2016/17 NOS Week 11 Bike Thread - The gorilla wont go away
Welcome to the official 2016/17 November OutSeason week 11 bike thread. Let's keep and posting our successes, challenges and observations to share the mojo! The gorilla is a little tired, but still has plenty in him, so let's keep going!
We have only three weeks left until week 14 (test week), and these are going to very tough but also very effective workouts. My Tuesday shows a 12' a 20' and a 10' FTP interval, but with a very welcomed (4') rest between each. Thursday looks the same, and Saturday has just a few more minutes of FTP on the first 2.
0
Comments
Did Tue bike tonight. 10'/15'/13' at 1.01 of my swagged increase. Last 8 minutes suuuucked, but I got through it. Followed up with quick 3 miles on the treadmill w/ .5 mile at 3% incline; all at TRP or a bit quicker.
Have fun tomorrow, but convince your mind you can get it done. Don't listen to the legs, they don't what you are capable of!!!
mark
20' wu
15' @ 100%
13' @ 99%
10' @ 100%
Call it good and hope I don't get sick. Have fun everyone!
@Mark and Bill - huge, consistent, old fashion work taking place guys! BIG!
My gorilla was nasty to me this morning. I escaped but left the cage limping: https://www.strava.com/activities/827273481
Have a great week all!
SS
53'
2x10'@ .95 & .94
HR was steadily pegged at 167 for most of that work, which is about 10 bpm higher that it was in week 8.
@Bill, @Mark - keep crushing it.
Well, the gorilla got me this morning...I couldn't escape. I managed to finish the workout. I had a couple thoughts of shutting it down but had more thoughts of I can do this. End the end my watts were in the Z4 range. Workout was 12', 20', 10 with 4' rest. My intervals were .98, .96, .96 and then 10 mins at .83. The numbers look better than how the workout actually felt. This is the second week of declining watts over the FTP intervals, where as weeks 2-9 I had consistent or increasing watts. I'm thinking my legs need a few days of recovery rides.
Way to get it done SS, Mark and Bill! I was in the same boat as Ashton. Damn gorilla! I am not sure what mind-games my body plays on Tuesdays, but I just seem to get in a funk. I hit 1.0 for the first 10' (358np), then struggled to keep 0.985 for 15' (352np). However, the wheels came off for the last 13' and I barely salvaged 0.94 (334np). I may try to fuel up before Tues workouts to give myself a better chance. The last set of 12' at zone three was low as well, 0.77 (276np) instead of 0.8 (303). I still got a good workout, despite not fully hitting the last sets of numbers. The bucket of sweat below the bike was substantial. I finished the full prescribed time, but wanted to call it a day several times. Did get my head screwed on straight enough to hit the treadmill for at least 20' of the trp brick.
I couldn't do the Tuesday ride, nor will I be able to get in the ride on Thursday. I am traveling overseas for work so I will focus on running and swimming.
My plan is do my Tuesday ride this Saturday, then do a recovery ride on Sunday and then my long/Saturday ride on Monday.
As a result, I will be short a VO2 max ride and will eat into a rest day, but I will get some miles in via a recovery ride. Then, I could do my Tuesday ride in the evening instead of the morning in order to get a little more recovery time.
I find the optimization of training, family, work and rest to be quite a complicated endeavor.
Glad to see I was not the only one who struggled with the Tuesday ride. I don't know what the trouble was, but I could not get it going. Thought about throwing in the towel, but started thinking about all you guys, and I didn't want to disappoint. Thanks for the motivation
Got it done - pretty close to my FTP for all three. Was even able to run for 2 miles after (not sure where I pulled that one out of) Here's hoping Thursday's ride goes better.
Ellen
I appreciate seeing everyone’s posts. Its helping me get back on track.
All I can say is this group is damn tough on Gorillas! I mean, damn, look at the work getting done here regardless of situations!
Many of you have mentioned the fatigue load, considering throwing in the towel, but then getting it done regardless and pushing through! Those are the ones that count the most my friends, the ones that drive real change and fitness into the body, the ones that put you in the spring left with no riding buddies because your old friends can no longer keep up with you!!
Tues bike: https://www.strava.com/activities/827273481
Wed bike: https://www.strava.com/activities/828429683
Thurs bike: https://www.strava.com/activities/829496504
SS
Great work everyone.
65'
7x1'@ 1.09
7x1'@ 1.16
6'@ .86
Back home this morning after traveling all week and a 13-hour flight. Took a quick nap and then did my Tuesday workout. Felt a bit rusty at first, but after the warm up it went pretty well. The last 10 minutes of the third set required a lot of concentration.
Tomorrow, I will do a long-ish recovery ride and then early Monday I will do the "Saturday" ride. I will have to skip my VO2 ride this week. Hopefully, I will be back on track by next week and will still be able to inch up my FTP in week 14.
Reading everyone's posts and it seems you all are killing it regardless of the circumstances.
Tuesday's 10/15/13' Z4 intervals weren't terrible, although I was suffering a bit by the end of the 3rd one, pushing hard to get past the last 4 minutes. Of course, I started out thinking it was 10/15/10, so seeing the 13' clock at the start of the interval on TR caused a bit of a letdown. Finished with 12' of Z3 time, which went surprisingly well.
Thursday's 2 x 18 x 30/30 wasn't too bad either, with a little bit of fatigue by the last 3-4 intervals.
Today's bike, OTOH, sucked... I used Sufferfest's ISLGIATT for the WKO, which is 15/20/20 Z4 with some intermittent Z4 work at the end. By the end of the last 20' interval, I had to give up and rest up a little before the run. Still got more than 90' riding in, but my legs really felt dead at the end.
Although I've not been posting, I've been seeing all of the great work everyone has been doing, some with some tough circumstances. Next week will be my last with the group; I'll be dropping into Swim Camp the week after next, followed by HIM prep for IM 70.3 Florida. Lots of great mojo, though, has kept me going this OS.
It was cold and foggy in Nor Cal this morning. Got bundled up for the 40 degree ride, but survived it. The motivation to go faster to stay warmer helped. Got a 55 min run in afterwards.
While on the bike, i saw a hawk swoop down on catch a snake and then fly off. That was kinda cool.
@Peter - very cool experience seeing the Hawk/snake action - I have seen that once before as well. Nice job getting that bike done in those temps!
@Leslie - huge work getting through the 4 intervals! There is just no easy way to pull this stuff off! Paybacks are real!
I was traveling and in Scottsdale AZ this weekend. Rented some bikes and had a nice, easy 2 hour, scenic ride with Araceli:
https://www.strava.com/activities/832019279
I'll be back after the hard stuff is two days time!
Nice work all!
SS
90' with only time for the intervals
2x15'@ .94 & .93
2x9'@ .94 & .94
HR kept drifting up to 168, until I started focusing on deep regular breathing. That dropped it down to 163. lt works for running, why not cycling.
I ended with a lot left in the tank after this one, as I was concerned about finishing. Great to get it done.
Had some unforeseen family responsibilities pop up on Saturday to squash my limited opportunity at getting a workout done, due to working midnight shifts this weekend. but got the Thursday 2x (18 x 30/30's) done without too much problem. Started on the low side of z5, but within 3 or 4 splits, was up at or above z5 high end and kept it there the remainder of the intervals. I wondered for a short minute about adding that sat workout in somewhere else, but the plate gets reloaded so fast each week that adding a missed workout in later seems like it may be detrimental to the next weeks work.
Great job getting it done this week everyone!!
Great work from everyone this week! I missed a couple of the bike wkos, because I went to visit my parents in Florida this weekend. I will be back at it on Tuesday!
Finally got to my Saturday ride. It felt better than the past three Saturday rides. My legs felt tired during the warm up, but then I was able to make it through all the intervals. Each required focus at the end, but all were manageable.
Consumed about 550 calories across the two hours on the bike and a 35-minute brick run.
Trying different powder mixes. I drank Accelerade and Perpeteum. Both have carbohydrates and protein. However, I realize that I prefer the Pereteum. It has no added sugars. The Accelerade is about 30% less expensive but seems too sweet. Maybe I will dilute it next week.
Had a software glitch again. During my third interval, the TrainerRoad workout went up to 450 watts, which required me to get out of the saddle, and then stop pedaling to see if would reset. Similar thing happened on Saturday. However, this time I turned my bluetooth on and off and waited. Then it allowed me to resume at 100% of FTP. I find the Wahoo Kickr and TrainerRoad combo to be filled with glitches.
Also, while I found the four 100% FTP intervals to be manageable, this week's two sets of 80% FTP left my legs tired. Previously, the 100% FTP intervals made my legs feel heavy. Now, I am getting to the end and just feeling generally fatigued.
Did a short brick. My legs were tired, so I cut it short by 10 minutes.
Tomorrow night, I will do the Tuesday ride. That will give me 36 hours of recovery. With that, I will be back on schedule.