JOS Bike Week 3 - Steady on
OK, Week 3 is here and everyone should be getting back in the routine. They say it takes a month to make a habit so we are half way there. There has been lot's of good action on Zwift and it seems like folks are getting the kinks worked out of their sports tech and their legs.
Coach Patrick's words of wisdom for the week :"Focus on realigning your perspective of "hard.""
It hurts me just to think of that.
This weeks Workouts (level 2) are:
Tuesday : 3 x 10 min at 80% FTP
Thursday: 2 x 18 at 90% FTP
Saturday : 70 min at 80% FTP then 15 min at 90% FTP
Holiday Monday so there is plenty of time and lots of good sweat to be made out there.
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Tuesday AM at 5. Got up to hit the bike and this arm grabbed me and a voice said "get back in the bed". I said "Yes Ma'am" so I guess it will happen tonight instead.
SAU's be important!
Hey @Ralph Moore!
I'm pretty sure Tuesday us 3x8,10 or 12 at Zone 4 (FTP) not 80% right?
Otherwise I went to my dark place for no reason!
Tuesday's three FTP intervals complete. 0.89 IF for the ride and legs felt great. HR significantly lower today vs. last Tuesday's workout (high of 130 today vs 146 last week) -- possibly driven by me starting to feel under the weather about that time last week.
L3 - 3x12'(4') done. Warmup and MS only.
Overall WU & MS: IF = .9 // VI = 1.01
Interval 1: IF = 1.0. //. VI = 1.0
Interval 2: IF = 1.01 //. VI = 1.0
Interval 3: IF = .98 //. VI = 1.0
Think I found my drainer riding sweet spot. Use Garmin head unit to watch NP and then use Zwift hilly course for the ride chasing other riders in my w/kg. class. Disregard everything else on the Zwift screen. All the shifting and fluctuations in speed and terrain make the intervals bearable while at the same time watching that I am not burning matches. Plus practice "flattening" the course like EN race day execution protocol. :-)
Ride on, everyone.
@Ralph Moore , re: redefining "Hard"---Once I started (around 2005/6) doing serious intervals in the winter/spring on my bike, added on to the bike commuting I was doing and long rides, it was like the final piece of the training puzzle that got me over the hump to long-term, consistent racing success. I'd heard people say, "To get fast, you;ve got to go fast", both biking and running, but until you do it in a structured way, with specific process and pacing/power targets, it's like the difference between being a participant and a competitor in a race.
One thing I like to point out is: if you need music or movies to distract you on the trainer when you're doing FTP intervals, you're probably not working hard enough!
While Zwift might *seem* distracting, in actuality for me at least, it is mind-concentrating. All the avatars around me push me to go harder; every stage of the Tour de Zwift turns into a mini-race. Case in point, today, on the Innsburck UCI World's course. About a ten minute build-up, then 25 minutes @ 0.9 IF, VI of 1.01, followed by a 5 minute rest downhill, and then a final 10 minute push @ 0.89 to the finish, where I hit my highest watts of the day - 5.5 w.kg - to pop ahead of the group I;'d been jockeying with the final 3-4 km.
If that was "just a ride", I shudder to thin of what I have to do tomorrow, when I;ve scheduled my FTP workout in a race up the Watopia KOM, and on to the Radio Tower. Over 30 minutes @ that threshold, a brief coast downhill, and another push to the finish gunning for a little digital podium trophy to add to my collection.
And Saturday - our CnC ride, 15 minutes to re-fuel, and then Stage 8 TdZ, 2 x London Loop with Box Hill finish. I really like the climbing routes...
3x12”@ .98-1.05. Using our new definition of hard, I was “almost there.” The weekend rides were still in my legs, and looking at the numbers, I’m bumping up my FTP 5% to 230w. Considering that is near last year’s peak (injuries), I need to balance “hard” and “safe”. My TSB remains near -30 for a 3rd day, but that reflects a lot of Zwifting with a soft FTP. Now I need to get more consistent at reducing the kg variable in w/kg.
3 x 10 @ 1.04, so I was testing the edges of "hard" and succeeded. Ended up riding longer than intended (TdZ, chose the A ride, took longer than I thought it would...). Probably due to reevaluate SWAGged FTP soon.
I am a week behind you all but thought I'd chime in here. I did a 2 X 15' Z4 yesterday at a guess for my FTP. It was not too bad, so I think I will bump it up a little more next week. My HR did not even get close to Z4 until the end of the second interval. It's been a while since I've done structured wkos, but I think I need to a bit of building before I can get any benefits from a Zwift race.
@Al Truscott I also like to do climbs in Zwift when I do intervals even though I am in erg mode. It gives me the feeling of heading towards a target. If I hit the downhill, I try to see how fast my avatar will go. I also never understood how anybody could watch any media while doing a proper wko, but I do like to listen to music.
@Bill Manard - I am going to swag up in increments of 5 watts until I can't, but I also plan to test whenever test week comes (I know I should know that). I just feel like a test would be worthless right now, because my cycling fitness is pretty low.
@John CulbersonI will work on realigning my perspective of hard. Thanks for the mojo everyone!
3 x 8, 204/1.02, 214/1.07, 225/1.13. Probably need to bump the FTP a little. Maybe from 200 up to 210. Was not wanting to really do anything after my run intervals last night but just got going. Felt good and glad I got it done.
Whole bike workout complete, two sweet spot intervals. 0.9 IF for both intervals. NP of 200 watts. HR stayed low for both.
You folks Rock!
@Pat Morton yes, you are correct on the interval intensity. My bad.
@Al Truscott I am with you on the benefits of Zwift compared to my solo workouts on Trainer Road. Riding with the crew adds a significant motivation factor.
@John Stark You got me stoked so I got out my Garmin head unit and set a screen to just IF and NP to use while I am on Zwift. It is a big help.
I got Tuesday's workout in late in the day. Thursday Bike will get done in the AM because I am out of town for the weekend so will have no trainer access and will be running every day.
Got in the first of what appears to be two bike rides this week. Just got in 45' with some 85% stuff. Not FTP work but I'm okay with that at this point.
I completed the Satruday ABP ride today. I wanted to do the West Coast CnC ride, but I was having some problems with ERG and I needed to see if I had solved them. (Success, problem solved!)
2 hr 15 min, 150 TSS, .82 IF, NP of 182 watts.
Happy riding and running this weekend!
OK, so after moving my week around a bit I got all the work done
3x12 with IF 1.02, 1.01, 1.00 outside wearing tights on the Fat Bike
2x20 with both at IF .89 using TrainerRoad
2:35 "Long Ride" in Z2 and a separate 3x15 IF .98, .93, .94
The hardest part for me was the last 5 minutes of the 20 minute intervals on the trainer. Even though it was at a lower intensity and HR. I'm guessing this is because I haven't done any "longer" intervals recently? It felt very much like a Muscle Tension limitation than an Aerobic issue. I always do better outside even in below freezing temps with tights and 45N Boots on, but we had 25in of new un-groomed snow so I was forced inside.
Does anyone else struggle with the last 5 min on 20 minute intervals?
Saturday is my Big Day for biking: 1:45 on the Cnc, followed by 1:25 Stage 8 TdF.
The numbers, overall: 3 hrs 30' moving time, 0.79IF/218 TSS. CnC featured 4 x KOMs of 4-6' @ 0.9-1.0 IF. That 1hr 40' was @ 0.86 IF. TdZ was meant to be a bit "easier": 0.73 IF. My power and HR rose constantly during that ride.
I got something like 65 Zwiftmiles today, close to the 70 I'll be doing race day May 4th. I'd like to do this sort of a workout every week until the end of April, with a BIg Bike Week in early March, and a 4-day Tri Race Camp in early April. I feel like I'm on target to handle that.
I long ago learned that *most* of our training, we're "training to train", rather than training to race...
@Ralph Moore - Glad the NP focus is helping.
I have been down sick since Thursday. No Thursday or weekend ABP rides for me.
Taken in maybe 2,000 calories since then. Hoping the sickness helps me crush my Hoff's Winter Weight Loss weigh-in on Monday. 😀
Hope to be back on the bike Tuesday.
Good work, everyone.
I did the ABP on Saturday while chatting (and trying not to breath too heavy) with the Hang On riders on Discord. That was the first 85 minute interval of my life! I did not write a break between the Z3 and the Z4 and had to abort the Z4 interval. I will put in a little recovery for next time.
I led the Sunday Team EN Cruise and Crush ride today. It was a lot of fun! We had over 100 riders and kept a pretty big group. I actually ended up with a higher TSS than the ABP workout on Saturday. You can see from the graph below, there is a lot of Z2 social riding with a few very hard efforts for the climbs as sprints.
Backed off the total time and Zn3 to get my TSB down where it belongs. Still got all of the L3 Zn4 work in this week. Tour of Sufferlandria starts this weekend. I’m “participating” on a “dumb” trainer, so I’ll ERG mode my way to plenty of Zn2 given the volume. Staying healthy with day 3 of a challenging 14-day stretch at work down.
Had to swap things up this week, did the Sweet Spot early then the FTP later in the week . I had in-laws decide to come and visit on Sat, so had to cut the ride short @ an hour with 45 mins at .87, 5 min 1.0, and w/u U& c/d.
FTP for me seems to be where it was when I got off the bike focus at the end of Oct, when I bumped up then. I had a decent bump at the end of that, so still getting used to those numbers.
"Does anyone else struggle with the last 5 min on 20 minute intervals?"
@Pat Morton - I also prefer to do workouts outdoors. When I lived in a warmer climate, I used to do all my OS WKO's outside. Usually chasing @Tom Glynn around some back country roads. Was so much fun.
Now living in a colder climate, after riding outside and then coming inside the next session due to weather any drainer interval longer than 12' is hard. For me it's mental. And I melt. Last weeks ABP session I had to break down into 20' sections to get through. So you aren't alone. Just do your best and then get outside when you can.
As it used to be said in EN back in the day..."this it is all just a game." Don't take it too seriously, do your best each day and move on.
I respectfully disagree on the movies or music for the FTP workout (small screen on top of Zwift, in the bottom right corner). If it helps you finish, it helps you finish. I like to do movies I've already seen many times so I don't miss the plot line if I space out for a few minutes or need to troubleshoot my cadence. I like James Bond movies the best for these. The chase scenes and the intense music do the trick!
@Katherine Thom I admit I was being a bit snooty with my attitude towards distractions during workouts on the bike. In fact, up until about 2 years ago, I was doing pretty much what you describe when I would do FTP workouts. I worked through all 7 seasons of "24", which I decided was perfect. It was unnecessary to follow the plot verbally, as most lines (e.g., "Set up a perimeter", "this is our only chance to stop them", etc) were repeated in every episode, and the main attraction was the action scenes of Keifer Sutherland hitting or shooting somebody. So little to no actual attention needed. When I tried watching something requiring thought, like "Breaking Bad", i found myself paying attention to the TV and not my effort.
I agree: whatever it takes to help you achieve the targets for the workout. Zwift races fulfill that need for me now.
I guess if I were to phrase what I actually mean: "If you have the mental space to pay close attention to a movie or music, you are probably not working @ 100% of your FTP..."