, that’s so much fun.
Michelle absolutely crushed that climb and got a new 20 min power PR!! Her workouts this week just became more fun.
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In September I’m doing an event in the Tahoe area. I live at sea level and was wondering how my power numbers will suffer from just doing a race that starts at an altitude of 6k feet. The event is 80 miles, 8k feet of climbing but the last 17 miles and 4,200ft of climbing is the ascent of Mt. Rose. I have no idea how I should adjust power targets based on altitude. Any advice from the coaches/forum?
The best way to train for altitude is… riding at altitude to acclimate. However, it is not always possible to travel to the event location to train, so your second best bet is to arrive the day before and “trick” the body into thinking nothing happened (yet)- because it takes 2-3 days for the effects of the altitude to kick in. I too live at sea level, and when I went to Colombia I got altitude sickness on the third day, and it went away 2 days later.
As for power, you should continue to train as usual, and add longer rides with periods of lower cadence (50-70 rpms)- you can even add those during your endurance rides at 75%-80% of FTP.
Thanks @Coach_Theia. I’m arriving 30 hrs before the event so hopefully I will still be able to trick the body… As for power targets, I meant on the day of the race. For training I will keep using the same power zones but was curious to understand the relationship of power output and altitude. I know that at the same power number my HR will be higher if I’m doing it at altitude vs at sea level so if I don’t want to blow up I assume I will have to adjust down a bit my event power target for the last climb. Is that correct? Or should I just ignore the altitude effect and try to hit the avg power I can maintain for that climb as if I was starting at sea level?
Joe Friel has a handy chart about power output.(conclusion is that power output is usually down by about 10% in your case and 5% for acclimated athletes). But keep in mind there is always margin for error. Do you know from experience how you react to altitude (under normal circumstances, not cycling)? That might give you an idea if you are more or less sensitive. One other recommendation-- hydrate as much as possible, more than you would normally at sea level.
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This is super useful! I think I acclimate quite well to altitude . I go skiing a lot during winter and rarely have headaches but I’ve never done a long endurance event at altitude. Also, I grew up in Mexico City which is at 7,400ft but not sure that really matters if I haven’t lived there in 10+ years 
Yeah, probably not 
I grew up in Sao Paulo (2,500ft), and did not have any problems in Mexico City for the week I spent there. But Bogota… it wasn’t only the headaches, I was also quite dizzy! So looks like for me the line is somewhere around 8,000 ft.