u/puketaha

Anyone done THE ROC Wales or THE ROC England?

And for anyone wondering what this is about - https://www.theroc.com/

What do you wish you'd known beforehand?

I’m booked to do THE ROC Wales and ROC England (not sure on ROC Scotland as it will probably be miserable weather).

I would really like to hear from people who have actually raced one — especially anyone who has done both.

I’ve read through the ROC course information and race tips, but I’m interested in the stuff you only really discover on race day.

How did you find:

• how did you train for the bike after the mountain run?
• How did you find the mountain run — particularly the technical sections and the descent?
• Bike gearing - Did you wish you'd gone easier/lower?
• Pacing the first bike knowing you’ve got Snowdon/Scafell Pike and another bike leg afterwards?
• Trail shoes vs something more lightweight, and what did you leave in T2 for the final run?
• Nutrition — particularly eating enough before and during the mountain section?
• Bike 2 after the mountain. Were your legs completely different from what you expected?
• Weather/kit choices and anything you carried that turned out to be essential or completely unnecessary?
• Would you recommend doing a recce of the mountain route beforehand?
• Anything about the transitions or race logistics that caught you out?

For anyone who has done both Wales and England, which did you find harder and why? The England mountain section is longer, while Wales looks like a steeper, more concentrated climb with the technical section near the Snowdon summit, so I’m interested in how different they actually feel on race day.

Finally, what would you change in your training if you were doing it again? More climbing, technical descending, long bricks, hill work on the bike, or just more time on your feet?

Any advice appreciated — especially the little things you don't find in the race manual!

Thank you 😄

How often do you update your HR zones / thresholds as you get fitter?

I’ve been thinking about this for a while and would be interested to know what other people actually do.

As fitness improves we can often produce more power or run faster for the same heart rate — or see a lower HR for an effort that used to be harder.

That got me wondering how often people actually revisit the HR zones and thresholds they have set in Garmin and TrainingPeaks.

I know the old 220 - age max-HR calculation exists, but it seems far too generic, particularly once you’ve been training for years and as you get older. I’m thinking lactate-threshold HR and sport-specific zones are probably much more useful but another question then appears on how can you get these without spending a fortune?

The thing that got me thinking about it again was a recent health check. My blood pressure was excellent, but when the doctor saw my resting heart rate he immediately arranged an ECG. I tried explaining that the reading was actually slightly higher than my normal resting HR over the last year.

I had the ECG, another doctor reviewed it and I was told everything looked fine.

It made me realise how far my resting and training HR numbers have moved away from what general population figures suggest.

So for those who train with tools like Garmin/TrainingPeaks/other:

How often do you retest your HR threshold and update your zones?

Do you mainly use HR, or have you moved towards power for the bike and pace/power for running because it gives you a better picture of training load?