Long Course Pacing

I am often asked what metric to follow when pacing a long course race as well as doing race pace efforts in training for them.

The answer is simple … follow your gut and be guided by all the metrics.

Time trialling over 180km is a difficult task and it has many factors at play. Terrain, wind, heat and the individual metabolic makeup of the athlete.

There really is no easy way to know how hard to ride and run unless you test it in training and in conditions similar to the race itself. Specificity rules.

So - have a goal time in mind for the race and work backwards to it. Be guided by your power, and heart rate to know you are on track.

Remember your pacing is individual and needs to be trialled in training. Also don’t forget that your pacing and powers / heart rates will likely vary across the length of the race itself. There isn’t one pace.