by Coach Paul Warloski
Three Things to Know About Gravel Nationals 2025
1. Even an A Race Can Go Sideways — and Still Be Valuable
Despite not having the result I trained for, Gravel Nationals was still a meaningful experience, offering challenge, camaraderie, and perspective. Success isn’t always measured by a finish place.
2. Fatigue and HRV Tracking Matter
Lingering fatigue showed up both in how I felt and in my HRV4Training data. HRV proved to be a useful indicator of readiness and recovery, reinforcing the importance of listening to both metrics and body signals.
3. Learning Fuels Future Growth
Unclear causes of fatigue (illness, overreaching, and/or under-fueling) highlight the need for better nutrition strategies, consistent threshold/tempo training, and medical check-ins. The reflection process turns disappointment into motivation for smarter training and redemption next year.
Gravel Nationals 2025 Didn’t Follow the Script
Sometimes your priority races don’t go as well as you hoped.
But those races can still be a ton of fun and a great challenge.
I was able to finish the 2025 Gravel Nationals race in La Crescent, MN, on Saturday.
That is about as much as I can say in terms of results.
To be honest, I had dreamed of more.
But I went as hard as I could, climbing five major hills with 1,650 meters of elevation.
It was a great course, and truly one for nationals.
Gravel Nationals was A Race
I have been preparing for the Gravel Nationals race all year.
It was my A race for the season.
I will fully admit I had aspirations of doing well, not winning but being in the front group.
And with a couple of pretty good races in May and June, I felt like I had a decent shot at putting together a good race.
The training with Athletica was solid, and I was feeling good.
Preparation Hits a Road Block
However, the preparation in the last four or five weeks was not at all what I had hoped for.
After the Core 4 (August 16) and Coon Fork (August 23) races, we planned to take a recovery week, and then get back to the training as we tapered and peaked for nationals.
However, something went wrong.
At the two races, I felt a lot of fatigue.
I hit several weeks in a row where I felt tired and sluggish.
My legs did not have much in them.
I just wanted to nap and sleep more.
HRV was Yellow
I use HRV4Training every morning to monitor my training readiness.
During this time, the HRV took a nose dive that correlated closely with my feelings of fatigue.
The HRV was in yellow for three weeks, which is not ideal leading up to one’s A race.
Essentially, HRV measures the space between heartbeats, and that space has been correlated to training readiness.
If you’re green, you’re good to do higher intensity training.
If you’re yellow, you should limit the intensity and do easy days.
If you’re red, you should take the day off.
I took days off, did easy rides, and kept moving, depending on how I was feeling.
In this case, the HRV was closely related to how I felt.
Cause of Fatigue Unknown
I’m guessing I had some cold or illness that lingered in the background.
Or I may have dug more deeply at Core4 and Coon Fork than I thought, and was in a bit of an overreach with my fitness.
Or maybe, and I suspect this was a big part of it, I wasn’t fueled correctly.
At this point, it doesn’t matter.
I did what I could.
When the HRV was green, I did harder training but with the fatigue, kept it easy.
On the yellow days, I did short or moderate distance rides.
The Course was Much Better Than I Expected
I will also acknowledge that the pre-event discussion about the race freaked me out a little.
The chatter was all about the long climbs that were challenging with loose gravel and long gradients.
With the exception of one muddy double track, the gravel was amazing.
Mostly dirt roads with some gravel thrown in.
Even the hills were in great shape.
Some of the best moments, and a perk of getting dropped from the main group, were looking at the morning clouds hanging in the hills right after the rain that fell as we started.
Cramping and New Friends
I was cramping in my left quad and right hamstrings.
Cramping usually means you’re pushing your muscles so hard that they, in a sense, rebel and contract.
I rode the last half of the race with Dennis, a rider from Michigan.
We paced each other until he finally distanced me at the end when I was struggling up the last climb with the cramps.
I’m also pleased with how my athletes did at nationals, with all of them finishing top 20 in their age groups.
There’s Always Next Year
I’m going to check in with a doctor to get some blood work done, just in case.
I’m also going to work with someone to dial in my nutrition.
And I want to follow the Athletica training plan more closely, particularly with the threshold and tempo workouts, which will increase my power thresholds.
This is a race I definitely want to come back to and get a little redemption in.
Maybe I’ll race a little less next year and train more.
I’m pleased with how the year went.
I had some fun races, met some great people, and built up some solid fitness.
Plus, we raised nearly $2,000 for the pediatric heart wing at Children’s Hospital.
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Paul Warloski is a:
- USA Cycling Level 1 Advanced Certified Coach
- RRCA Running Coach
- Training Peaks Level 2 Coach
- RYT-200 Yoga Instructor
- Certified Personal Trainer
- Certified Nutrition Advisor
