I have hit a two week wall of not working out and feeling sluggish and tired from work, life, etc. All the excuses to not good training. Hoping to get back on track this weekend with the key workouts. The level of frustration is doing well for so many weeks and now falling off.
Here we go with a great weekend of training for everyone.
Aaron- Sending you some mojo (Wish I had more to spare... Bike kicked my butt this morning!)
Really rough today. I'm starting to think my swagged FTP might be a touch high, or I need to start out lower instead of starting at FTP. Here's what I managed:
2 x 15' @ .97 & .93IF + 5' @ .95IF. + 15' @ .81IF. Watched the Sufferfest Hell Hath No Fury video. I think I came in dead last, or at least dead. LOL
One lame mile on the treadmill after. Just didn't have it, plus a fairly packed schedule today including having the fam over for dinner tonight. Gotta clean!
Did Sufferfest Elements of Style with a buddy trying to show him how to use TrainerRoad. It was obviously a shorter workout but I am amazed every time that I do that how I get something new out of it. Kind of cool to ride with someone else for a change.
Open House at my LBS today! Free beer and food! Woo Hoo! Beer and bikes.... what could go wrong???
It looks like I am in the same boat as everyone else...the new FTP levels are kicking my butt!! After poor food choices the last few days I was looking forward to a good workout today to get back on track. The extra glass of wine at dinner last night decided to send me a reminder during the Z3 that wine makes you sloooooow.
Agree. This week has been one for the books. I was intimidated by Tuesday's 3x15 and opted out to be ready for Wed/Thurs Vo2 stuff. Made it through those, and attempted to go back to Tuesday's beast today. Got through 2x15 and opted to ride outside for the first time since September. 3 miles in and my left shifter is busted. Sweet.
Remember when we were starting out and those zones were tough. Head down, suck it up, and soon we'll be blowing through these new numbers like they're butter. Or at least that's what I keep telling myself ; )
I knew I'd had a crazy big bump for me, and while I managed ok on the vo2 Thursday, today was a different story! Saturdays are at my LBS on computrainers with friends. Somebody who rode in the 7am group chose IMLP for our course today. YAY. NOT! UGH! Very tough to hold steady pace with the hard ups and fast downs! That wasn't really my issue though. Just was super hard to hit the numbers. And I was riding my wheel so had to guestimate the new zones. 2x15 was at 95%, 88%, then the 5' was 93%. The tempo bit at the end was soft too. Pretty tough when your old ftp is your new tempo!!!
I will plan on shooting for 95% next week and see if I can pull that off. If not, I will swag down. But as Emily said above, I'm hoping it will be good after this week!!!
Today was the first day of my second phase of season.
Saturdays will get one of three types of rides from here on out. 1) FTP intervals in controlled environment (Pain Cave), then ~2hrs ABP ride outside, staying in control, capping watts on the rolling hills & no half wheeling buddies. 2) N. GA mountains, 3 gap ride. Just climb, baby. Or, 3) 2.5 hr group ride, smart riding, roadie style.
#3 is off the table until OS is over.
I did #1 today and it went well. A bit of a shock to the system but I think it was enough stress without overcooking.
46' on the trainer, tried the 110% intervals. Wasn't surprised at how hard that was b/c of the reports I read from you guys. I stayed just under 110% and had to do 4' intervals instead of 5'. I made up the missed work time at the end. Dried off, swapped Quarq out, changed into dry clothes and on the roadie within 10'. then, just under 2hrs of ABP. controlled my efforts well on all of the ups. Didn't chase big watts on the downs. Just kept a steady press on the pedals. So, Pnorm a little bit lower than zn3 watts but I've learned not to sweat that. This terrain makes it really difficult to negate the drop in watts on the downs.
Anyhow, was great to get outside in the sunshine. Was still cold but didn't have to go nuts on the winter gear.
Just a general question. I'm new to EN and this is my first Jan OS. I looked ahead at the bike distances during the OS and it seems like it will be a huge jump from the max time of 90 mins to the distance when I transition over to the IM full plan (240 mins). It looks like the transition will start me around week 8 of the IM plan. I'm sure there are many of you that have done this before but I'm a little nervous about this duration jump. I'm doing IM Lake Placid in July and many of my friends are spending more time on the bike already. Thanks for the input!!!
One was Thursday and I crammed it in between some conference calls in the afternoon, just a quick 60' ABP although I did the MS at 38' straight-through with no rest and a manually-triggered lap at the halfway point telling me I was IF 0.89 for the first 19' and 0.93 for the second 19'. https://connect.garmin.com/activity/711972869
Yesterday (Saturday) was a reprise of the prior week's long workout with 90' and MS of 2x15'(4') then 5'(5') all at z4. I bettered last week's wattage turning in 1,01, 1.01 and 1.09 for the intervals then 20' @ 0.94 to finish (hey, that's almost another FTP interval!!). https://connect.garmin.com/activity/713543342
@ Kristin, in prior years I have extended the Saturday OS ride to get into the 2+ hour range. however, I haven't done that until very late in the OS, like April. You'll find in some of the later OS workouts the coaches will have that suggestion in the workout notes. But don't do it on the trainer. Really, it isn't worth it. The EN philosophy is to get fast then build endurance later. You have a LOT of time until Placid.
Kristin ... Note the following, which appears in all the Saturday bike workout notes: Coach Notes: IF you have the resources and time (ie, can get outside, not a strain on personal or family life) and / or are moving from the OS plan into the HIM or IM plan, it would be a good idea turn this ride into 2-3hrs by adding Z2-3 time as you feel. But DO NOT DO THIS if you are on a trainer unless specifically told to do so by the coaches!!!
As to what you are doing vs your friends for IM LP: EN OS and IM plans have been used successfully by 1000s of athletes to kick butt on race day. Its OK to get outside and ride a few hours once a week when your're able. But, by building your bike strength with shorter harder efforts now, then layering longer, less intense efforts closer to race day, you will avoid the physical and mental burnout at least some of your friends will experience, oh, around June.
You'll be doing PLENTY of riding in May, June, and July. Fear not, that will be all the long stuff you'll need. You'll be surprised at how the OS has given you resilience and durability when you start doing back to back weekend rides of Five hrs on Sat, 3 hrs on Sun. Best not to put your head in that space until you have to, beginning in May.
Spent the last week in North Captiva Island, FL with Wife and kids for their Spring Break. No cycling until today but did knock out my 3 walk- run workouts. My hamstring feels great - I was supposed to be jogging for 7' walking for 7' but with the warm weather and soft sand, I was holding z5+ for what felt like RPE 3. In between runs, I tried some open water swims in my wet suit with only mediocre results. As literally the only person in the water as far as the eye could see, I was a bit apprehensive about the marine wild life...today I knocked out Saturday's bike using the trainer and Zwift: 90' total with 2x15 (1.05/1.03) 1x5' 1.03 and 17' @ 0.87: http://tpks.ws/fLRD
Thanks for the advice! Unfortunately I am 3 weeks behind do to an injury because of this I didn't see coaches note yet. I have a 2 week swim camp between my OS and full IM plan which I'll skip to finish up the OS. I've been swimming all along with coaches OS swim plan. Thanks!
It's been a long crazy week, 2 trips, all wko's done in the evening (and I am definitely a morning person), And like everyone else, the new FTP is definitely kicking my ass too
Wed-3 x 12@ .96, .95, .95
Thurs-3 x 5' @ 1.06 then last one just flamed out at 1.02 10' sweet spot then @.86
Got home late this afternoon and haven't had the mojo to do the sat spin. I have decided this is my rest day and will get up tomorrow am and do at least an hour-I really want to get back to am wko's!
Don't rush back from that injury by playing catch up with extra time in the workouts. You have plenty of time. You don't need a setback as you try to get over it. Also, if you have friends in the area that are doing LP with you, and they are riding/running much longer now, you might feel the urge to do both the EN intervals and to ride long with your buddies. Be very careful about this. I've done it and I ended up sabotaging myself by doing that. If you want the social with them then go ez for the first hour or so and then turn them loose.
Rembember that you chose to try it this EN way. Let it run it's course.
travel day sunday so I got on the bike this morning for the weekend's ride. 2x15 @ IF of 1.00 and .98 then 5 min @ 1.01. I cracked a bit at the 10min mark of the 2nd 15min interval. backed power off to z3 for about 2min before picking it back up. I have been struggling with the new bike zones since the test week. After the last ftp interval I put together another 14min @ IF.80 and rolled through some very low cadences. Felt like grinding up a hill but allowed my HR to trend down a bit. Glad to have made it past the ftp intervals alive!
Comments
Here we go with a great weekend of training for everyone.
Really rough today. I'm starting to think my swagged FTP might be a touch high, or I need to start out lower instead of starting at FTP. Here's what I managed:
2 x 15' @ .97 & .93IF + 5' @ .95IF. + 15' @ .81IF. Watched the Sufferfest Hell Hath No Fury video. I think I came in dead last, or at least dead. LOL
One lame mile on the treadmill after. Just didn't have it, plus a fairly packed schedule today including having the fam over for dinner tonight. Gotta clean!
Open House at my LBS today! Free beer and food! Woo Hoo! Beer and bikes.... what could go wrong???
Have a great weekend all, off to run.
Name Time kJ(Cal) TSS NP Power Target Watt/Kg Heart Cadence
Workout 01:20:00 881 98 196 183 189 1.63 0 87
Endurance 1 00:12:00 105 8 147 145 148 1.29 0 90
Threshold 1 00:15:00 207 25 230 230 229 2.05 0 85
Endurance 2 00:04:00 35 3 152 144 148 1.29 0 89
Threshold 2 00:15:00 205 25 227 227 229 2.03 0 85
Endurance 3 00:04:00 30 2 133 125 144 1.12 0 83
Tempo 1 00:20:00 221 22 185 184 192 1.64 0 86
Endurance 4 00:10:00 79 6 136 131 146 1.17 0 87
Remember when we were starting out and those zones were tough. Head down, suck it up, and soon we'll be blowing through these new numbers like they're butter. Or at least that's what I keep telling myself ; )
I knew I'd had a crazy big bump for me, and while I managed ok on the vo2 Thursday, today was a different story! Saturdays are at my LBS on computrainers with friends. Somebody who rode in the 7am group chose IMLP for our course today. YAY. NOT! UGH! Very tough to hold steady pace with the hard ups and fast downs! That wasn't really my issue though. Just was super hard to hit the numbers. And I was riding my wheel so had to guestimate the new zones.
2x15 was at 95%, 88%, then the 5' was 93%. The tempo bit at the end was soft too. Pretty tough when your old ftp is your new tempo!!!
I will plan on shooting for 95% next week and see if I can pull that off. If not, I will swag down. But as Emily said above, I'm hoping it will be good after this week!!!
Saturdays will get one of three types of rides from here on out.
1) FTP intervals in controlled environment (Pain Cave), then ~2hrs ABP ride outside, staying in control, capping watts on the rolling hills & no half wheeling buddies.
2) N. GA mountains, 3 gap ride. Just climb, baby. Or,
3) 2.5 hr group ride, smart riding, roadie style.
#3 is off the table until OS is over.
I did #1 today and it went well. A bit of a shock to the system but I think it was enough stress without overcooking.
46' on the trainer, tried the 110% intervals. Wasn't surprised at how hard that was b/c of the reports I read from you guys.
I stayed just under 110% and had to do 4' intervals instead of 5'. I made up the missed work time at the end.
Dried off, swapped Quarq out, changed into dry clothes and on the roadie within 10'.
then, just under 2hrs of ABP. controlled my efforts well on all of the ups. Didn't chase big watts on the downs. Just kept a steady press on the pedals.
So, Pnorm a little bit lower than zn3 watts but I've learned not to sweat that. This terrain makes it really difficult to negate the drop in watts on the downs.
Anyhow, was great to get outside in the sunshine. Was still cold but didn't have to go nuts on the winter gear.
Tomorrow's run will tell me more about today.
Just a general question. I'm new to EN and this is my first Jan OS. I looked ahead at the bike distances during the OS and it seems like it will be a huge jump from the max time of 90 mins to the distance when I transition over to the IM full plan (240 mins). It looks like the transition will start me around week 8 of the IM plan. I'm sure there are many of you that have done this before but I'm a little nervous about this duration jump. I'm doing IM Lake Placid in July and many of my friends are spending more time on the bike already. Thanks for the input!!!
One was Thursday and I crammed it in between some conference calls in the afternoon, just a quick 60' ABP although I did the MS at 38' straight-through with no rest and a manually-triggered lap at the halfway point telling me I was IF 0.89 for the first 19' and 0.93 for the second 19'. https://connect.garmin.com/activity/711972869
Yesterday (Saturday) was a reprise of the prior week's long workout with 90' and MS of 2x15'(4') then 5'(5') all at z4. I bettered last week's wattage turning in 1,01, 1.01 and 1.09 for the intervals then 20' @ 0.94 to finish (hey, that's almost another FTP interval!!). https://connect.garmin.com/activity/713543342
Coach Notes: IF you have the resources and time (ie, can get outside, not a strain on personal or family life) and / or are moving from the OS plan into the HIM or IM plan, it would be a good idea turn this ride into 2-3hrs by adding Z2-3 time as you feel. But DO NOT DO THIS if you are on a trainer unless specifically told to do so by the coaches!!!
As to what you are doing vs your friends for IM LP: EN OS and IM plans have been used successfully by 1000s of athletes to kick butt on race day. Its OK to get outside and ride a few hours once a week when your're able. But, by building your bike strength with shorter harder efforts now, then layering longer, less intense efforts closer to race day, you will avoid the physical and mental burnout at least some of your friends will experience, oh, around June.
You'll be doing PLENTY of riding in May, June, and July. Fear not, that will be all the long stuff you'll need. You'll be surprised at how the OS has given you resilience and durability when you start doing back to back weekend rides of Five hrs on Sat, 3 hrs on Sun. Best not to put your head in that space until you have to, beginning in May.
Spent the last week in North Captiva Island, FL with Wife and kids for their Spring Break. No cycling until today but did knock out my 3 walk- run workouts. My hamstring feels great - I was supposed to be jogging for 7' walking for 7' but with the warm weather and soft sand, I was holding z5+ for what felt like RPE 3. In between runs, I tried some open water swims in my wet suit with only mediocre results. As literally the only person in the water as far as the eye could see, I was a bit apprehensive about the marine wild life...today I knocked out Saturday's bike using the trainer and Zwift: 90' total with 2x15 (1.05/1.03) 1x5' 1.03 and 17' @ 0.87: http://tpks.ws/fLRD
And like everyone else, the new FTP is definitely kicking my ass too
Wed-3 x 12@ .96, .95, .95
Thurs-3 x 5' @ 1.06 then last one just flamed out at 1.02
10' sweet spot then @.86
Got home late this afternoon and haven't had the mojo to do the sat spin. I have decided this is my rest day and will get up tomorrow am and do at least an hour-I really want to get back to am wko's!
Don't rush back from that injury by playing catch up with extra time in the workouts. You have plenty of time. You don't need a setback as you try to get over it. Also, if you have friends in the area that are doing LP with you, and they are riding/running much longer now, you might feel the urge to do both the EN intervals and to ride long with your buddies. Be very careful about this. I've done it and I ended up sabotaging myself by doing that. If you want the social with them then go ez for the first hour or so and then turn them loose.
Rembember that you chose to try it this EN way. Let it run it's course.
Good luck!
I have been struggling with the new bike zones since the test week.
After the last ftp interval I put together another 14min @ IF.80 and rolled through some very low cadences. Felt like grinding up a hill but allowed my HR to trend down a bit.
Glad to have made it past the ftp intervals alive!
2x15@.97, .97, 1x5@ .95