Week 10 OS
Did Thursdays VO2 bike workout. Decided to eleminate the 2 minute rest period for this workout, so did 20 X 30"/30" consecutively.
Kept all intervals between 125-130% and all rests btween 60-70% Final 30 min at 95% followed by a 28 min brick. Legs pretty tired right now, looking forward to an easy swim and good stretch tomorrow.
How are you guys finding the VO2 workouts compared to the lactate intervals?
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I'm finding the VO2 workouts killer but realize now that might be because I was doing them incorrectly. I haven't had as much time as I'd like to dig into it yet on the forums and guides so any input would be welcome.
I misread (or mis-remembered) the workout and instead of doing the 30" at 120% of FTP, I've been doing them basically as hard as I can (typically 150-170% of FTP with peaks even higher). Is that good or bad? I assume this is getting totally anaerobic but the repeats are making it aerobic as well (and thus raising my VO2). The discussion thus far has been about modifying the VO2 workouts but only about increasing the interval length, not the intensities. What are your thoughts? If I can push harder, should I? Or is it counter productive to what RnP are aiming for? At the end, I'm totally spent so I'm making sure to get enough rest, etc. too.
Thanks
Paul, mind if I barge into the Jan OS? Yeah, don't do them much above 120%, it will prove to be counter productive, and burn you out.
Modifying length of intervals is ok if you can maintain the 120%. Don't kill yourself with 150-170%, save that for sprinting for town lines with your riding buds.
Dave
@ Paul, You really need stay in that 120% vicinity to get the VO2 max benefit. That is exactly why I changed my last 2 workouts- Tuesday did 4 X 2.5/2.5 ( total set is still 5 minutes as w/ 5 X 30"/30' s but just a longer interval) and Thursday eliminated 2 min rest and did all 30'/30' s in a row.
I made that change because I was pushing in excess of 160% (Like you) with the scheduled 30/30's. With the change I made, I had to stay at 120% to physically be able to complete the workout.
The purpose of staying at 120% as well as staying with your Vdot paces ( even though you feel you could go harder) is 3 fold: 1) to get the physiological benefit 2) avoid getting burnt out or frying yourself to the point you can not recover for the next workout 3) to avoid injury.
Hope this helps.
Thank you both for your feedback on this. I did go ahead and modify the VO2 workouts and am able to maintain the 120-130% range pretty consistently as 1' on/1' off. The recovery minute is right around 60-65% as required. This is certainly giving me a heck of a workout but shouldn't risk burnout as you warned. Is the 2' rest between sets required? I'm able to do 20 straight (instead of 5 x 4 with 2' in between), but should I? Bob, I assume it's ok since I saw that you do yours consecutively too. Any drawbacks besides increasing fatigue?
As for keeping "on pace", I'm finding that keeping a close eye on cadence is really helping narrow the wattage range.
As for the VO2 runs, they are *hard* - especially on a treadmill! Oh man, 400-800 intervals are such a workout.
Thanks again
Hammered through the 30/30's tonight and felt pretty good - even completed them in aero position which was a first for me as I typically get very uncomfortable in aero while on the trainer.
did a fast paced 20km group run through the trails with lots of hills and it was like a joke! Was my longest run I've done this entire outseason but from doing all the intervals and the last couple weeks at "ballz out" interval pace - the 20km felt fantastic
Catch up later in the week folks!
T.
@ Paul No problem not doing the 2' rest as long as you can maintain close to that 120% for the last few reps. Also by not doing the 2' rest makes the final time at 85% longer which is a good thing.
I've done the speed work once on the treadmill, hated it !! Yes it is very hard, but I also felt I was on the verge of injuring myself. I will do everything in my power to stay on the track. When I was talking about "pace" in a prior post I was talking about with running, not on the bike. In other words if your Vdot calls for you to do mile repeats at 7:00, but you push them and do 6:45's, don't that is where you can get yourself in trouble. Been there done that, got hurt.
Nice work !!!
So, I have a question along the same lines regarding making changes to the 30/30 sessions. I have a half ironman race, NOLA 70.3, in mid April, and the weather has not allowed me to capitalize on outdoor riding options for the weekends yet. I am a little anxious at this point...even though I know there is plenty of time to get miles in coming soon.
So, here is the question. Should I lenghten the 30/30s to 1/1 as others have discussed below, OR, should I get through them as they are slated on the workouts and then rack up as much z3 time as I can inside the designated workout durations?
Thanks
@ Stephen the question on whether to change up the 30"/30"s has really nothing to do with the remaining time at zone 3 because the duration of the Vo2 max workouts do not change just the individual interval time changes. In other words this Tiuesdays workout called for 5 ( 5 X 30"/30") which is basically 25 minutes of VO2 max work. I did 5 X 2.5'/2.5' which is 25 minutes of VO2 max work. Then both workouts would have 30' @ 85 %
If you wanted to do 1'/1' s you just set it up so you do 24-25 minutes of work.
The question on whether or not to change the interval length has to do with your ability to hold the prescribed 120%. In other words if doing the 30/30's you are pushing way over the 120% or you are doing the 120% and it feels easy, then it is appropriate to go up to 1/1's. And the same goes for 1/1's If they are easy then go to 2/2's or 2.5/2.5
The key is to keep all the on internals at 120% and all the rest between 60-72% And you should suffer greatly while doing it. If either is not happening, that is when it is time to change the interval length.
Hope this helps.
OOOO - I see. So, the entire VO2 max portion should remain the same in duration, with the only part up for discussion being the way the work is done inside that 25 min timeframe. That makes a lot of sense.
Thanks!
One quick question about the run intervals. When it says "full recovery in between" does that mean that I can drop to a very slow (sub Z1) pace, or even walk a bit? This is really hard work but I'm seeing the results too... Work Works!
Thanks to all for your help and encouragement. Just wish I could stay aero like Tavis.. ;-) One step at a time...
@ Paul, full recovery means you do whatever it takes to get ready for the next interval. Typically if you are doing a 200 then jog easily for 200, if you are doing a 400 then go at what ever pace you need to for 400m to be ready to go again.
If you need to stop, throw up, walk a little that's ok too. With the running workouts it's all about the work, no set pace for recovery.
re: run intervals, if you're doing them at the track, I just do a slow trot for a lap before hitting the next interval. Full Recovery should be "full recovery" - or at least as much recovery as needed in order to hit the next interval hard and give 'er. The really hard work pays off for SURE - I hammered my intervals last night and the remainder felt SO easy on the way home compared to the barf-fest during the intervals.
ha, just get the work done - aero position / body adaptation will come and it's a lot easier to maintain aero on the road instead of the trainer (at least for me it is.) Trying to do more in aero just to get used to it early...
Everyone enjoy the day off tomorrow... looks like we've all earned it.