WorldWide "Disaster" Day - Dec 15, 2018

Allez allez allez!

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I think weā€™re all aiming for survival.

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I stopped (a mess of a man) two hours in, but will be back again next week to try and complete the whole thing. Lessons I learned:

  • Iā€™m not in good enough shape to complete this at 100%. Going to dial it down to 90% next week.
  • I made it through the four 10 minute threshold intervals at the beginning, but made a big mistake - I ground them out as big gear intervals in an attempt to keep my heart rate down. It utterly destroyed my quads. The next section (the 45 minute interval around 70% of FTP) was a nightmare! Even though my heart rate was top of zone 2, my legs were screaming. Normally, thatā€™d be a cinch. Iā€™d really recommend a higher cadence for those four 10 minuters.
  • I probably need to improve my mental strength in the coming week!

This is a HARD challenge at 100% of FTP. Really hard. Best of luck, everyone!

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Great effort, Conor! I found the same challenge during the The Nate (the unofficial name for the 1/2 Disaster) about a month ago, so Iā€™m going to dial it back 10% next week.

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Mission accomplished!

Had to do it a week earlier than the big day due to work commitments.

What an insane way to spend a Sunday morning :joy::joy::joy:

Up at 05:00 (GMT).

Breakfast: 100g porridge.

Made up 3 x 750ml bottles with 30g carbs and a Zero tablet in each one.

Made up a fruit and protein smoothie for recovery at the finish.

Started workout at 08:00.

Gel at 48 minutes.

10 minute break at 1hr 42m. Had a gel, took on my second bottle.

10 minute break at 2hr 35m. Had a couple of fig rolls and a double espresso.

10 minute break at 3hr 4m. Had a gel, took on my third bottle.

10 minute break at 3hr 46m.

I took a couple more breaks than Iā€™d scheduled but I have no shame in doing so! When needs must.

Tips: Plan your nutrition and hydration ahead of the workout. Schedule some breaks, and be prepared to take more if you need them - I scheduled two 10 minute breaks and ended up taking four ten minutes. Spotify is your friend!

Surreal moment #1: The Velvet Undergroundā€™s ā€œHeroinā€ playing mid-way through the VO2 max intervals (itā€™s on one of my playlists).
Delirious moment: singing along to Country Joe and the Fishā€™s ā€œI Feel Like Iā€™m Fixinā€™ To Dieā€ (ā€œwhoopee, weā€™re all going to die!ā€) midway through the workout.
Surreal moment #2: The Velvet Undergroundā€™s ā€œVenus in Fursā€ playing during the cool down (ā€œI am tired, I am weary, I could sleep for a thousand yearsā€).

Good luck, to everyone whoā€™s got this insanity to come :smiley:

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Chapeau! First finisher!

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Count me in. Planning to start at 9am MST which works out to 4:00pm GMT. Guess I should start tapering.

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Kudos! Excellent work there fella!

Great planning there around the breaks and nutrition. The only bit I would add to that list is

Best pair of bib shorts, comfiest saddle and plenty of chamois cream :slight_smile:

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Chapeau!

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Epic!!

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Yes, itā€™s a tough workout, thereā€™s no doubting that. However, if you distil it to itā€™s constituent parts, itā€™s basically just four separate workouts joined together - sweet spot/tempo/threshold, endurance, VO2 max, and anaerobic, with a good deal of time spent in active recovery. In other words, thereā€™s nothing in there that most of us havenā€™t done before.

If you approach it for what it is - four separate workouts - and take a short (10-15 minute) break after each section, youā€™ll not go far wrong.

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Got you added.

@chad could not have said it better. :blush: Thanks for this!

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Tentatively planning to give it a shotā€¦do I need a specific time? Also, if I complete can I order the shirt still? Iā€™d feel like a poser if I failed lolā€¦
Iā€™m in TN so central time. Schedule is clear, just not sure what time in the morning Iā€™ll be ready.

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Of course!

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Iā€™m in. Starting at 10:00 eet in Finland.

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Thereā€™s no specific time but a lot of guys are giving one so thereā€™s a sense of community suffering. The shirt supports World Bicycle Relief, so feel free to order.

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Done with the half. I cut back the intensity of one of the threshold intervals, but otherwise stuck to the plan. Not bad, coming off 7 consecutive weeks of travel.

Itā€™s actually a pretty enjoyable workout. I may only be up for the 3/4ths Disaster next week though; weā€™ll see.
03%20PM

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No need for serving a time. Weā€™re just posting them to help people know they arenā€™t alone.

You can use the Chat app for live discussion during as well.

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Yo, I finally made it over here from Facebook. Iā€™m still in on this, for sure. I live in North Carolina, so my time zone is GMT -5 I believe. I get off work late, usually 12 am to 3 am local time, so I should probably get some decent sleep before hopping on (especially considering I havenā€™t done ANY bike rides in like two months or more). Iā€™ll definitely do the workout though, but probably not until at least 1 pm local time, so 6 pm GMT or later. I see there is somebody starting it at 7 pm GMT, so maybe put me down for that time so heā€™s not all alone! So glad to see this event has gotten so much interest!

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