Hi there forumgoers, I hope you can help me out. I have entered a 10 mile TT series, where several local clubs host an event over the same course throughout the season. My first attempt was 2 days ago - it was a unmitigated failure. I had no idea on a strategy and went out full gas so as you can imagine I drained myself in the first 2 miles
Do any of you know how I can effectively use my xert data to create a pacing strategy to help me improve slowly at the discipline over the coming months ?
If you have a Garmin head unit you might consider leveraging Xert Segment Hunter (XSH).
Here’s a recent post about it – Segment hunter - no segments loaded
This assumes the TT course can be identified as a start/end segment on Strava.
XSH isn’t so much a pacing tool but rather an MPA management tool.
It should help you from starting out too hard and keep you within range of what you’re capable of maintaining throughout the course.
@Drew_B That sounds fun! I’d definitely second the XSH recommendation. I used it again recently for the first time in a while and forgot just how awesome the tool is
As @ridgerider2 mentioned, it won’t necessarily tell you exactly how to pace the TT, but it does an excellent job of helping you manage power and MPA in real time.
To get the most out of it, I’d suggest:
Enter an estimated completion time you think is achievable (a recent PR is a great starting point)
Use the “Breakthrough on the Line” setting
From there, the data field will estimate the highest average power you can sustain for the remainder of the segment target time, while accounting for fatigue as it develops in real time.
I recently used XSH on an ~11-minute segment (into a nasty headwind ) and it helped me pace to a near-Breakthrough. Different duration than your 10-mile TT, but the pacing principles are very similar. Ideally, you see a slow, gradual decline in MPA over the course of the effort, and that MPA comes down to your power output near the end of your TT:
Yes, Perfect! It looks like you were right at your limits around the ~15 min mark and still almost reached your MPA a second time near the end - that’s tough to do! Well done! Because of the pacing, notice how high your difficulty score was - that’s the hatched line in background.
The closer MPA & your power are, the faster difficulty score will shoot up. That’s why going out too hard is very punishing: by going out too hard, you pull your MPA down quickly, so you need to either push through (extremely challenging & requires mental toughness) or you ease up and partially allow MPA to recover, at the expense of a longer/slower finish time.
There was a brutal headwind on the out leg, so tough in my naivety I lit every match in the box thinking the tailwind would get me back home, so if the second part of the ride shows anything like recovery it was a helping hand from mother nature.
Another issue was because the setting sun was so low in the sky I didn’t have my reading glasses on so couldn’t read my garmin you couldn’t make this stuff up
so as you can imagine I drained myself in the first 2 miles 
) and it helped me pace to a near-Breakthrough. Different duration than your 10-mile TT, but the pacing principles are very similar. Ideally, you see a slow, gradual decline in MPA over the course of the effort, and that MPA comes down to your power output near the end of your TT:
in my naivety I lit every match in the box thinking the tailwind would get me back home, so if the second part of the ride shows anything like recovery it was a helping hand from mother nature.
you couldn’t make this stuff up