If you're doing these on a CompuTrainer, you *could* set a constant resistance, and then you'd *have* to work at a steady effort level. That;'s "Erg mode", I think (hit F2 to enter)? Course, then you'd have to raise and lower the resistance every 90 sec via the + & - buttons, unless you have a program to feed the intervals into the CT.
But it sounds like you're getting the knack of working steady
Did the Vo2 intervals this morning. I have to say I am trying to be wise about the whole "don't overachieve" protocol, but it looks like my IF #s are consistently lower than others as I am just using the numbers from my test as dictated by TR. I would say that my body is feeling the work, but my legs are not "trashed" at the end of each workout. When I sit down at the end of the day or if I can fit it in during the day, I feel much more need to foam roll, stretch, jump in the hot tub, etc. than in previous seasons, but am I working hard enough? I know that this is a loaded question, and while I have some data, I do not have the skills (yet) nor the years of tracking it to make an accurate assessment. I guess I am looking for advice on whether I need to kick it up a notch or remain steady and let the work do its work from those of you who have more experience, and also what is the line between putting in more work vs. overachieving that I will pay for later. Thanks in advance.
@ Susan ... you said, "When I sit down at the end of the day or if I can fit it in during the day, I feel much more need to foam roll, stretch, jump in the hot tub, etc. than in previous seasons, but am I working hard enough?" And your VO2 intervals are all within the range of 1.1-1.2 IF
Both of those indicate you are working hard enough. The best measure of that will come when you re-test, and find that your FTP has increased. Remember, those instructions for the VO2 intervals state, "These are Vo2 sets done at your Vo2 power, Z5 heart rate, or Very Hard effort." Z5 is a range, from 110-120% of FTP. Any work within that range done for the interval duration and frequency in the plans, should be sufficient for producing a training effect.
In my experience, if you want to experience "over-achieving", save it for the last VO2 interval (or maybe the last two). That should be enough to leave you feeling "trashed", but not enough to inhibit your ability to do next week's workouts. And if you *can't* crack 1.2 IF for that last interval, then you certainly have been working hard enough.
We all have different "skill sets" when it comes to cycling. Some people are great at producing short bursts of power; others excel at going fairly hard for long periods of time. Depends on things like muscle make-up, hormonal environment (i.e., male vs female), body size and mechanics, mental focus, etc. It sounds like you are doing just fine, and have a string drive to improve. Both should serve you well as you get into race specific training, and racing itself.
Saturday bike wko done. Added a 20' warmup .75-.85 and a few spin ups between the FTP and ABP work. Trying not to chase the numbers- my mantra this year is 'train, don't strain'.
@ Susan not much to add on to Al's advice. At stated you are in the Vo2 range. For me I know I am getting stronger when I can put together the intervals with the easiest at the beginning and keep building IF throughout the set. You did bust out the last one at 1.29.
If you are feeling good at the start of the bike know that you are going to go for 1.15-1.2 on all the intervals maybe with the last 1 or 2 overachieving. For my Thursday Vo2 set I did the first interval the easiest or right around my target. This was to see how I was feeling/how the body was responding then picked it up from there.
Saturday workout is done, another strong one. One more week and believe will retest at the start of week 5 before going on a week of holiday's with no bike. Feb 5-12. Never retested off the OS schedule. As I recall some advice from Coach P in the past about testing before the holiday, this my current plan. Any advice on this one please go to this thread in the general discussion:
Bike work done with 107 TSS. Watched Kill Bill for the first time ever while biking. OK movie, not sure why it was so critically acclaimed. Eminently forgettable, but I have to watch Vol II just to see the end.
Good work everyone. Keep up the steady effort and you will see improvements over the OS.
I took it easy today for three reasons. First, I've been fighting a cold all week & I didn't see any reason to dig myself into a fatigue hole in only the 3rd week of OS. Second, on Thursday I had my computrainer class, and I strained my left knee. We were doing 6 x 3' (4') at 1.1 IF (290 watts for me) @ 60 rpms. This simulates climbing in a big gear. On the 5th interval, I began to feel a slight pain on the inside of my left knee, but it went away on the rest phase (135 watts). It came back on the last interval. I went home and iced the knee. Rested and iced it yesterday and it felt ok. Today I rode the trainer for 60' @ 90 rpms but never pushed above 180 watts (Z1), and it felt fine. then ran 3 miles @ 8:45 (Z1) and it still felt okay. so I'm optimistic I just have to stay away from big gears @ low rpms. Third, tomorrow I'm doing charity stair climb (80 flights) event, and we'll see how the knee feels.
FTP increase today for me. 260. Getting close to last years FTP. Did the first two stages of the Tour of Sufferlandia. Rubber Glove is one of my favs but Sufferfest ISLAGIATT about put me in the coffin. Looking for a nice run tomorrow.
@Paul-my family loved the Kill Bill Series-but they love anything Tarentino. I am halfway into House of Cards myself-pretty entertaining. Game of Thrones is next
@Matt and Paul-I am with you-I always do great on the bric run after the bike-fully warmed up.
Todays bike numbers: 2z12 @ 1.04, 1.04; 2z15 @ .85 (entirely aero), .9. As I said, had a great run-4 miles negative split: z2, z3, z4, sub z4. It is a gorgeous day-64 degrees and sunny at run time (no precipitation now for month of January-going to be a brutal fire season this summer)
@ Bruce, I can't do "big gear work" at all...totally screws up my right knee the minute I go below 80rpm at reasonably high power output. I know a lot of people really value that sort of training but I just can't do it. Best of luck with the race tomorrow...my wife is doing it with two of our girls...my guess is you'll be at home enjoying the day before they start...
@ Matt- strange thing is that I've done numerous workouts like this since Nov @ Vision Quest and never had this problem before. But now I think I'll stay away from the low rpm high watt workouts.
My team doesn't start the Aon building climb until noon, so maybe I'll see Kate there. How is your ankle?
Didn't follow the JOS workout today. My husband and I did a biking time trial at a local bike shop. Great energy there. I was able to get 3rd in my age group (I lost a little focus and should have done better) and my husband came in 1st. Looks like we are starting the year on the right path. It's good to be back into regular work outs after the holidays. I'm just struggling balancing downhill skiing and the training, but happy to be exercising.
Woke up with a head cold, and decided that as long as was just in head to carry on even though didn't feel great. Bike workout not my best barely missed first interval and one of the sweet spots but happy I did the work. The 40min run was much better actually was better pace wise than prescribed and heart rate was in right zone (Z2 out and Z3 back which seems like progress
@ Carl...what was that? 20 min @ 120% FTP?! Ouch.... not sure how that's even possible LOL.
OK this Polar whatever.... closed roads and closed Gym and (-)WTF temps are getting OLD for this AZ boy stuck in NJ. Again No Brick run to follow.....gerrr.
Ride was smooth.... Seems like the Fudged FTP is maybe a tad low but better than using the lower # form the 20 min test.
Standard EN warm-up. Held the Z3 on high side 170w to make up for not quite holding to the 3 min standing (had to sit and push the Big/11 the last 30 sec) @65rpm
Z4=190-200, Z3=160-170, Z2=140-150
2x10'Z4 200w/(144BPMAve/149Max), 202w/(145/152max) both HRs climbing but felt "OK" and RPE correct for Zone.
2x15'Z3 165w/(134/144max), 165w/(133/140max) both HRs actually quite stable w/o drift using SM/13 @ 85-88rpm Feels Right for Zone
To round out the 2 hrs after the 10min trainer WU I decided to see how splitting the difference between Z2 and Z3 felt like and its effect on HR etc.
25' @156w ave 129HR ave @ 90RPM -actually only 0.5 mph slower than the Z3 efforts but definitely felt more like Z2...hmmmm what a 4 w difference makes....
Rather than the prescribed OS wko I did an FTP test today as I've been feeling a lot stronger for the last few wko's on the bike. I've tried the 5/20 testing method a couple times and I've failed miserably. My legs just feel toasted after that 5' interval. So I go with the 2X20(2) method. My FTP went from 264 to 288. (This is in the neighborhood of my FTP back in November before I started slacking off.) I think I got every watt I could.
In WKO it broke down as: Duration: 42:06 Work: 723 kJ TSS: 75.8 (intensity factor 1.039) Norm Power: 288 VI: 1.01 Min Max Avg Power: 68 402 286 watts Heart Rate: 128 180 168 bpm Cadence: 44 101 88 rpm
@ Bruce, thanks for asking...actually the ankle feels like it really turned a corner in the past few days. It's hard to tell though, because I'm in a walking boot that takes all the weight off it and haven't really "tested" it at all (and don't plan to). Coincidentally I just got a note from the doctor saying I can resume cycling if there is no discomfort and if I "stay seated". But given the nature of the injury and the input I've received from several sources I plan to play this VERY conservatively and will only resume cycling if I feel nothing abnormal at all...otherwise I'll take another full week. Given the positive forward process and the fact that I've already trashed the front end of my season, I don't see much harm at all in waiting another week. I'll test it tomorrow or Monday on the bike and if it feels okay I'll do the Tuesday OS workout...probably re-starting at week #2...
FINALLY got my hand me down plasma able to mirror my mac air for the ride yesterday (woo hooooo) after too many hours fighting with something that should have been easy! So the ride was great...a big giant whip with my numbers and Kona 2012 to watch for inspiration! So cool to see Woody featured!
My sets were good, and my guestimate FTP seems spot on. The run afterwards was not easy, and I adjusted my paces down a bit. (still haven't really run tested) by my hr was in the proper zones, that's for sure!
Saturday ride was fairly tough. Lasted about 1.5 hours. Hit the high-end of my numbers, so was amped. Legs felt dead afterwards. Thankfully no run after this one due to Friday AM run wko.
2 x 12' (4') @ z4 -- 205watts (IF 1.01) for both 2 x 15' (2') @ z3 -- 175watts (IF 0.86) for both
Comments
If you're doing these on a CompuTrainer, you *could* set a constant resistance, and then you'd *have* to work at a steady effort level. That;'s "Erg mode", I think (hit F2 to enter)? Course, then you'd have to raise and lower the resistance every 90 sec via the + & - buttons, unless you have a program to feed the intervals into the CT.
But it sounds like you're getting the knack of working steady
The ride was 2x10'@FTP then 2x15'@85%. Here are the numbers:
Overall: 1:17; IF 0.85
Interval 1: IF 0.99
Interval 2: IF 0.99
SS1: IF 0.85
SS2: IF 0.85
Did the Vo2 intervals this morning. I have to say I am trying to be wise about the whole "don't overachieve" protocol, but it looks like my IF #s are consistently lower than others as I am just using the numbers from my test as dictated by TR. I would say that my body is feeling the work, but my legs are not "trashed" at the end of each workout. When I sit down at the end of the day or if I can fit it in during the day, I feel much more need to foam roll, stretch, jump in the hot tub, etc. than in previous seasons, but am I working hard enough? I know that this is a loaded question, and while I have some data, I do not have the skills (yet) nor the years of tracking it to make an accurate assessment. I guess I am looking for advice on whether I need to kick it up a notch or remain steady and let the work do its work from those of you who have more experience, and also what is the line between putting in more work vs. overachieving that I will pay for later. Thanks in advance.
Vo2 Interval IFs: 1.16, 1.12, 1.12, 1.15, 1.13, 1.17, 1.29 SS IF: .85
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/435320874
@ Susan ... you said, "When I sit down at the end of the day or if I can fit it in during the day, I feel much more need to foam roll, stretch, jump in the hot tub, etc. than in previous seasons, but am I working hard enough?" And your VO2 intervals are all within the range of 1.1-1.2 IF
Both of those indicate you are working hard enough. The best measure of that will come when you re-test, and find that your FTP has increased. Remember, those instructions for the VO2 intervals state, "These are Vo2 sets done at your Vo2 power, Z5 heart rate, or Very Hard effort." Z5 is a range, from 110-120% of FTP. Any work within that range done for the interval duration and frequency in the plans, should be sufficient for producing a training effect.
In my experience, if you want to experience "over-achieving", save it for the last VO2 interval (or maybe the last two). That should be enough to leave you feeling "trashed", but not enough to inhibit your ability to do next week's workouts. And if you *can't* crack 1.2 IF for that last interval, then you certainly have been working hard enough.
We all have different "skill sets" when it comes to cycling. Some people are great at producing short bursts of power; others excel at going fairly hard for long periods of time. Depends on things like muscle make-up, hormonal environment (i.e., male vs female), body size and mechanics, mental focus, etc. It sounds like you are doing just fine, and have a string drive to improve. Both should serve you well as you get into race specific training, and racing itself.
Saturday bike wko done. Added a 20' warmup .75-.85 and a few spin ups between the FTP and ABP work. Trying not to chase the numbers- my mantra this year is 'train, don't strain'.
12' / .98IF/ cad 86
12' / 1.0IF/ cad 88
15' / .84/ cad 84
15' / .84/ cad 87
1:30:00 total / .84 / 109 TSS
@ Susan not much to add on to Al's advice. At stated you are in the Vo2 range. For me I know I am getting stronger when I can put together the intervals with the easiest at the beginning and keep building IF throughout the set. You did bust out the last one at 1.29.
If you are feeling good at the start of the bike know that you are going to go for 1.15-1.2 on all the intervals maybe with the last 1 or 2 overachieving. For my Thursday Vo2 set I did the first interval the easiest or right around my target. This was to see how I was feeling/how the body was responding then picked it up from there.
Saturday workout is done, another strong one. One more week and believe will retest at the start of week 5 before going on a week of holiday's with no bike. Feb 5-12. Never retested off the OS schedule. As I recall some advice from Coach P in the past about testing before the holiday, this my current plan. Any advice on this one please go to this thread in the general discussion:
http://members.endurancenation.us/F...fault.aspx
Today's numbers: 2X12 1.05; 1.07 2X15 .89; .90 Total 75' @.92
Good work everyone. Keep up the steady effort and you will see improvements over the OS.
I took it easy today for three reasons. First, I've been fighting a cold all week & I didn't see any reason to dig myself into a fatigue hole in only the 3rd week of OS. Second, on Thursday I had my computrainer class, and I strained my left knee. We were doing 6 x 3' (4') at 1.1 IF (290 watts for me) @ 60 rpms. This simulates climbing in a big gear. On the 5th interval, I began to feel a slight pain on the inside of my left knee, but it went away on the rest phase (135 watts). It came back on the last interval. I went home and iced the knee. Rested and iced it yesterday and it felt ok. Today I rode the trainer for 60' @ 90 rpms but never pushed above 180 watts (Z1), and it felt fine. then ran 3 miles @ 8:45 (Z1) and it still felt okay. so I'm optimistic I just have to stay away from big gears @ low rpms. Third, tomorrow I'm doing charity stair climb (80 flights) event, and we'll see how the knee feels.
Carry on troops.
@Matt and Paul-I am with you-I always do great on the bric run after the bike-fully warmed up.
Todays bike numbers: 2z12 @ 1.04, 1.04; 2z15 @ .85 (entirely aero), .9. As I said, had a great run-4 miles negative split: z2, z3, z4, sub z4. It is a gorgeous day-64 degrees and sunny at run time (no precipitation now for month of January-going to be a brutal fire season this summer)
@ Matt- strange thing is that I've done numerous workouts like this since Nov @ Vision Quest and never had this problem before. But now I think I'll stay away from the low rpm high watt workouts.
My team doesn't start the Aon building climb until noon, so maybe I'll see Kate there. How is your ankle?
Didn't follow the JOS workout today. My husband and I did a biking time trial at a local bike shop. Great energy there. I was able to get 3rd in my age group (I lost a little focus and should have done better) and my husband came in 1st. Looks like we are starting the year on the right path. It's good to be back into regular work outs after the holidays. I'm just struggling balancing downhill skiing and the training, but happy to be exercising.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Woke up with a head cold, and decided that as long as was just in head to carry on even though didn't feel great. Bike workout not my best barely missed first interval and one of the sweet spots but happy I did the work. The 40min run was much better actually was better pace wise than prescribed and heart rate was in right zone (Z2 out and Z3 back which seems like progress
Name
Time
kJ(Cal)
TSS
NP
Power
Target
Workout
1:17:00
835
93
195
180
187
Threshold
1
0:10:00
135
16
225
225
229
Threshold
2
0:10:00
145
18
241
242
229
Sweet
Spot 1
0:15:00
171
17
190
190
195
Sweet
Spot 2
0:15:00
180
19
200
200
195
@ Carl...what was that? 20 min @ 120% FTP?! Ouch.... not sure how that's even possible LOL.
OK this Polar whatever.... closed roads and closed Gym and (-)WTF temps are getting OLD for this AZ boy stuck in NJ. Again No Brick run to follow.....gerrr.
Ride was smooth.... Seems like the Fudged FTP is maybe a tad low but better than using the lower # form the 20 min test.
Standard EN warm-up. Held the Z3 on high side 170w to make up for not quite holding to the 3 min standing (had to sit and push the Big/11 the last 30 sec) @65rpm
Z4=190-200, Z3=160-170, Z2=140-150
2x10'Z4 200w/(144BPMAve/149Max), 202w/(145/152max) both HRs climbing but felt "OK" and RPE correct for Zone.
2x15'Z3 165w/(134/144max), 165w/(133/140max) both HRs actually quite stable w/o drift using SM/13 @ 85-88rpm Feels Right for Zone
To round out the 2 hrs after the 10min trainer WU I decided to see how splitting the difference between Z2 and Z3 felt like and its effect on HR etc.
25' @156w ave 129HR ave @ 90RPM -actually only 0.5 mph slower than the Z3 efforts but definitely felt more like Z2...hmmmm what a 4 w difference makes....
I sure hope I can get my run in tomorrow...
@Gordon, it sure looks like you're ready for an FTP bump!
@Bridget, congratulations on the time trial!
Rather than the prescribed OS wko I did an FTP test today as I've been feeling a lot stronger for the last few wko's on the bike. I've tried the 5/20 testing method a couple times and I've failed miserably. My legs just feel toasted after that 5' interval. So I go with the 2X20(2) method. My FTP went from 264 to 288. (This is in the neighborhood of my FTP back in November before I started slacking off.) I think I got every watt I could.
In WKO it broke down as:
Duration: 42:06
Work: 723 kJ
TSS: 75.8 (intensity factor 1.039)
Norm Power: 288
VI: 1.01
Min Max Avg
Power: 68 402 286 watts
Heart Rate: 128 180 168 bpm
Cadence: 44 101 88 rpm
1st 20 minutes NP = 288 1st 5' = 281, 2nd 5' = 291, 3rd 5' = 287, last 5' = 293
2 minute rest interval AP = 175
2nd 20 minutes NP = 293 1st 5' = 288, 2nd 5' = 292, 3rd 5' = 292, last 5' = 300
My sets were good, and my guestimate FTP seems spot on. The run afterwards was not easy, and I adjusted my paces down a bit. (still haven't really run tested) by my hr was in the proper zones, that's for sure!
2 x 12' (4') @ z4 -- 205watts (IF 1.01) for both
2 x 15' (2') @ z3 -- 175watts (IF 0.86) for both