The Kent 100 Mile Time Trial

Every now and then I like to roundup a block of training that has culminated in an event by explaining the goal(s), training done, and any lessons learned along the way.

Background

I was exhausted after the Lee Valley Duathlon in November last year -- the fourth race in consecutive weekends -- and needed a break. What, for me, constituted a break was, rather than complete rest, a chance to reconnect with the reasons I enjoy running and cycling so much. So I still averaged eight hours per week (compared to the annual average of 12h/wk) with the majority nice and easy with not much intensity.

During this six-week recovery period I thought a lot about the upcoming season and what I hoped to get out of it. Setting PBs for the 10 and 25 mile time trial would, in theory, be automatic given the new TT bike, skinsuit and aero helmet, so I needed to set goals that were, at the time, out of my reach in order that I could strive to achieve them.

My hardest but most satisfying ride of 2018 was undoubtedly the 102 miles I rode from Sevenoaks to Sedlescombe, with a few laps of Rye, in 4:49. I remember wondering whether I could "break four hours" for the 100 one day although, at the time, I hadn't even cycled 25 miles in one hour, let alone doing it four times consecutively with no break in between...

I decided to set two goals: 3:59:59 for a 100, and 19:59 for a 10 mile time trial. Originally I aimed for a 100 on the Hailsham course in August, and a 10 on the Tonbridge A21 Bypass course in September. I still intend to try to ride the A21 10 mile TT in under 20 minutes in September, but the opportunity arose to do the Kent 100 a couple of months earlier. At the time I thought that it would be good preparation for the Hailsham 100, and that I wouldn't be fit enough to even try to ride sub-4 at Kent.

I'm not sure when I decided to really give sub-4 a crack at Kent, but in the last few weeks before the race I wondered whether it was possible. Honestly I wasn't sure; I had cycled some serious miles and spent a lot of time working on holding the TT position as well as race-specific workouts, but nothing could truly prepare me for what some people describe as cycling's equivalent of the marathon.

The Plan

I am nothing if not a planner. My relationship with plans/spreadsheets is volatile and I frequently delete them, claiming I'm micromanaging and putting myself under too much pressure only to produce another spreadsheet days later.

Still, the rough outline was to build mileage throughout the winter, introduce intensity in the form of mid zone 3 tempo efforts, upper zone 3/lower zone 4 "sweetspot" efforts and next to nothing above threshold. I don't know if this was the most effective use of my time but it seemed like a solid enough plan and, even if the intensity I was doing wasn't ideal, I would still be cycling 10-15 hours a week with the majority in zone 2, so surely it wouldn't be far off. That was my thought process anyway.

I used Joe Friel's "3 on, 1 off" with three weeks of progressively building the volume followed by a recovery week, which usually finished with some form of test.

The first block, starting on New Years' Eve, averaged 13 hours per week for the "3 on", and 6.5 hours for the "1 off". The "test" was an LTHR test which gave me a threshold figure of 178bpm. This was only a couple of beats below what I thought my threshold was, but I reset the zones anyway and used them to measure my training against.

The second block averaged 12.5 hours (first week was hampered by bad weather) with the test a race simulation of a local TT.

Block three (almost 15h/w) featured a lot more intensity, partly due to commuting to Paddington rather than Greenwich, and working long hours which meant reduced time available and thus increased intensity. In hindsight it probably would've been better to keep a lid on the intensity as I got a cold during this block. Fortunately it didn't stick around for long and the block ended with an epic Man of Kent Audax with the club. The end of block test was 40 minutes @ threshold down in Rye. This ride was both encouraging and not for my sub-4 chances; I averaged almost 25mph in road kit, on training wheels and normal helmet. But that was forty minutes not four hours...

The fourth block (almost 16h/w) also featured a lot of intensity as well as my first cycling abroad. I climbed El Madroño and raced the Bexley 10 two minutes and 38 seconds faster than on the road bike with TT bars, normal helmet and trisuit in May 2018. The end of block test was supposed to be an Interclub TT but it was cancelled so I went KOM hunting (only managed fifth on the target segment, but did get a couple along the way!).

Block five (over 16h/w) incorporated 1:30, 1:45, 2:00 and 2:30 efforts at the target HR/effort for the 100 mile TT. These three rides boosted my confidence and gave me a good understanding of how to setup my nutrition/hydration strategy. Two gels/hour and 500ml/hour respectively. I also raced FIVE times in sixteen days which was obviously too much, but I did win my first and second Interclub TTs! The test was another Interclub TT where I finished third (first and second are in a different league to me), but more importantly, I was really happy with my performance and ability to squeeze every last drop of effort out of my legs.

Taper

The sixth and final block is incomplete. The thing is, I wasn't targeting the Kent 100 as an A race, so I didn't prepare my schedule accordingly. It was only after getting back from an epic cycling stag do in Mallorca on the Monday morning that I decided to actually taper for the race. The original plan was to treat it as a training ride, as I had done for almost all of the Interclub TTs. Mallorca left me drained so I took Monday off, did a couple of hours on the Tuesday (bad idea), took Wednesday off, rode to and from the Interclub TT on Thursday where I set a PB, couple of easy commutes to Greenwich on Friday, day off Saturday and raced Sunday.

The Race

The forecast of 12c and 5mph SW wind was pretty much ideal. Knowing that area, the wind would build with each lap, but at least the first two or three would be manageable. In fact, the wind never got that high -- for those that have been to Camber/Lydd, you'll know how incredible that is. Still days just don't happen down there.

So, strategy. What to do? The course is essentially 5m north, 10m south, then 4 loops of 7m SW, 7m E, 3m N, 3m NW. Headwind for the first seven miles, tailwind for the next seven, crosswind for the final seven. My strategy was to keep my average speed at 25mph for as long as possible, letting it dip below a little on the headwind sections (though my effort was highest there) and build it during the tailwind sections (though my effort was lowest there).

The course

I was off at 06:31 and felt ready although a little daunted. The day before I saw a title of a book You Are Not Your Thoughts -- I thought that would help during the race, and it did. I had a gel before riding to the start and another gel at the start. Possibly slight overkill there. Oh, and my HRM stopped working so I was riding without power or HR... Good old fashioned feel it would have to be.

My Garmin screen showed Time, Speed, Distance, Average Speed. The first five miles to the roundabouts felt slower than I anticipated. I thought I'd have a tailwind and cruise up there but I was putting in a bit of effort and only averaging 23.8mph. Doubts crept in but I kept telling myself I could only do what I could do, and just stick to the plan. By the time I got down to the Brenzett RAB (where the loops began) I was averaging 25.1mph and my confidence was back. Maybe I could do this.

Got chewy sweets from Tom and motored on into the headwind. The first loop felt good; I was passing people regularly, the effort felt spot on and all nutrition/hydration were going well. I wasn't exactly comfortable but I felt good all things considered. 21.18 miles, 50:20, 25.3mph. First of four done!

Left at the Brenzett RAB and you're straight into another headwind. Garmin showed 25.2mph average for the 36.2 miles and I knew I hadn't put out more effort than in race pace sessions. During the headwind section I tried to keep my shoulders in, head turtled and keep the effort high. This was difficult to balance as there was still hours left to go but I couldn't afford to let the headwind slow me down too much. My current speed hovered around 23-24 mph and I hoped this would be enough. By the end of the headwind section my averaged speed dropped to 25.0mph, which I thought was okay. At the end of the loop I had rebuilt the average back to 25.2 and this is when I started to believe I could actually do it. 21.18 miles, 50:32, 25.2mph. Very happy to have not slowed down much on that lap. Two down, two to go.

At the start of the third loop I got my final hydration/nutrition from my helper, Tom, who was off to work (having got up at 4am to support me -- legend!) and my wife, Sophie, and mother-in-law Suzie would be along at the end of the loop. This made me a bit anxious as Tom had been brilliant all the way around driving to meet me in places, hand me bottles, gels, etc. Everything was going according to plan. Mentally I found the third loop really tough as I battled the headwind again trying to maintain 23-24mph but knowing I had another loop to go. The wind had got up a bit but not anything major. Head down, keep churning out the power. 21.18 miles, 50:56, 25.0mph. Although I slowed quite a bit on this lap, I still had a 25.1mph average at the end of it.

I started the fourth and final loop by seeing Sophie, which was a boost, and taking ProPlus from her as well as a bottle of electrolyte from Suzie. I took two ProPlus and stuffed the packet down the front of my jersey (along with all used gel wrappers, littering is never okay) and pressed on. I calculated I had about one minute to play with. If I could get through the seven mile headwind section with my 25.0mph average intact I felt I would have almost done it. As expected the section was brutally hard but I kept plugging away, waiting for that turn where the wind started to help. With ten miles to go my average was 25.0 -- great -- but on-the-fly calculations suggested I was eight seconds down and my legs were starting to go. I kept telling myself to stay calm, there was a three mile section between Lydd and New Romney that I had seen 27-29mph previously and I could regain time there. The problem, however, was the lack of snap in my legs. I just didn't have anything else to give. Complete purgatory of being minutes away from a huge accomplishment but my body having nothing more to give. I resolved to stay as aero as possible, to reduce required power output, and tried to while away the minutes. There were two final junctions to negotiate: a right turn in Lydd, which I did just about, and the left turn onto the finishing straight. 20.8 miles, 50:43, 24.7mph

Onto the final straight and I knew that, barring mechanical, I was there. It was just a case of getting there as soon as possible. Fortunately my Garmin underread the distance and I finished with plenty of seconds to spare in 3:59:02!

Provisional results courtesy of SpinWheels

Having had a few days to process the race, I am completely made up. The longest race I had done on the TT bike was 10 miles and I still haven't quite sorted out my position. You can see in the videos that my hips look like they're rocking a little, which is frankly bizarre given I clearly put out a decent amount of power as my position still needs work.

Going forward, as mentioned above, I want to get my position dialled in, especially if I'm going to average 30mph for the A21 Tonbridge 10 in September. I really need to start doing some high intensity workouts that aren't 10 mile TTs, so I'll be including some intervals around 10m TT effort. I'm not entirely sure I am capable of that right now but I will give it a go as sometimes, as I realised on Sunday, I can surprise myself with what I'm capable!

Thanks for reading.