Splitting the Saturday Long Ride

Derrek Sanks

Reference the Saturday long rides in the HIM/IM plans that start with some flavor of FTP/Z4 intervals, then end with remaining time at Z3 or Z2.  Since I find it nearly impossible to maintain Z4 on outside rides due to turns/traffic lights/etc., I'm thinking about doing the Z4 work on my trainer and then complete the rest of the workout riding outside.  It would take about an hour of admin time for me to transition from the trainer to wheels down riding outside, mostly from a 40-50 min drive to my ride start.  

Does anyone else do this or something similar? Are there any negatives to having a 60' break between the Z4 intervals and the steady Z2/Z3 ride?

Thanks for any feedback.

Al Truscott

Derek - People have posted here doing that, e.g. Peter Gregg down in Australia (or is that up in Australia?). I haven't tried that myself, although I have thought about it. Logic would say that the longer you rest between the parts of the ride, the harder/longer you'll need to go in the second half to get the same training effect. You could demonstrate to yourself how much "easier" the Z3/2 efforts feel if you tried the whole thing on the trainer, but took off 45 minutes after the Z4 intervals. Your muscles will spend that time recovering, and part of the purpose of the Z2/3 work immediately following the harder intervals is to train the muscles to be able to handle progressively longer episodes of steady effort while somewhat fatigued, just like on race day. Just my thought process, no actual data to back it up.

Peter Greagg

Hi Derek
As Al T mentions, I do my Zone 4 and Zone 5 intervals in my Pain Cave. However, when I am done, I just get on my TT bike and continue the rest of the wko on the roads (without a break between the Pain Cave and the road).
As Al points out, the gap needs to be negligable otherwise you are missing out on some of the stress the wko is designed to give you.

scott dinhofer

Derek - you could bring your trainer to ride start point & do Z4 intervals outdoors on the trainer and then transition right to the ride.. might look/feel silly, but certainly gets the job done safely

Derrek Sanks

Thanks for the responses.  Scott, I thought about doing what you suggested and agree with the look/feel silly part but might be the best option.

Patti Thompson

Glad to see this question asked here, as I am going to do try this Saturday!  It appears that I only need to get outside and on the roads for the remainder of about 1 to 1.5 hours so I will just go out around my area.