EB Season Road Map Check in
Testing... 1, 2...
Training seems to be on par. I'm having to do all of my weekly work on the trainer... which is working well with family stuff plus I like how in control I am of my time, planning, and TSS outlook. I am starting to look at more race weekends and wanted your opinion on a few things as I am now NINE weeks out from A race in CO.
• Should I test again? And when during the week would you do this? Numbers feel fine on the trainer but I feel WAY stronger (riding outdoors for 3+ hours well over .8 - .9 IF and HR recovering)
• MTB Races coming up: 50 miler June 8th (this Saturday), Tahoe Trail 100k July 13th, Off Road Assault on Mt Mitchell 100k (July 28th) I might need to opt into the 30 miler the day before and do the loop twice. Sunday we will take boys to Summer Camp.
• Should I be trying to hit a certain TSS for the week? Big ones seem to be coming in around 700-800 ish recovery ones are more 500-600... does this matter?
• Can I add two runs and maybe a upper body weights sesh back in during the week or nah?
Comments
@Emily Brinkley thanks for checking in. Just a couple clarification questions since we are connected.
First, are you using the same power meter indoors and out? Sometimes people are using their kickr Indoors but using a different power meter outside and that can lead to different numbers.
Second, are you taking any rest days during your week or are you being consistent throughout?
I am all about you resting racing as I think your best performance at leadville is a combination of fitness and Offroad confidence. Races will help you develop that. Plus, fun!!! 😂
We will need one more big week on the bike, probably about five weeks out where we peak your TSS close to 1200. That would be a solid week of cycling. Between now and then, you are welcome to extend any single ride outside of your race weekends. So our race week should be focused on speed and strength, but a week without a race could have a nice long bike ride in it.
I would love for you to do some short runs. It’s all about aerobic time and durability and a 2 to 3 mile run is a great way to stay fresh. You could easily do two or three of those a week when you have a small block of time.
~ Coach P
Yay on running. Assuming I can recover from the weekly work, I'll plan to add at least two runs on the days I have z/2 or recovery rides. And TRX?
Fun fact: If you look at my Final Surge data, you'll see I've been hitting the workouts pretty easily in TrainerRoad but with a more endurance/tempo HR (for me). I did 2x28 over/under in Zwift today at what I think my FTP is (15 watts higher than TrainerRoad), nailed it, and had more of that z4 HR I usually see when I am werkin' threshold.
I'm fairly confident I can manage the work load and races I have as part of my training. (My recovery time seems decent and I'm a crazy person about my sleep.) The only exception would be Tahoe Trail (July 13). I'd like to go in to that one a bit ready to race for better Leadville corral position and rehearsal.
The 5 weeks out BIG week would be week of July 4th. I'm still considering riding Fancy Gap>Linville one day that week. Maybe a big gravel loop as well.
Race this weekend got postponed due to weather. It's looking like a loooooong day on the trainer unless I drive to West Virginia.... pretty sure the entire East Coast is going to get it though. '
@Coach Patrick
I’m glad we figured out the problem with the power meters. That said, I think you are doing a great job right now of balancing work and recovery. I saw your note about taking a nap on Sunday and I was mega jealous. I definitely need to ramp up on my recovery game ASAP.
We need to balance the overall build to Leadville with your goal of peaking for this interim event on July 13. I don’t think it makes sense for us to have a big volume week over the fourth when less than a week later you’ve got a peak for another race. It might make more sense for us to, for the short term, focus on this July 13 race and use that as a tool to help you peak the volume (from that race into the next week) as the big volume block into Leadville.
Thoughts?
I mean, Leadville is my A race so if Tahoe has to just be a good training day/Race Rehearsal, so be it. I want to be ready when I get to that start line in CO.
Next week will be a big week for me, and I think I'm ok with it (full training week plus BSG 100 on Saturday/rest Sunday) That should get me close to 1000 for the week. That following Wednesday, June 26 will be a travel day to Leadville. I'm thinking Sunday, June 23rd rest day, Z2/Z3 work M/TU, travel Wed, ride hard-ish Thurs/Friday/Sat... I'm fairly certain I'll have two solid days of climbing under my belt with one day on the decents. Jay is meeting me out there for the Widespread Panic shows so recovery will be a bit off , I'm thinking? I'll prob take that Sunday/Monday off for the shows and travel back to NC.
Back to work Tuesday, July 2 with the plan. Follow it until the following Thursday, July 11th which will be a travel day. Friday will be a course recon easy-ish ride to make sure everything is in working order, race Saturday, and depending on flight details back will depend on what my training will look like on Sunday?
Back to work on the plan that Monday, July 15th.
Ugh that took me all day to think about... haha. I don't know how you do this for all the people. EB
I love it!! You are 100% ready to handle the volume, the key is going to be the recovery to be your best. I mean sleep, hydration, and protein. Don’t hesitate to take an extra day or dial one day back if you need to. The show should help you take some time off but still listen to your body. It’s been a while since you’ve hot that much TSS and in a stacked way. Love following your progress!
Mayday, Mayday!
Leadville training kicked my butt! It was my own fault I wasn't able to recover properly and had to go straight to Red Rocks (SAU points ) for Widespread Panic shows... walking the stairs after 2 days on intense MTB... and then going BACK to Red Rocks on Sunday really did me in. I'm trying to think of it as an alternative ABP workout. Yesterday was a travel day which I was still on my legs a ton, but did get my legs up and 1 3 hours of sleep last night LOLOL. I think I needed it.
Feeling super fatigued and guessing its just cumulative from travel/altitude/training/not a ton of recovery time -- and I really don't want to put myself in a hole.
All that being said, what do you think a typical recovery week should look like in this plan? I've got Tahoe coming up July 13th as well... and I really don't want to mess myself up.
As for Leadville updates:
I think it will be an easy z1-z2 spin on the trainer for me today during the soccer match and then back to work tomorrow with some good climbing on the MTB in this weekend. Thoughts?
Thank you so much for checking back in and for giving me the perspective on the total cost associated with riding out there. This is still a bit of an unknown for me so it’s super helpful to hear from you.
I agree, recovery in that first week is critical. Lots of easy stuff. We want you to be successful at this upcoming weekend but you can’t do it when you are hurting.
Remember that these intermediary races are also part of your bills. So this week I would do the following:
2 x 60’ on bike with max effort pyramid as 15” / 30” / 1’ / 2’ / 1’ / 30” / 15” - that’s 5.5’ of great work. You will want to ride super easy for two minutes after each interval, then three more minutes of zone two Watts before doing the next interval. Maybe one recon ride up 30 minutes to make sure the bike works and then race. So only four max rides this week.
Some steady short runs for frequency.
You can also go ahead and add in a strength circuit. Keep it simple. Something like five minutes where at the start of every minute you do five push-ups and then as many crunches or leglifts as you can do for the remainder of the minutes. Flip over five push-ups and repeat. Rest a few minutes, and then do some upper body band exercises with some planks or glute bridges to recover and you should be toast...in just ten minutes!
Riding to normalize power is pretty easy. You just want to set your main computer screen to show current lap normalize power in the top window and then set it to auto lap every three or 5 miles. This way you’re constantly working on the normalize power number that you want and aren’t overcoming any cumulative power numbers that are six or eight hours old.
YAAAAS -- Just posted my Race Plan in Racing Forums and super pumped to see you and I are on the same page. Check it out if you have the brain space at some point today!!
I did a small 10 min circuit of 12 push ups/30 bicycle and OMG my hip flexors hated me on my long ride Saturday. In hindsight, probably not smart to over work those poor lil muscles. Planking it out from here on out for some core work.
@Coach Patrick
Perfect. I would do 12 push ups, 24 crunches, 48 seconds of a plank, 1 minute of rest....repeat.
Yay to twin brains!!!
Ruh roh.... way burnt out on the drainer. Could barely hold V02 intervals this am. My 4 hour ride buddies are now requesting 2.5 tomorrow instead, and race is still on for Saturday.
Thinking to have a fun date day in DuPont single track on Sunday with Jay might help? We drop boys off at summer camp for two weeks Sunday am so I’ll have more opportunities to NOT be on the trainer next week and find my way outside...
Thoughts on moving weekend schedule around to 2 hours tomorrow at .7 ish Sat 3.5-4 at .7 ish and Sunday 2 hours at .65? @Coach Patrick
I absolutely love the idea of the singletrack date ride with hubby. Sounds like the perfect compromise, be sure to take it easy on him! I know that you are tired, and it’s OK to miss the high-end intervals on the trainer. That said, we do need that long ride so that we can avoid any potential Detraining affect from the downswing in your training time.
This means that out of all of these training sessions, your Saturday one is the most important. There will probably be some point in that ride were you want to shut it down but I want you to keep it rolling. I don’t care what the intensity is we just need that large volume does. Be able to stack Friday and Saturday close together will also be beneficial.
If intensity is not your friend, then I suggest you focus a little bit more on skills and bike handling while you’re out there living your epic life!
So much FUN this weekend. Took Monday off and was able to get a decent ride in today around .84 IF.
Thinking to switch my VO2 wko to tomorrow and 3 hour endurance ride on Friday before starting the drive to CO on Sat/Sun
1: just updated my race plan in forums
2: not sure what to do beside stretch A LOT on the drive out.
3: planning to ride Columbine with a group inn Wednesday next week. Other than that, should I just follow week that’s in FS?
and last, I think I’m going to go to NYC for the day this week to meet Jay while he is there for work which would mean rest day on Thursday. MMkkk hope LP is cooler than NC! Hugs to the fam 👋
Your plan sounds great, and I think that the final surge workouts will be a good counterpart in terms of intensity to facilitate the taper without too much baseline work which can make it flat. I do agree that getting out there on Columbine would be great for recon.
Essentially any recon you can do this week would be fantastic, not just to keep you sane but to have you mentally and technically prepared for the course.
It would be good if you can do some riding in the middle of the day as well so you get a sense of what the conditions will be like in case you need to make any modifications to your nutritional plan.
While you are a newbie at the race, you are a veteran in terms of your fitness. So be confident in the engine that you possess but be open to discussing strategy and tips of the others to see what you can learn that could potential he help you.
Some folks will just be chicken little running around all panicked but I’m sure you’ll meet folks who will give you some great advice and help you make constructive adjustments to your plan!
oh, and SLEEP!!!!