Gwen Jorgensen's First Crit: Race File Analysis

TrainingPeaks wishes Gwen Jorgensen a great race today in San Diego at the ITU World Triathlon Series! 

Pro triathlete Gwen Jorgensen is best known for qualifying for the Olympics a mere 18 months after her first competitive triathlon. Gwen had always loved swimming and excelled at running, but by her own account had never been much of a cyclist. When she competed at the Elite Development Race in Clermont in 2010, it was only a few months after her first ride on a road bike.

The bike has been a focus of improvement for Gwen, and as part of her training regimen she raced her first crit as a Cat 3 rider in February 2012 and shared her race file with TrainingPeaks. In the file, you can see Gwen's warm-up, course preview, and actual race.

Gwen explained why she raced a crit as part of her triathlon training:

"In order to become a good cyclist, it is important to immerse yourself in the cycling world. I used this bike race as training to help prepare me to be my best in triathlons. I come from swim/run background, so I am really pushing my biking.

"Bike crits help with improved cycling skills, comfort riding in the pack, sustained efforts, power surges and sprint power, learning where/when to attack on the bike, and general pack awareness skills.

"I had a blast [at the race]. My goals were to challenge myself and make it a hard bike session which is why I chose to attack, cover attacks, and lead out a lap. I rode with confidence, and made sure I was always aware of what was happening up the road. I stayed in the top 10 the entire race, and tried to be aware of the wind so I could use drafting to my advantage."

See Gwen's crit file here.

Based on Gwen's comments, we can see the three main segments of the file that are highlighted within the Graph:

Warm-up (34:39)

As a warmup and for transportation, Gwen rode to the race.  She said, "I generally include some accelerations in a warmup to elevate my heart rate and my leg speed." Select the segment titled "Warmup home to race" to see Gwen's average cadence of 70 rpm during her warmup. As observed by her HR, Gwen kept her effort well below threshold, averaging 113 bpm through her warmup, compared to a near threshold effort of 163 bpm during the race.

Course Preview Lap (8:24)

Gwen got a 1-loop preview of the course prior to staging. She said, "It would have been ideal to get in a little more riding before the start of the event to make sure the body is prepared to go hard right from the start if that's what the race would dictate. However, in ITU racing, athletes often have to wait a bit from warmup to race time, so even though this isn't ideal, it is something that helps me prepare for future races."

Race (44:26)

Select the "Race" segment to see Gwen's race numbers over the 2.2 mile loop. With two laps to go, Gwen attacked, and then led the entire lap. Gwen averaged 183w during the 44 minute race, about 3.3w/kg. Her Peak 5 min Power for the day occurred during her attack, at 242w, or 4.3w/kg. She described it as "a great threshold that set me up for a challenging sprint finish - perfect for a hard bike workout to prepare me for my next triathlon event." 

Following the bike race, Gwen went right into a transition run. This was a great way to simulate triathlon race day demands.

Gwen Jorgensen, 2012 London Olympic qualifier, is using TrainingPeaks to track her training, monitor her fitness, and analyze her workouts. Learn more about how you can use TrainingPeaks to achieve your fitness goals. Gwen will be periodically posting training files and blog posts on TrainingPeaks throughout the 2012 season.