@Phil, wow, you are hitting some really high numbers for 5 x 4' Z5 intervals. You should see a noticeable bump in wk 8 FTP test. Great work!
@Laura, As John, Bill and others have mentioned, I get the same feelings in the mid-points of the OS. The wko's take a lot out of you, and re-setting mid-wko or during the week is definitely not going to hurt you. The fitness is building along the way, and we have very few periods of down time for the body to absorb the work. I actually feel we could use a 2 day break from time to time, but it's not in there right now. My legs are feeling the fatigue for sure.
My numbers were ok for the Thur z5 work. I am taking it easier in the rest intervals, to make sure I hit the z5 work. Previous weeks tried to follow trainer road levels during rest, but am letting that go as needed. 1.10, 1.11, 1.10, 1.13, 1.14. The legs rest day tomorrow will feel good.
I don't use Trainer Road, but I remember looking at someone's file last year and I was astonished at how hard (high) the rest intervals were. Everything I've read is that you want to work hard in the work intervals and fully recover during the rest intervals. I spin easy (approximately 40-50%) for a couple of minutes and then start to pick it up in the last minute so that I'm in Z3 or so when the work starts. In one post WSM Cronk stated that he used to care about the IF of the whole ride but not anymore, just the work intervals. (HIGHLY PARAPHRASED) I follow that thinking as well. It even states in the coach's notes to rest so that you can hit the next interval. Even when I do take it easy the last one is almost always HARD!!!
@Mark - Back in the early days of EN (when we had shifters on our down tubes, cages on our pedals, it was the Bud Light Ironman Series, etc.) there were a lot of requests for guidance for rest periods between intervals. The coaches put specific levels in and they appear to not have changed. Note that it was simply "guidance" and I have never really worried about the rest sections, for the most part. During the rests I may hurl into the bucket next to the bike, adjust my junk, drink, send a text, get a mani/pedi, sip a latte, whatever. I clear my headspace while still spinning at a comfortable recovery level which, for me, is right about where the coaches suggest. Then, like you, at 30 seconds or so before the next interval I settle in and start focusing and getting ready next WORK interval.
The most important part is the interval. But we all know that.
@John - That was hilarious. Haven't needed a bucket...yet, but the others are applicable.
@Mark - Used to be guilty of that. Now the sets are too just too hard to care about pushing the rest time. I have been spinning at 130ish watts. I think I will drop that down to 90.
@ Phil, my 40-50% is 90-110 watts, but the first minute is usually even lower than that, at least it was today.
So my goal today for the 5X4 was to build over the entire set. 1.10 for me is 242 but the last time I did a Vo2 set was two weeks ago and the numbers were between 245 and 248. Today's numbers in sequence were, 242, 243, 246, 247, and 249. They were hard but not as hard as I feared they would be. The FTP set on Tuesday definitely felt harder. So a little uptick at the end over last weeks numbers and a good progression. I'll take that. I have a funeral to travel to on Saturday that will take a good portion of the day so I'm going to do Saturday's ride tomorrow afternoon. We'll see what the legs have to say about today's workout then.
Good FRIDAY morning! I love Fridays! I get to sleep until 6a.m. (most days I wake at 4am b/c of work). I'm ready for a rest day.
For those of you with young kids….BLESS YOUR HEART!!! Been there done that. I wish I could kid sit for you! I miss mine being little so so much! Now mine are all teenagers and I rarely see them. Cherish this season of their lives.
I have to say I love the forums and I enjoy seeing everyone's efforts. I have trouble though checking in through the week for more that a cursory view because of my schedule (like many of you…its PACKED!!) AND if I sit down and start reading all the comments and start delving into topics I CANT stop! I also enjoy commenting (blah blah blah) ….but then boom ….time is so gone! But it's so much fun too!!
Anyway….got most of Tuesday - Thursday workouts in which is nothing short of miraculous. I play the cello and teach music lessons so my kids at school are getting ready for Holiday concerts and I'm gigging a lot. That means early morning rise to teach….late night rehearsals. Yesterday I was pinched for time but got a great 45minute/ 4x4 intervals done. I don't know why i didn't do 5 except that I think I looked at the workout plan wrong and maybe my mind was just not wanting to be late for work. Weird. I think I could have gotten it in. Boo on me!
I also teach at our local gym and T/W/Thurs/Sat are my teaching days. Wednesday I taught regular fitness classes and got a good solid z1.5 10k in with a little sprint at the end. Chose to run indoors on a treadmill for the first time in a while because of the weather. I always go slower on the treadmill. What's up with that. Same with trainer road. I think stationary equipment hates me. haha! I will try not to hate back.
Thursday I taught my regular group fitness classes. They are SOOOOOO much stinking/rocking good fun but I now have to consciously dial back in class in order to have steam left to doing my EN workout. I thought after teaching Body pump and Cardio classes early morning that my bike ride would suffer. It was kinda nasty but actually it wasn't as ugly as I thought. maybe because I inadvertently left off that last interval??? duh
I'm trying not to get bogged down in worrying about my trainer road #s. I feel like I should be stronger than trainer road is telling me I am but alas. I think I do too much weight training. Will have to continue to figure out how to balance group x teaching & this new tri-training schedule. Hoping those bike numbers will continue to creep up and up.
A little more coffee on tap…and then off to do some core. Hope everyone has a great start to the day!
@ Stephanie - I have no idea what "Body Pump" is, but it sounds like it would crush me!
Did the 5 X 4' today. You guys who are struggling to hold these are not alone. I think they are designed to hurt and make you struggle.... Also, I am starting to get bored with TrainerRoad.
X2 on what John said about rest intervals. I just spin, let my HR come down, and make sure I'm fully recovered for the next one. Don't really care what the power is during the rest. I mainly focus on making sure I can maintain or slightly increase my effort over all the intervals. I want to be a hero not a zero!
Yesterdays 5X4' went fairly well. I think my ftp is coming back up fairly quickly after no biking for the NYC marathon. Hoping to see a bump next test. Effort was pretty conservative on the first one and then went as planned (293, 305, 306, 311, 316). Good work everyone!
Decided to do my bike workout indoors today as it was rainy and windy. I've been able to do everything outdoors so far and being inside on a spin bike (with power) was dam hard! I managed to hit my numbers though, which made me happy! I don't know how the folks who are stuck inside all season do it. Hats off to ya! Will be back outside tomorrow
Got the trainer ride in early this AM. 90' of leg bustin goodness. I was shooting for 1.10 sets, but the Kickr kept creeping the watts up on me. 2x15'@ 1.13 & 1.12 20'@ .90
One more week to squeeze in some work before testing.
The recovery stars have lined up for me today. Wife out of town, son was at an up allnighter Boy Scout deal last night and didn't get home until 7:30 this morning and is still sleeping........and it is 2:00 pm and I am still in my pajamas next to the fireplace. 2 x 0' @ 0 IF today. Some days I get lucky like this.
Will do 2x wo tomorrow (in or out of my pajamas).
~ Stark {sipping coffee and binge watching Jessice Jones}
I've been watching the posts this week but haven't had much time to post myself. Very encouraging to see the work everyone is putting in. After work travel leading up to Thanksgiving then a doing half marathon with jet lag I needed a mental break last weekend and just stayed off the bike. Got back to it on Tuesday after a good rest and I'm like a shiny new penny. Felt strong on all three bike workouts this week and today did the bonus wko with the threshold intervals at 1.12 and 1.13 IF and then the sweet spot intervals were all around 1.0 IF. I'm looking forward to a good wattage bump at the 8 week test. I have had a strong build in all disciplines through the outseason, but taking a few days off over the weekend really put me mentally back in a good place.
Also, this week my wife is visiting her folks with my two eldest daughters and I'm playing single parent with my 3 little ones (that's why I have no time to post.) Any of you who are full time single parents and triathletes, my hats off to you. I'm counting the minutes (days remain unfortunately) until my wife and daughters come to my rescue.
Great work everyone! I felt good this morning, and pushed the 20' z4 segment to see if I could come close to the 20' test I started in Week 1. I got close with 351NP (1.04 IF) this time with 354NP the test target (1.05 IF - [336np ftp]). I realize that this not after a 5' Z5 all out, but I feel pretty good that I will at least not see a drop, and just possibly a small bump up in wk 8. I have generally been holding off on blasting the bike, due to the high run volume of the OS, partially for fear of overworking my injury-prone calves. Fatigue is a real concern for me, putting in that many run miles each week. Can't wait to see the results of this new OS style, in the next race year. The Z3 work (12', 14', 12') was close to target, 0.86, 0.85, 0.85, and I had good paces off the bike in the brick run. So all in all, positive vibes after the Saturday wkos.
Did a group ride with my local try club on Tour de Giro (on line bike racing simulation) today. I did the intervals in the ride. The first as 15 minutes IF 1.07 275 NP. I slowed to mid Z2 for 6 minutes before starting the next interval. The second was a little longer. I was winning the race and did not want to let up as someone was close behind. It ended up being just over 22 minutes 1.05 268 NP. With the warm up and cool down it was only 70 minutes, but I was spent after that second interval. It felt much better than the workouts earlier in the week.
Legs were in too much pain to get in much cycling this past week. Finally got the nerve up Sunday to execute the Thursday 5 x 4' @ Z5. Legs are getting better; but, going forward will have to come up with a happy compromise between OS cycling and marathon training. This week will attempt the Tuesday cycling workout on Wednesday and then the Thursday workout on Sunday. We'll see.
Comments
@Phil, wow, you are hitting some really high numbers for 5 x 4' Z5 intervals. You should see a noticeable bump in wk 8 FTP test. Great work!
@Laura, As John, Bill and others have mentioned, I get the same feelings in the mid-points of the OS. The wko's take a lot out of you, and re-setting mid-wko or during the week is definitely not going to hurt you. The fitness is building along the way, and we have very few periods of down time for the body to absorb the work. I actually feel we could use a 2 day break from time to time, but it's not in there right now. My legs are feeling the fatigue for sure.
My numbers were ok for the Thur z5 work. I am taking it easier in the rest intervals, to make sure I hit the z5 work. Previous weeks tried to follow trainer road levels during rest, but am letting that go as needed. 1.10, 1.11, 1.10, 1.13, 1.14. The legs rest day tomorrow will feel good.
@Robert - Funny!
@Mark - Back in the early days of EN (when we had shifters on our down tubes, cages on our pedals, it was the Bud Light Ironman Series, etc.) there were a lot of requests for guidance for rest periods between intervals. The coaches put specific levels in and they appear to not have changed. Note that it was simply "guidance" and I have never really worried about the rest sections, for the most part. During the rests I may hurl into the bucket next to the bike, adjust my junk, drink, send a text, get a mani/pedi, sip a latte, whatever. I clear my headspace while still spinning at a comfortable recovery level which, for me, is right about where the coaches suggest. Then, like you, at 30 seconds or so before the next interval I settle in and start focusing and getting ready next WORK interval.
The most important part is the interval. But we all know that.
@John - That was hilarious. Haven't needed a bucket...yet, but the others are applicable.
@Mark - Used to be guilty of that. Now the sets are too just too hard to care about pushing the rest time. I have been spinning at 130ish watts. I think I will drop that down to 90.
@ Phil, my 40-50% is 90-110 watts, but the first minute is usually even lower than that, at least it was today.
So my goal today for the 5X4 was to build over the entire set. 1.10 for me is 242 but the last time I did a Vo2 set was two weeks ago and the numbers were between 245 and 248. Today's numbers in sequence were, 242, 243, 246, 247, and 249. They were hard but not as hard as I feared they would be. The FTP set on Tuesday definitely felt harder. So a little uptick at the end over last weeks numbers and a good progression. I'll take that. I have a funeral to travel to on Saturday that will take a good portion of the day so I'm going to do Saturday's ride tomorrow afternoon. We'll see what the legs have to say about today's workout then.
For those of you with young kids….BLESS YOUR HEART!!! Been there done that. I wish I could kid sit for you! I miss mine being little so so much! Now mine are all teenagers and I rarely see them. Cherish this season of their lives.
I have to say I love the forums and I enjoy seeing everyone's efforts. I have trouble though checking in through the week for more that a cursory view because of my schedule (like many of you…its PACKED!!) AND if I sit down and start reading all the comments and start delving into topics I CANT stop! I also enjoy commenting (blah blah blah) ….but then boom ….time is so gone! But it's so much fun too!!
Anyway….got most of Tuesday - Thursday workouts in which is nothing short of miraculous. I play the cello and teach music lessons so my kids at school are getting ready for Holiday concerts and I'm gigging a lot. That means early morning rise to teach….late night rehearsals. Yesterday I was pinched for time but got a great 45minute/ 4x4 intervals done. I don't know why i didn't do 5 except that I think I looked at the workout plan wrong and maybe my mind was just not wanting to be late for work. Weird. I think I could have gotten it in. Boo on me!
I also teach at our local gym and T/W/Thurs/Sat are my teaching days. Wednesday I taught regular fitness classes and got a good solid z1.5 10k in with a little sprint at the end. Chose to run indoors on a treadmill for the first time in a while because of the weather. I always go slower on the treadmill. What's up with that. Same with trainer road. I think stationary equipment hates me. haha! I will try not to hate back.
Thursday I taught my regular group fitness classes. They are SOOOOOO much stinking/rocking good fun but I now have to consciously dial back in class in order to have steam left to doing my EN workout. I thought after teaching Body pump and Cardio classes early morning that my bike ride would suffer. It was kinda nasty but actually it wasn't as ugly as I thought. maybe because I inadvertently left off that last interval??? duh
I'm trying not to get bogged down in worrying about my trainer road #s. I feel like I should be stronger than trainer road is telling me I am but alas. I think I do too much weight training. Will have to continue to figure out how to balance group x teaching & this new tri-training schedule. Hoping those bike numbers will continue to creep up and up.
A little more coffee on tap…and then off to do some core.
Hope everyone has a great start to the day!
@ Stephanie - I have no idea what "Body Pump" is, but it sounds like it would crush me!
Did the 5 X 4' today. You guys who are struggling to hold these are not alone. I think they are designed to hurt and make you struggle.... Also, I am starting to get bored with TrainerRoad.
1.11, 1.10, 1.10, 1,07, 1,08
Yesterdays 5X4' went fairly well. I think my ftp is coming back up fairly quickly after no biking for the NYC marathon. Hoping to see a bump next test. Effort was pretty conservative on the first one and then went as planned (293, 305, 306, 311, 316). Good work everyone!
Decided to do my bike workout indoors today as it was rainy and windy. I've been able to do everything outdoors so far and being inside on a spin bike (with power) was dam hard! I managed to hit my numbers though, which made me happy! I don't know how the folks who are stuck inside all season do it. Hats off to ya! Will be back outside tomorrow
2x15'@ 1.13 & 1.12
20'@ .90
One more week to squeeze in some work before testing.
Will do 2x wo tomorrow (in or out of my pajamas).
~ Stark {sipping coffee and binge watching Jessice Jones}
I've been watching the posts this week but haven't had much time to post myself. Very encouraging to see the work everyone is putting in. After work travel leading up to Thanksgiving then a doing half marathon with jet lag I needed a mental break last weekend and just stayed off the bike. Got back to it on Tuesday after a good rest and I'm like a shiny new penny. Felt strong on all three bike workouts this week and today did the bonus wko with the threshold intervals at 1.12 and 1.13 IF and then the sweet spot intervals were all around 1.0 IF. I'm looking forward to a good wattage bump at the 8 week test. I have had a strong build in all disciplines through the outseason, but taking a few days off over the weekend really put me mentally back in a good place.
Also, this week my wife is visiting her folks with my two eldest daughters and I'm playing single parent with my 3 little ones (that's why I have no time to post.) Any of you who are full time single parents and triathletes, my hats off to you. I'm counting the minutes (days remain unfortunately) until my wife and daughters come to my rescue.
Great work everyone! I felt good this morning, and pushed the 20' z4 segment to see if I could come close to the 20' test I started in Week 1. I got close with 351NP (1.04 IF) this time with 354NP the test target (1.05 IF - [336np ftp]). I realize that this not after a 5' Z5 all out, but I feel pretty good that I will at least not see a drop, and just possibly a small bump up in wk 8. I have generally been holding off on blasting the bike, due to the high run volume of the OS, partially for fear of overworking my injury-prone calves. Fatigue is a real concern for me, putting in that many run miles each week. Can't wait to see the results of this new OS style, in the next race year. The Z3 work (12', 14', 12') was close to target, 0.86, 0.85, 0.85, and I had good paces off the bike in the brick run. So all in all, positive vibes after the Saturday wkos.
Did a group ride with my local try club on Tour de Giro (on line bike racing simulation) today. I did the intervals in the ride. The first as 15 minutes IF 1.07 275 NP. I slowed to mid Z2 for 6 minutes before starting the next interval. The second was a little longer. I was winning the race and did not want to let up as someone was close behind. It ended up being just over 22 minutes 1.05 268 NP. With the warm up and cool down it was only 70 minutes, but I was spent after that second interval. It felt much better than the workouts earlier in the week.
Legs were in too much pain to get in much cycling this past week. Finally got the nerve up Sunday to execute the Thursday 5 x 4' @ Z5. Legs are getting better; but, going forward will have to come up with a happy compromise between OS cycling and marathon training. This week will attempt the Tuesday cycling workout on Wednesday and then the Thursday workout on Sunday. We'll see.
5 x 4' - Pavg=257 Watts, NP=252, @ 93, 158, TR TSS=8 + 257 Watts, 252 @ 85, 159, 8 + 257 Watts, 253 @ 86, 162, 8 + 257 Watts, 253 @ 87, 166, 8 + 258 Watts, 253 @ 86, 86, 8 - Strava Suffer Score = 42