Way to get it done Paul and Kate...and the rest of the EN peeps. Holy VO2 Batman! Pushed it hard this am, and it feels good now that I'm finished. Definitely need a few hours of recovery before my run. Just keep saying that my IM is being sculpted right now.
Man, the ride this AM was tough. Haven't gotten a full night of sleep the past two nights, so maybe this is to blame. Hit my numbers however, so happy to have it in the books!
7 x 2' (2') --- All 7 were at ~251watts (IF 1.236)
I kept the wko at this... no z3 riding. Total ride time was 50'.
Thursday Vo2 work done - 7x1.5 and then sweetspot for 18 minutes; total workout was 1:00. My legs felt surprisingly good after a solid week of work, including up my Sunday long run on Monday.
By the numbers:
Vo2 1: IF 1.18; Power 291 Vo2 2: IF 1.18; Power 291 Vo2 3: IF 1.18; Power 291 Vo2 4: IF 1.17; Power 289 Vo2 5: IF 1.17; Power 290 Vo2 6: IF 1.17; Power 290 Vo2 7: IF 1.17; Power 290 Sweetspot: IF 84; Power 208
Way to get it done everybody! I've been battling an oncoming cold the last few days. I've been pumping the body full of vitamin c and zinc to no avail. The nose was running all day today and then since about lunch it feels like I have this extra pressure built up inside my skull. I figured I would give the ride a chance but there would be no way I could hit 1.2 for the intervals. Wrong. Surprisingly after the warmup and the intervals started I felt stronger than I normally do on Thursdays.
I started to do some Z3 and still felt strong but my left calf started cramping. I figured I wouldn't push it after getting the work part of the ride done and with the cold so I cut it short at about 50 minutes total.
VO2 intervals complete - 7 x 1.5 @ 223 (1.27), 221 (1.26), 223 (1.28), 221 (1.27), 222 (1.27), 221 (1.27), 223 (1.27) finishing with some time at 160 (0.91). TSS = 85 for WKO at NP 162 (0.93). Felt great at the end, so I have a feeling the next test will make me happy...
Another tough day on the bike. It was only about 24 hours after my first workout in over 2 weeks, so I can't expect the improvements to be THAT fast. Again I targeted and hit my old power numbers (targeting ~300 watts with 120% of FTP being 294). But my HR was incredibly high again and it was a pretty brutal workout. I targeted 160 watts for the recoveries but missed it on the last 2 intervals by a few watts. Finished with 14' at a strong z3 but it was tough and my HR was at z4 levels.
Comparing my performance to the identical workout 3 weeks ago shows my power numbers were comparable (actually a smidge higher), but HR off the charts.
Did Thursday's VO2 intervals last night 7 x 1.5 at IF 1.16-1.21 followed by Saturday's FTP ride this morning 8(2) .97, 10(2) .98, 8(2) .98, did the run as a brick so cut it down to 10 out and 10 back...legs were smoked! At the firehouse tomorrow so count that as Friday's rest day! Stretching Sunday's run out to 8 miles (after the mile repeats), got a half mary March 23rd. Have a great week-end. Go Broncos!!!
Good work Matt, Steve and all. @ Matt- you haven't lost a thing. If that ankle heals up, I think your bike will be fine for a spring HIM.
I'm doing the Long Term IM Improvement plan so it hacks the OS. Plan calls for Thursday to be 5 x 5' (5') @110% FTP with rest @ 70% FTP, so for me that's @ 290/185 watts. I did this last night @ my computrainer class. I was able to hold the 290 watts for the first 4 intervals but half way thru #5 the wheels came off the bus and I could barley do 265w (100%). Anyway, I finished with NP 239, IF .9 and VI 1.09. I kept the cadance above 90 the entire way. Best of all, no tenderness in my lf knee like the week before when I was doing high watts and 60 rpms.
Thursday bike ride in the evening after a hard Thursday morning easy run. :-)
Today's main set: 4 x 5'(3') at 110%
Time pressed pretty hard due to a kids concert in the early evening, so as soon as I hit the end of that 4th 5' at 110%, I just stopped. I tell you, getting off the bike, I felt like I had tree trunks for thighs from the blood flow down there... too bad it's not that way in reality! Anyway, it was a good hard workout, if only 40 minutes long.
Power target: 262: actual, 265, 266, 260 (apparent data drop? I didn't stop...), 260
Avg Power: 199 W Max Power: 314 W Max Avg Power (20 min): 216 W Normalized Power (NP): 226 W Intensity Factor (IF): 0.948 Training Stress Score (TSS): 60.1 FTP Setting: 238 W Work: 486 kJ
This is my first OS where I haven't done any overachieving on the bike, but it's also the first OS where I'm really trying to train for a marathon and can't put as much effort onto the bike either. It will be interesting to see if I can test up a few watts in a few weeks or if I'm just "solidifying" my starting FTP. Either way, I'm not complaining; things are going well.
This was one hard Saturday morning. I made it through and was able to put in some Z3 time at the end but geez, Louise... On another note, I think I need to get a straight block cassette for the trainer. In the hard efforts the jumps are too big between gears. Thoughts?
Nice work today Pat! I am over my cold and felt good today during the ride. Plan said 60 minutes but I pushed it out to 90 minutes to get some extra Z3 work.
8(2), 10(2), 12(2) @ 1.02, 1.02, 1.01 plus 34' of Z3 @ .84 The last Z4 interval was a tough one. The first 15' of Z3 work was hard but the gel I took kicked in and I felt a little bounce and finished strong. Gonna take a few hours and then hit the run this afternoon.
@Peter, way to get it done! I have a similar issue on the trainer. I'm fine for the Z4 and Z5 efforts but when it comes to Z3 I can't find a comfortable cadence. I have to choose between very low 80's or mid to high 90's. I'm not a high cadence person so I usually stick with the low 80's. I'm not sure what the answer is.
Thanks, Doug. You've convinced me. Time to visit the LBS. I can do all these long periods of 75 rpm grinds but that probably isn't a good idea all the time. Besides, one of these days I might do a flat course like Princeton 70.3...
Today's bike work was brought to you by the letter "F" -- as in F' that hurt!
I got a new trainer and powermeter this week along with a bike fit, so I decided to do a new FTP test. Since I had botched the test at the beginning of the OS, I was using my FTP from last season. I did the 20 min. Trainerroad test using my Kickr for the power readings. The end result is that my FTP jumped from 247 to 272. I then did the 30 minute right off the bike, and was surprised how good it felt. I guess work works!
Well my ride today was a repeat of the one 3 weeks ago. As with my other workouts this week, the story was "same numbers, higher HR". But that said, I rode the second z4 at IF 1.076 because I couldn't find a the "right gear" and did a whole bunch at low cadence and seeing a lot higher numbers. Also it didn't feel quite as brutal as the other rides this week. I was aero for the most part but did the second 4' of the last z4 as alternating 1' sitting at low cadence and 1' aero at high cadence.
This was a rough week. I thought I was over my cold on tuesday but i felt even worse wed and thur. Plus lots of distractions at work, so the end result was some poor workouts. However this morning I felt the best I have in a week so I decided to re-test.
My first test was the classic going out to hard and a popped and suffered. This time I gradually built up and my power line, HR, and cadence all look perfect. I actaully may have started just a little too conservative, but overall I'm pretty pleases. 16 watt gain in 4 weeks, probably all due to the better pacing, but i felt SOOO much better this time then the first test.
I've been doing mainly VO2 intervals, between 110-120% efforts, now five days in a row, Kind of like the Tour of Sufferlandria. Except I'm doing it all on snow.
I've been skiing, working my thighs to butter, fatiguing myself with a steady diet of fresh powder, steep chutes, and freezing temps. It's snowed nearly three feet since Thursday AM, and since this is the kind of stuff I live for, I have neglected any S/B/R since Monday. But I sure feel just as tired in my legs and overall energy, as if I were still doing OS work. We'll see what happens when I test again a week from Monday.
"Pix or it didn't happen" - This looks like the ski slope, but it's right outside my door. We live on the sunny side of the valley, and usually have little to no snow. But our house is almost buried today.
I'm definitely over my cold and had a great ride this morning. 1.05 1.04 1.06
The 12' on the end was tough, but I'm pretty sure my FTP is coming back in a hurry.
I'm working on staying aero as much as possible for these intervals, and probably stayer aero for 80%+ of the intervals.
Since it is "warm" I did the 30 min run with one of the dogs. He slows things down, but it is nice to get him some exercise too.
I was also able to get a 4 mile walk in with the dogs later in the day, so as I write this I'm surrounded by a family that is worn out from our first nice day in weeks.
Life has caused me to shuffle the bike rides a bit this past week (no running...still...but I'm paying now, so I don't pay later...)
Tuesday's FTP ride went well:
w/u12thmin145
15min.985 / 158 / 164
15min1.02 / 164 / 172
Had to push VO2 to friday. My plan was to build through all seven of the 2min sets:
w/u 12thmin147
VO2 - 11.10 / 151/ 162
21.13 / 158 / 168
31.15 / 163 / 172
41.17 / 163 / 172
51.2 / 164 / 175
61.21 / 165 / 176
The weather was good enough yesterday to get outside, so I had to take advantage of it. Post-ride analysis showed a moderate discrepancy between what my Joule 2.0 calculated for the 10min interval and what WKO came up with -- on the bike I had a PNorm of 269, yet WKO came up with 265. WKO also came up with a VI of 0.99 for that interval. While I know I can ride fairly steady (VI of 1.0 for intervals 1 and 3, I am suspect of 0.99 when riding outdoors.
w/u 12th min145
8min.983 / 156 / 164VI of 1.00
10min1.00 / 162 / 170VI of 0.99 (ummmm, don't believe this one....)
12min.983 / 164 / 170VI of 1.00
Very happy with the week. Especially yesterday's ride with only a 24-hr rest from the 7x2min VO2 ride the day prior.
I'm loving to see all the great work being done here!
Without any running in the near future and probably a long road to recovery for my ankle, I'm adding a fourth bike to the OS on Sunday each week. The goal is to get the HR up but not to crush it and undermine the quality bike workouts on Tues/Thurs/Sat. As such, my gameplan is a 60' ride with the MS being 45' ABP. Today I broke up the ABP into 2x22.5'(1'). I did the first half in the bars at very high cadence (just because of how the gearing worked out…I needed 97-98rpm to hit the middle of z3). Then the second interval I went to the next higher gear sitting up and ended up with an IF in low z4 just because I didn't want to have my cadence uncomfortably low in the 80's. In any case I felt good and the workout didn't really feel too hard at all.
My sympathies to football fans. I just got off 2 hrs 4 mins on the drainer watching Kill Bill vol.2 and checked the score. 43 - 8! So glad I didn't waste any time watching this mismatch.
Ended up skipping Thursday's ride due to not feeling well so took the night as rest and got in some great sleep. Got in my Saturday ride and felt really strong on the FTP numbers. I am finding the consistency and am really liking the effort that I am putting in to this OS, and the effort that I am putting into myself and my goals.
Tough ride on Saturday (Brick run even more so...). Hit the high-end of my numbers, but it was taxing. Trying to spend more and more time in aerobars. At the moment, I'm only spending half the time in the aeros... need to work on this.
52' Total with WU and WD
8' (2') -- z4 / 206 / IF 1.015 10' (2') -- z4 / 206 / IF 1.015 12' (2') -- z4 / 206 / IF 1.015
(+ 40' out back brick run... very tough, maybe more mentally tough than physically)
Comments
Holy VO2 Batman! Pushed it hard this am, and it feels good now that I'm finished. Definitely need a few hours of recovery before my run. Just keep saying that my IM is being sculpted right now.
7 x 2' (2') --- All 7 were at ~251watts (IF 1.236)
I kept the wko at this... no z3 riding. Total ride time was 50'.
By the numbers:
Vo2 1: IF 1.18; Power 291
Vo2 2: IF 1.18; Power 291
Vo2 3: IF 1.18; Power 291
Vo2 4: IF 1.17; Power 289
Vo2 5: IF 1.17; Power 290
Vo2 6: IF 1.17; Power 290
Vo2 7: IF 1.17; Power 290
Sweetspot: IF 84; Power 208
7 X 2(2) @ 1.23, 1.24, 1.24, 1.24, 1.23, 1.24, 1.25
I started to do some Z3 and still felt strong but my left calf started cramping. I figured I wouldn't push it after getting the work part of the ride done and with the cold so I cut it short at about 50 minutes total.
Entire workout (209 watts):
Duration: 54:04
Work: 678 kJ
TSS: 75.6 (intensity factor 0.92)
Norm Power: 265
VI: 1.27
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 496 209 watts
Heart Rate: 66 175 142 bpm
VO2 intervals complete - 7 x 1.5 @ 223 (1.27), 221 (1.26), 223 (1.28), 221 (1.27), 222 (1.27), 221 (1.27), 223 (1.27) finishing with some time at 160 (0.91). TSS = 85 for WKO at NP 162 (0.93). Felt great at the end, so I have a feeling the next test will make me happy...
Another tough day on the bike. It was only about 24 hours after my first workout in over 2 weeks, so I can't expect the improvements to be THAT fast. Again I targeted and hit my old power numbers (targeting ~300 watts with 120% of FTP being 294). But my HR was incredibly high again and it was a pretty brutal workout. I targeted 160 watts for the recoveries but missed it on the last 2 intervals by a few watts. Finished with 14' at a strong z3 but it was tough and my HR was at z4 levels.
Overall 60' @ NP 232 (IF 0.947), HR avg 164 / max 197 (yikes!!). http://connect.garmin.com/activity/438138377
Comparing my performance to the identical workout 3 weeks ago shows my power numbers were comparable (actually a smidge higher), but HR off the charts.
Good work Matt, Steve and all. @ Matt- you haven't lost a thing. If that ankle heals up, I think your bike will be fine for a spring HIM.
I'm doing the Long Term IM Improvement plan so it hacks the OS. Plan calls for Thursday to be 5 x 5' (5') @110% FTP with rest @ 70% FTP, so for me that's @ 290/185 watts. I did this last night @ my computrainer class. I was able to hold the 290 watts for the first 4 intervals but half way thru #5 the wheels came off the bus and I could barley do 265w (100%). Anyway, I finished with NP 239, IF .9 and VI 1.09. I kept the cadance above 90 the entire way. Best of all, no tenderness in my lf knee like the week before when I was doing high watts and 60 rpms.
Today's main set: 4 x 5'(3') at 110%
Time pressed pretty hard due to a kids concert in the early evening, so as soon as I hit the end of that 4th 5' at 110%, I just stopped. I tell you, getting off the bike, I felt like I had tree trunks for thighs from the blood flow down there... too bad it's not that way in reality! Anyway, it was a good hard workout, if only 40 minutes long.
Power target: 262: actual, 265, 266, 260 (apparent data drop? I didn't stop...), 260
Avg Power: 199 W
Max Power: 314 W
Max Avg Power (20 min): 216 W
Normalized Power (NP): 226 W
Intensity Factor (IF): 0.948
Training Stress Score (TSS): 60.1
FTP Setting: 238 W
Work: 486 kJ
This is my first OS where I haven't done any overachieving on the bike, but it's also the first OS where I'm really trying to train for a marathon and can't put as much effort onto the bike either. It will be interesting to see if I can test up a few watts in a few weeks or if I'm just "solidifying" my starting FTP. Either way, I'm not complaining; things are going well.
This was one hard Saturday morning. I made it through and was able to put in some Z3 time at the end but geez, Louise... On another note, I think I need to get a straight block cassette for the trainer. In the hard efforts the jumps are too big between gears. Thoughts?
8(2), 10(2), 12(2) @ 1.02, 1.02, 1.01 plus 34' of Z3 @ .84 The last Z4 interval was a tough one. The first 15' of Z3 work was hard but the gel I took kicked in and I felt a little bounce and finished strong. Gonna take a few hours and then hit the run this afternoon.
Entire workout (238 watts):
Duration: 1:31:05
Work: 1298 kJ
TSS: 119 (intensity factor 0.888)
Norm Power: 256
VI: 1.08
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 466 238 watts
Heart Rate: 81 174 154 bpm
Cadence: 18 124 81 rpm
Thanks, Doug. You've convinced me. Time to visit the LBS. I can do all these long periods of 75 rpm grinds but that probably isn't a good idea all the time. Besides, one of these days I might do a flat course like Princeton 70.3...
I got a new trainer and powermeter this week along with a bike fit, so I decided to do a new FTP test. Since I had botched the test at the beginning of the OS, I was using my FTP from last season. I did the 20 min. Trainerroad test using my Kickr for the power readings. The end result is that my FTP jumped from 247 to 272. I then did the 30 minute right off the bike, and was surprised how good it felt. I guess work works!
Overall 74' @ NP 224 (IF 0.915), avg cad 87, HR avg 162 / HR max 187.
8'(2') @z4 – NP: 253 (IF 1.031), VI 1.00, HR 170/181, cad 93
8'(2') @z4 – NP: 264 (IF 1.076), VI 1.00, HR 179/187, cad 87
15'(2') @z3 – NP: 231 (IF 0.941), VI 1.00, HR 179/185, cad 91
15' @z3 – NP: 231 (IF 0.942), VI 1.00, HR 181/186, cad 91
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/438946025
For reference, the EXACT same workout 3 weeks ago:
Overall 74' @ NP 218 (IF 0.889), avg cad 89, HR avg 152 / HR max 178
8'(2') @z4 – NP: 251 (IF 1.025), VI 1.00, HR 161/172, cad 94
8'(2') @z4 – NP: 252 (IF 1.030), VI 1.00, HR 169/178, cad 89
15'(2') @z3 – NP: 222 (IF 0.906), VI 1.00, HR 165/172, cad 90
15' @z3 – NP: 227 (IF 0.928), VI 1.00, HR 165/171, cad 90
My first test was the classic going out to hard and a popped and suffered. This time I gradually built up and my power line, HR, and cadence all look perfect. I actaully may have started just a little too conservative, but overall I'm pretty pleases. 16 watt gain in 4 weeks, probably all due to the better pacing, but i felt SOOO much better this time then the first test.
http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/698834-20-Minute-Test
I've been doing mainly VO2 intervals, between 110-120% efforts, now five days in a row, Kind of like the Tour of Sufferlandria. Except I'm doing it all on snow.
I've been skiing, working my thighs to butter, fatiguing myself with a steady diet of fresh powder, steep chutes, and freezing temps. It's snowed nearly three feet since Thursday AM, and since this is the kind of stuff I live for, I have neglected any S/B/R since Monday. But I sure feel just as tired in my legs and overall energy, as if I were still doing OS work. We'll see what happens when I test again a week from Monday.
"Pix or it didn't happen" - This looks like the ski slope, but it's right outside my door. We live on the sunny side of the valley, and usually have little to no snow. But our house is almost buried today.
1.05
1.04
1.06
The 12' on the end was tough, but I'm pretty sure my FTP is coming back in a hurry.
I'm working on staying aero as much as possible for these intervals, and probably stayer aero for 80%+ of the intervals.
Since it is "warm" I did the 30 min run with one of the dogs. He slows things down, but it is nice to get him some exercise too.
I was also able to get a 4 mile walk in with the dogs later in the day, so as I write this I'm surrounded by a family that is worn out from our first nice day in weeks.
Tuesday's FTP ride went well:
Had to push VO2 to friday. My plan was to build through all seven of the 2min sets:
The weather was good enough yesterday to get outside, so I had to take advantage of it. Post-ride analysis showed a moderate discrepancy between what my Joule 2.0 calculated for the 10min interval and what WKO came up with -- on the bike I had a PNorm of 269, yet WKO came up with 265. WKO also came up with a VI of 0.99 for that interval. While I know I can ride fairly steady (VI of 1.0 for intervals 1 and 3, I am suspect of 0.99 when riding outdoors.
Very happy with the week. Especially yesterday's ride with only a 24-hr rest from the 7x2min VO2 ride the day prior.
I'm loving to see all the great work being done here!
You'll be fine..and crushing it soon enough.
Overall 60'' @ NP 218 (IF 0.892), avg cad 91, HR avg 157 / HR max 180.
22.5'(1') @z4 – NP: 215 (IF 0.878), VI 1.00, HR 160/169, cad 96
22.5' @z4 – NP: 227 (IF 0.966), VI 1.00, HR 172/180, cad 90
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/439586160
Sat am work: I have been doing the advanced wko's but did intermediate today as it was longer-3x 12':
1.0
1.01
1.05
Sweet spot x 12': .87
40 min bric felt good-hit the paces
Followed by 30' swim drills And 30' weights
1 - 8@1.04
2 - 10@1.04
3 - 8@1.04
Held it to 1 hour with total TSS 78.7 (0.91)
For being an easier WKO, it felt a bit more challenging than it should.
Overall 85% FTP. 4 segments of ~210 W (FTP 238) after warmup. Nothing hard. Just getting some work..nothing fancy. 107 TSS
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/439774163
52' Total with WU and WD
8' (2') -- z4 / 206 / IF 1.015
10' (2') -- z4 / 206 / IF 1.015
12' (2') -- z4 / 206 / IF 1.015
(+ 40' out back brick run... very tough, maybe more mentally tough than physically)