JOS Bike Week 4 Thread
Sorry for the delay team, computer issues. Week 4 is already under way. Important note, this is the last week before testing. The increasing intervals over the first 4 weeks set up for an FTP bump in most cases. In order for that to happen, try and be consistent with your workouts and don't skimp on recovery time in between workout sessions.
Think of test week as your prize for making it through the first month of the OS plan.
This week's workouts are :
Tuesday - Level 1: 2 x 12' (4') @ Zone 4
-Level 2: 2 x 15' (5') @ Zone 4
-Level 3: 2 x 18' (6') @ Zone 4
Thursday Level 1: 3 x 10' (3') @ Zone 3 to Zone 4 (90% FTP).
-Level 2: 3 x 12' (4') @ Zone 3 to Zone 4 (90% FTP).
-Level 3: 3 x 15' (5') @ Zone 3 to Zone 4 (90% FTP).
Sat : MS1: ALL 15' @ Zone 2 to get loose.
MS2: Choose Your Level
-Level 1: 65' @ Zone 3 + 12' @ Zone 4 .
-Level 2: 75' @ Zone 3 + 15' @ Zone 4 .
-Level 3: 85' @ Zone 3 + 15' @ Zone 4 .
- Remainder: Additional time @ Zone 2 .
Go hard this week and get ready for that test next week.
Comments
Tuesday done. 2 x 15' @ 1.0 IF. It was 45 in the garage -- turned off the fan and didn't need it. Just spent the time climbing in Zwift -- I will earn that tron bike.
Tuesday's intervals in the bag! 1.0 IF for the intervals, have been able to continue to get in full warm-up and cool down.
Quick brick run off the bike with three strides in the middle of the run.
Didn't get on the bike till late but it felt pretty good. It might have been the weekend off of the bike or it could have been the Joe Satriani but I was pretty motivated.
@PatKoss I, too do my Tuesday and Thursday workouts riding Alpe Du Zwift in pursuit of the legendary tron bike. I usually can get about 450-500 meters of gain per workout. 26725 m out of 50000 so far.
45' on the bike for me today. 2X10' .85+ Nothing flashy but I did push it up to the .95 for a few minutes. Did not have time to check my data.
Did my Tuesday intervals during Tour de Zwift Stage 9. 2 x 15' at Z4, specifically 1.0 and 0.99 with 1.00-1.01 VI. Finished about 1:10 total ride time. Like @Gordon Cherwoniak nothing flashy, but it's done.
2x12 done, 1.0 / 1.0 will likely try to do stage TdZ 9 tonight as an easier ride. Hopped on the treadmill afterwards and knocked out my strides. @Ralph Moore @PatKoss ditto here, doing Alp du Zwift for most these rides... Tron bike someday you will be mine (@21k so still more climbing)
I did a short race on Zwift on Monday night (24 minutes). It gave me a 10 watt FTP bump, but I don't think its right to use a 20' effort with fresh legs. Regardless, I have dialed it up a few watts.
I am planning on doing the Tour of Sufferlandria stating the Friday. The tour lasts 9 days. I have a forum post here if anyone is interested. In preparation, I tested the new app and did the WKO they call "A very Dark Place" which tuned out to be sort of a 5 X 3.5' VO2 wko.
Thursday I will do another race in Zwift in the morning and then start the ToS on Friday.
@Ralph Moore - I love climbing in Zwift while doing wkos in erg mode. It gives me the feeling that I am getting somewhere. And yes, it will help you get your tron bike!
Good thing is I am a week behind you all, so I will test the following week and then get back to the regular wkos.
Did the Thursday L2 3 x 12' as a Zwift workout climbing (I will get that tron bike). Indexed up the 90% base a couple of notches with each interval so it was progressive. Very pleased with the result.
On to the rest of the day.
HAGD team.
Today's sweet spot intervals complete. 0.9 IF for the three efforts.
I'm going to do the Tour of Sufferlandria, starting Saturday, so next week will be bike focused, with some 1-2 mile easy runs thrown in to maintain some run consistency.
Coming off a week of sickness. Missed last Thursday and Saturday WKO's. Feeling better. Upside is I have been riding a LOT since mid-November so the days off were great recovery for my legs. Now just to get 100% healed from this flu.
WEDNESDAY:
Tried to do Tuesday's workout on Wednesday. Did first interval and then bailed out half way through the second. Guess I wasn't mentally or physically ready to hit 100% FT.
THURSDAY:
L3 - 3x15's done. After yesterdays fail I decided to ramp into each interval to let myself feel the HR and efforts increase. Dialed down the first 15' to 90%. Second to 93%. Third to 100%. Was good just to listen to the music with my eyes closed and feel my legs spin and effort increase.
Tomorrow will do an easy chat-and-spin with Tom Glynn via FaceTime and then back at it 100% for the ABP on Saturday.
Ride one, everyone.
Got home late yesterday from work (10PM) so hit the sack and rolled my 3 x 12 till this AM. Another 550 m of climb up Alpe du zwift. Getting ready for the hang on ride Tomorrow!
@John Stark glad you are recovering. @Ralph Moore solid work after a LONG day!
Had a mechanical on the bike last night and front derailleur started rubbing the chain ring (worked fine the night before...). So fiddled with it and got it somewhat working so rode the sweet spot workout this AM, .89, .90, .90.
I'm offset by a day this week (due to a very late work night Wednesday), but rode this morning. Racing, though, after doing the hill TM workout 12 hours earlier, is a little tough. Still did an hour at 0.92 overall (nearly continuous), but it felt much tougher...
@Patrick Hayden I feel you. I had a flat on my rear tire (on the trainer?) and near the end of my workout it started making a thump on every revolution. Te good side is that I will be so much faser on the trainer with the new tire!
@Bill Manard that is a hard hour! nice job.
Week 4 done. Got in the workouts this week with one extra day. May do a short easy ride tomorrow morning. Not planning on testing next week. I know I am in the ballpark with my FTP. Things were getting a little easier this week so bumped it up a little from 200 to 210 and will see how things feel next week.
Saturday Ride(s): EN West Coast Cruise and Crush, followed by Tour de Zwift Stage 3. Course were reverse Knickerbocker (NYC) x 3, London Loop with Keith Hill after-party.
Totals: 3:33, 59 mi, 231 TSS, 0.8 IF
CnC: 2:05 @ 0.81; KOM x 3 @ 7', 0.92/92/1.05
TdZ: 1:12 @ 0.77; Keith Hill 13' @ 0.86
Rest of the time was warm-up/cool-down.
Overall, exactly the workout I wanted and needed. Now, next 2 Saturdays "off" as I ski in Colorado.
Would love to get views from the team. I have been dealing with a herniated disk in my upper back/lower neck (between C6 and C7) since the day after Thanksgiving. Without getting into too many of the gory details, I have had three epidurals to try and get the disk back to normal, with the last one done yesterday. I have been able to get back into training fully the last three weeks as the pain and numbness in my right arm have dissipated. If this last shot does not fully resolve the issue I am scheduled for disk replacement surgery next Friday.
My question is, with testing coming up this week and the likelihood of needing surgery on Friday with a two week recovery, should I do the testing and training scheduled for week 5 or follow the week 6 plan next week to get one final good partial training week in before the surgery? My inclination is to skip the testing and then test post recovery to measure where I am.
@Steve Theobald skip test for for sure
@Steve Theobald Consider a shorter Zwift race (30' or less). Same training effect as a test, but less pressure to produce a specific number.
@Steve Theobald agree with the brilliant @Al Truscott and @Brian Hagan . Skip the test, do a hard workout like a short race, and hope that the C spine improves. Test at some future date to be determined.
I’ve had a minor left C8 radiculopathy for the past year or so, so I can only imagine the impact of persistent problems. Best wishes on whatever needs to happen.
@Steve Theobald sorry to hear about your neck issue. Don't test. Concentrate on your recovery.
Great East Coast C&C ride today. 61K in 1:39 with Average power 231 and NP 255. Also set new all time(since 2013) 60 min power. And this happened so I will probably use this number and take a pass on the test. Lest you think that this is a small bump for a month of OS, I arbitrarily bumped my FTP from 235 to 245 after week 2 because the workouts were not getting my HR up enough. That would give me about a 5% bump for the first month which is pretty good for me. Now to get the weight down...
Trying to keep up with @Brian Hagan and @Tim Sullivan and that crew is about as "ABP" as you can get.
@Steve Theobald , its all been said well before me, so I'll just add a Get Well first!
Well done @Bill Manard, @Ralph Moore and others!
Did the East Coast C&C ride this morning. Kept my weight at its (heavy) 179 lbs and knew this would torpedo my ability to keep up with @Brian Hagan, @Tim Sullivan and the rest of the crew (we had our own blobette about 5-6 minutes back). But no matter, just listening to their chatter on Discord kept me motivated and the numbers in WKO4 proved that out. Significant bumps in mFTP and others, so I know what needs to be done on the road that I've set to build for aging up in 2020 (will be 65).
When we're done with Virginia's training for the Little Rock 10K and half-marathon the first week in March, I'll switch to Saturdays.
Can anyone recommend other Zwift rides/races to challenge me during the JOS? Thought of mixing that with the interval work.
@Pat Koss There have been ZHR races which use Age Groups, but havent seen any recently. My personal criteria is to look for the time of day, length of race, course (hilly vs flat) and # of entrants - more is better to form "blobettes" There are also TTs many days, if you want to avoid drafting. Zwiftpower.com is the easiest way to check out races over multiple days. Each race is on one lne. You can filter for only hilly, or flat, or TTs. Easy to go forward to check future days. Links to actual course profiles...Try it, you'll like it
As predicted, this was a terrible week at work. I got in modified Stages 1 and 2 of the Tour of Sufferlandria this weekend. Highest weekend TSS of the year. While I missed both FTP and SS workouts, I think that my cumulative Zn3-4 minutes added up. I’ll try to complete seven straight bike days this week. It will be a big bike week regardless of how it goes down.
@Ralph Moore : that is a serious upward trend. Work Works.
@Steve Theobald : I had a C6-7 endoscopic discectomy with an anterior approach (no bone cutting or replacement) in 1998. Instant relief and back racing in a few months. (Go minimalist with your pillow).
@John Stark , @Jeff Phillips , @Brian Hagan , @Ralph Moore all suffering in the TOS with me this week.
Thanks everyone for your thoughts and comments. I really appreciate it.
Got the rides in, but Sat was a little shorter then I wanted, did the sweet sport work, in TdZ stage 1, then went to add on the 15 FTP session and bike acted up again, so got off and took it to the mechanic. They spent some time on it and fixed it up. So I will hope on it tonight to do an unscheduled TdZ stage 9 to close out the tour.