NOS Bike Thread Week 1
OK Team, This is how we start the OS : take tomorrow off!
OK, Actually, Take Tomorrow and read all of the OS prep materials in the Wiki. By now, you should have done a FTP test or know your FTP from a recent test. This is important to make sure that your OS workouts are correct for your fitness level. Make sure that you have the OS workouts correctly loaded into TrainerRoad or Zwift. Do some Yoga stretching for good measure. I have found Yoga and stretching to be particularly helpful as my hamstrings tighten up over the course of the bike and run workouts of the OS.
A couple of points about the OS that are worthy of mention. Some days are good, you hit your workout goals and it feels almost easy. Some days are hard and it feels like your legs are dead and you cannot pedal another stroke. That happens for lots of reasons other than the difficulty of the workout. Life Stress, Training stress, and general stuff can make what should be easy seem hard and vice versa. The key is consistency. Just do your best to get through the prescribed workout the best you can. If you need to cut a weekday workout down to the main set, do so and don't worry about it. Tomorrow will be another day. WE DO NOT "MAKE UP" MISSED WORKOUTS IN THE OS. If you miss a day, take it as a recovery day and strive to do better next time. If this is your first OS with the team and /or you are training for your first Iron-distance race, Relax, the plans seem easy in the beginning but the training stress will accumulate and before long, you will see the results. Coach Patrick has literally years of helping folks do things that they thought they could not do and this plan is what you need now. Trust in that, put your head down, and do your best.
And now for a peek at the fun to come...
Tuesday's bike workout is 3 intervals of increasing difficulty from just below your FTP to just at your FTP. The length of the interval varies based on the level of your plan.
Thursday's bike plan is 2 intervals at Zone 3 or just below your FTP.
Saturday's Bike plan calls for 2 hour ABP "always be pushing" ride. If you are inclined towards a group ride, consider joining one of the Team EN Sat Rides on Zwift. The "Hang on" ride is at 6:05 AM Eastern. When you get dropped (and you will) just keep riding to get your volume in and try to hang on longer next week.
Post your workouts and feedback in this thread and next Sunday, we will start another. Remember "Work Works". Also, the workouts are always easier when you wear red because it is the fastest color.
Comments
Where are the OS workouts for TrainerRoad? And instructions on getting them to work?
If I am understanding the Tuesday bike workout correctly , I have my indoor session pre programmed as follows:
1st interval at 80%, 2nd interval at 85%, and 3rd interval starting at 85% increasing to 100% for last several minutes.
Am I interpreting the workout correctly ? Thx
@David Ambrose yes, that is how the workout is written. The length of the interval is determined by the level of your OS plan.
@Sue DeJesus I do not know, you might check the NOS thread under announcements as there were some posts there regarding the TrainerRoad workouts.
I'm looking forward to joining you. I'm starting the bike a week late due to a relay that I have on Saturday. I plan to do an FTP test this week as well because I doubt that it's the same as it was for my August race.
@Ralph Moore I didn't realize that you were from Winston-Salem! I'm in the Raleigh area.
@Janyne Kizer Wow, neighbor. I did Raleigh 70.3 in 15 and 16. I hope you can make it to the Blue Ridge Camp in the spring.
So,
On the first official day of work for the NOS, I am at work (job work, not workout work)early which means that I will ride later today. I have the Zwift Workouts loaded and noticed that some of the actual workouts say 2019 in the title. It appears that these are workouts that did not change from last year whereas the ones labeled 2020 are changes to last year's plan.
After you finish your OS workout, drop a post in this thread with a screenshot and/or some thoughts on how it went. If it went great, share the reasons why to bring that mojo to the team (Mojo deposit). If it did not go well, mention why and you may find that your teammates can suggest opportunities for improvement next time (Mojo withdrawal).
If you have an inspirational meme or photo, drop it in here. Follow your teammates on Strava and other media and If you notice some amazing feat by an EN teammate, (Great Race last weekend @Tim Sullivan ) do not hesitate to let them know. The way to be able to do amazing stuff is to just do a little more each time. Soon, it may be you posting your Epic Exploits to the amazement of your teammates.
Now, GET TO WORK...
Blue Ridge Camp and Chattanooga 70.3 conflict so not this year...
Tuesday bike & run done.
2020 begins today.
@Sue DeJesus, the TrainerRoad workouts are there now (may have been pushed out after you looked). I used the "2020 OS Wk1 RF Tue L2" this morning. If you still can't find them, you may need to join the EN Team (on TrainerRoad).
I finished the threshold intervals this morning. It's not the best start to the OS, since my quads were still trashed from a long trail run Sunday, but I made it through. I'll do my run this afternoon.
Wow, first time on the bike in a year... Oh how I missed the jello leg's after an OS workout;-)
NOS Workout 1 in the books. Those intervals certainly got harder. Felt OK, not super strong but not too bad either.
First OS with a smart trainer following the WKO in ERG mode. There was no way off the train once the last 8min interval at FTP started. It didn’t help that I trusted my fitness enough to use my recently tested FTP. I typically dial it down 20w to “ease into the OS intensity,” but I was uncomfortable in London today.
Wow! In a good way folks. It’s likely been about two years since I’ve been in my pain cave on a bike trainer. All day I was really interested in how I would handle the workout once I got home in the early evening. Part of me worried i’d Crash and burn on the last interval. I have not formally FTP tested in many many moons , years actually, but have a sense (feeling) it’s around 210w, so for bike workout #1 I decided to set my FTP at 210w for the workout and see how things go. Overall a great workout; I was a tad cautious conservative on the intervals for this first go around.
Went for a total of 61 minutes with main set at:
2x 8min at 81% ; 8min at 85% to 100% and finished off with 15min at 70%
Got off the bike feeling energized and thinking I can bump up the interval power% a bit the next time time around; I only had time for a 10min run afterwards but legs felt good.
This evening brought back fond memories of my early EN years where I would bury myself in (at least back in the early EN years these were prescribed often)
2x 20min at 100% with remainder at 85% —— those used to be a sweat-fest in my garage.
Keep up the great start everyone; Work Works!
Welcome back, David... 2x20 will be on the schedule soon enough. Great to get WKO #1 under your belt!
@John Culberson Pro Tip, when on Zwift, if you have the companion app open on your phone, you can turn off ERG mode if things get desperate. I agree, there is a learning curve on successfully doing intervals using ERG mode. I actually posted a thread on FTP testing for the NOS in ERG mode.
@David Ambrose those fond memories of 2 x 20 at 100% will not seem so fond when we get back there. Any workout after you increase your FTP is also big fun so week 5 is always a crowd pleaser. Great to have you back to share in the fun.
@Ralph Moore : As a Sufferlandrian, I'm more "comfortable" with ERG mode than shifting gears! In the OS, desperate is good, particularly when you just increased your FTP.
@John Culberson I too love erg mode for the EN bike workouts. Back in my early EN years I trained indoors on a Computrainer so I kind of grew up with EN bike workouts using erg mode. I seem to do very well having the watts set by software and I must simply push the pedals. I use a Wahoo Kickr with PerfPRO Studio software.
A day late and a few watts short but NOS WKO 1 done! I’ve been fighting bronchitis so I gave myself an extra day before starting , although I did do a low endurance ride Monday night on the rail trail. It was rough but I got it done. “Best effort” was just a few watts higher than the 2nd interval but it was really the best I could do. I will see how I feel tomorrow and decide from there. I have a Cyclocross race Saturday so I won’t worry about missing Thursday intervals. Erring on the side of more rest at this point is prob smart.
@Kim DuBord Good Job! Listen to your body.
Thurs Wk 1 in the books, Definitely feels harder than it looks.
Also, I am not gonna lie, I bag that last 5 min of cooldown that is not the main set. Work is my excuse.
I have been in all running all the time mode for the last six weeks or so and have not been on Zwift. I have a relay this weekend and plan to join the bike workouts next week.
I meant to do my FTP ramp test last but after a Zwift update and a tvOS update, Zwift on AppleTV could see zero of my Bluetooth devices. I messed with it for 30-40 minutes and gave up. Later in the evening, I figured out that there was a new "privacy" setting that needed to be enabled for #AppleTV to allow #Zwift to use #Bluetooth. Thanks Apple! I feel much more private now!
settings>privacy>Bluetooth and re-enable the permissions for Zwift
(I was prompted to allow bluetooth when I first went into Zwift yesterday and I said yes but apparently it didn't take)
OK, so Sat and Sun rides happened. I did not do the prescribed long ride in favor of doing 2 team rides.
I did the 8 AM meetup ride on Sat AM with some nice intervals. The dynamic of the group ride in which you can't get dropped as long as you keep pedalling is interesting. Fun to keep the group together though.
Today was Cruise and Crush. I hit the first 50 min or so. Again, lots of Mojo with the team members whose Discord banter is both R Rated and super hilarious.
Check out that sweet HR spike to 220. Given that I was not pedalling very hard at that time, I am calling it a technical glitch. Maybe it is just that this team really knows how to get a person revved up!
Week 2 Bike thread coming up later today.
@Ralph Moore if you thought the banter was "R-rated" before you left, you should have stayed until Scott and I were cursing our way through the last climb...
Seriously, though, anyone who finds trainer work challenging should join us Sunday mornings!
Not sure that my recent FTP bump is compatible with the duration of three L3 bikes on Zwift. Really struggled with the third ride. I have previously reduced my FTP a bit early in the OS. I’ll also be backing down to L2 for a couple of weeks ;-)
@ John Culberson - I’ve thought myself whether to notched down the FTP a bit as the intervals get longer. I have thought about a question that is similar to one many ask in weight training.
Does one offer greater training adaptation than the other between these two choices, as an example:
@David Ambrose : 2x10min @90% is preferable. There has been som discussion regarding testing vs Zwift-racing determined FTP. I believe that the latter gives one an FTP that is difficult to apply to solo intervals... but difficult is what we are looking for. I’ll hold the FTP and drop down to L2 for a while. I MUST keep the run durability going through the winter!