Introducing Cat Allen, an avid Zwifter and VeloViewer user, and at the time of writing the only woman to have completed all Zwift Insider routes. This amazing feat is no accident and takes a lot of determination and dedication.
Cat’s commitment to indoor training is inspiring, and she first made headlines in 2024 when she hit the 300,000 km mark on Zwift, again the first woman to do so.
As an avid VeloViewer user we were keen to find out how Cat uses our platform to assist with her training and whether her activity focus has shifted over the last two years.
When did you first start using VeloViewer and how does it assist with your training?
I started using VeloViewer around 2018 /2019 when I started using Zwift because the route hunter leaderboard was launched. This provided massive motivation for me to complete all the routes and try and do them as fast as I could. VeloViewer is so helpful because I can see in one place all my efforts, my fastest times, other people’s fastest times, and what I need to do to move up the ranks.
What are your favourite VeloViewer features, and how do you use the platform to assist with your performance goals?
Zwift Insider leaderboard
This was the prime reason I joined VeloViewer, and whilst I have done all the routes, I still try and better my times on routes to increase my points! So I am checking in on this regularly.
I am currently sitting in third, and the ladies in first and second place are so strong, but it does give me huge motivation to keep trying to better my times on certain courses, and see if I can increase my point score even though I’ll never actually catch them! I also have a couple of male friends in the overall leaderboard, one who is ahead of me and one who is behind and they like to use me as their motivation to keep pushing on.
The Climb Portal Leaderboard
I love this. I love climbing and was so excited when this was launched, this motivated me to have a go at every climb portal and go hard to get a competitive climb time.
My favourite portals are the longer climbs of around 40 minutes plus. I find this is where I am at my best. I did like Mount Fuji but I found Mount Hamilton really hard because it was so long!
Infographic – VeloViewer Year Wrapped
This is the best resource – getting to the end of the year and being able to create my end of year infographic to sum up what I have done. It reminds me of what an awesome year I have had and that I should be proud.
My 2024 and 2025 infographics show the progression and switch in my training focus:
2024 was definitely more about distance on the bike and getting some running miles in the legs after on and off years of running injuries. The year culminated in a 500 km ride for charity, my longest ever ride!
2025 was more about keeping some distance on the bike but upping my running kilometres and focusing on elevation when riding, so you’ll see there’s quite a difference between the elevation in 2024 and 2025. I realised that actually I get a lot of pleasure out of climbing instead of just chasing distance, I wanted to ensure that I also did the climbing that I love.
Activities & Summary Page
Of course these are my go to for drilling down into an activity and viewing my athletic history. The amount of information available is phenomenal. The Summary page also holds a huge amount of data and the yearly comparison charts are fascinating and clear markers of progression.
This example distance over time chart highlights from 2001 to 2018 I mainly focused on my running and after a persistent running injury I turned to the indoor trainer in 2017. I progressed to Zwift in January 2018, and you can see what happened from my progression chart in terms of my indoor cycling kilometres! I literally became addicted to Zwift after my first ride and I’ve never looked back. I still love it and I still ride lots but I do still love my running as my number one passion. Unfortunately my body sometimes disagrees and doesn’t allow me to do what I want to do.
Exploration Map
This is a definite favourite as the map shows me everywhere I have run and ridden around the world. I will look at a course and reminisce – it just keeps me motivated to carry on enjoying an active life. It also reminds me of how I have been lucky enough to travel and explore.
In an ideal world where I didn’t have a full-time job and family commitments, I’d love to run in Paris and Boston. Also I lived in Australia for 11 years but the first 8 years that I was there, there was no Strava so a lot of fantastic places that I ran are not mapped so maybe I’ll have to go back and do all those.
As the top female in the Zwift Insider leaderboards, and the only woman to have completed all 297 routes, what is your focus for this year, and what challenges have you set for yourself?
My focus for 2026 has been about mixing things up a bit. Each year I sit down and look at what I did the year before and what I would like to achieve in the coming year, so this year I focused on a higher elevation target, a slightly lower riding distance, and a slightly higher running distance, but also incorporating yoga and strength training. I started yoga in 2023 and regained strength training a few months ago having not done it for years. In a past life I was once a Personal Trainer so I know how important it is to incorporate strength into my routine as I get older.
As a result I set five goals for the year:
Ride 42,000km
Climb 375,000m
Run 1700km
Yoga practice 100 hours
Strength train 50 hours
I also have sub goals to ride every new route and rebel route on Zwift.
What would an average training week look like, do you set yourself daily targets?
I train every day and given I have a yearly target that then breaks down into a rough weekly target.
So for Zwift it’s around 900 km of cycling and around 9000 m of climbing. For running I run 4 to 5 days a week depending on mileage goals for that week, but I typically hit between 40 to 50 km. I would like to do another marathon subject in my body agreeing so this mileage may change later this year. I also do four sessions of yoga a week and two sessions of strength training. I squeeze this around my full-time job and family.
How does the VeloViewer data help to motivate you to keep activity levels high?
I’m never gonna be the fastest or win any races so I like to challenge myself to just complete all the routes and do them as fast as I can and be one of the 1st to be complete them all. So I’m constantly checking to update my data and to see if there are any new rebel routes or new routes added, and then updating any new times that I’ve achieved on courses.
To connect your Strava data to VeloViewer, and access the features Cat refers to, simply click here.