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Highland Fling Race Tips Video
Fresh from the edit suite this morning - a sneak peek at a 4-minute video shot at Wingello on Sunday, with tips on Highland Fling training, featuring Jenny Fay and Anthony Shippard. We have more videos coming, and I would welcome any feedback - if they're popular, we'll keep making them!
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I was there on Sunday for training, almost ran over a wombat!
Thanks for the video.
The video has turned out so well. I do hope people find them useful.
That Anthony really knows what he is talking about
Fantastic........
Looking forward to the future instalments.
I've been doing hill repeats twice a week on the climb up from the zoo wharf, one day high cadence, one day low (60-70rpm - aargh!!), and it has made a tangible difference both to power and smoothing out my pedal stroke.
Do you have a favourite spot for your hill repeats, Ants?
Anywhere you can recommend on the north side?
I dont ride with my passport, so rarely head over the bridge
I ride in the Eastern 'burbs, and have just finished my hill rep session. Birriga Road, Dover Road, Watsons Bay, and Wentworth Avenue - each twice through at varying efforts and cadence....
I have heard (through my good mate Garry Millburn) that the road up from the Zoo Wharf is the ONLY place to be seen doing hill reps!!
To be honest, the key thing is to not do the reps too hard. Dont flog them so hard that you are exhausted from the effort, do them at a level that you are exhausted from the volume of the hills. Remember - in the Fling (or any other marathon) you will be climbing at threshold, and not a pure sprint.
Replicate, replicate....
Thanks for the quick response.
If I'm looking to go the next step up in volume, and am currently doing 3 x 5:30 climbs, would you recommend going say 3 x 7 or adding another rep at 5:30?
I'd probably go with more reps rather than more time on each rep.
My hill reps are only 3mins long, but I (and others I work with) would do 8-10 reps.
Once you get beyond 6mins or so, it becomes a different sort of work out - longer intervals - and in that case, the ints are quick long enough (normally would look for between 10 and 15mins of effort).
So - ideal world - one long ints session a week (something that totals around 25-35mins of total 'effort' (eg 3x10mins), and one hills session a week (6-8x3mins). One recovery ride, and one longer ride - but not ridden easy.
Obviously there is a bit more detail and science involved in doing it really 'properly' but that sort of framework wont see you go far wrong...
Thanks for your help - much appreciated.
Great tips guys - keep them coming for sure!
One thing i've found useful is if I have a standard ride of single track AND firetrail, I tend to keep the single track till the end when I'm most tired.. it's the bit I always find challenging in a race.. particularly the fling!
We just uploaded the 2nd video in the series. Enjoy!
www.louderthanwords.com.au/highlandfling/
Or if your looking for 3 mins or pure burn, Pretoria Parade is great as well. 3 mins and pretty steep. I know thats a long way from you though Hawkeye.
Last and first time i did Pretoria Pde I went back up Rosemead....ouch!
We've just uploaded video 3 - how to tackle the hills and the truth about cramps.
http://www.louderthanwords.com.au/highlandfling/
With less than 4 weeks to go, how is everyone's training coming along?
That is all I am saying atm.
All I've been doing is CX and xc racing with a few multi lap races.
I'm a bit concerned. I might blow a valve after about three hours?
Logan's sounding quietly confident, and there's still time for a couple of long rides before the Fling Gazza.
I'm training for the half, hoping to finish in about 2:45. My previous best is 3:01.
I have a state xc round, a club xc round and the state xc champs to fit in.
Maybe a long Saturday ride before the club round as it's not as important as the others?
So, if you were one of the athletes i advised, i would suggest that you didn't ride too long on sat, otherwise there would suggest be little point in racing anyway. Ride well on sat, with some efforts, then race on Sunday.
The way to make it work for the fling would be to ride after the races. Couple of steady / solid hours.
Do your family and life stuff on sat with a shorter harder ride, earn some brownie points to spend on sun with some after race extras!
We just posted the 4th video today, covering nutrition and hydration.
http://www.louderthanwords.com.au/highlandfling/
Enjoy!