I now have a bad cold, so tried to convince myself to take a rest day... but without a fever, I figured that I’d at least get into the ring with the Gorilla. My take is that without a fever, a good hard WKO, without to much duration is fine... and today’s intervals were just that! Hard, but not long enough to create too much TSS. I chose the Team EN version and used the up/down to toggle the ramps. Ended up with an appropriate:
12:00@IF=.83
12:00@IF=.94 with last 3min@ IF=1.0
12:00@IF=1.08 with last 3min @ IF=1.1
Bonus: Fastest HR’s (5s-20’) for the year. Might indicate that my body wasn’t running on all cylinders, but I went the distance. Next week its 2x18 with ramps.
@Jacklyn Moore Dang... 3 min at 250w at the start... that must of hurt!
@Gordon Cherwoniak While I’ve lost 20 bpm on on HR since age 40, I have’t lost a comparable percentage of speed or FTP. I know from experience that 3x12’ means that my relatively weak Muscular Endurance at this time of year will result in difficulty doing the work necessary to reach the numbers that others are hitting. (@John Katsoudas found 160bpm “downright easy.” Don’t worry, RPE will assure that you are doing the work.
@Mark McCombe That’s a Maximum Aerobic Capacity WKO like a Zwift Race!
@wendy Great flexibility once on board... midway through the second interview is where the WKO begins anyway ;-)
@Bill Eckert Your ramp WKO ended up looking a lot like my numbers. I actually enjoyed pushing the “up button” every 2 min!
felt a bit buggy yesterday and only got Tuesday's wko done today. Ramped up the 1st two intervals and hung on by my fingernails for the last interval. I think it's clear that @Bill Eckert is correct about the Tuesday intervals.
Hey all, had a crazy weekend and think I got something. Also slept like shizz last night. Apologies for not being more engaged over the last few days. I DO want to thank everyone here for the incredible engagement this OS, let's keep it up as we are going to need each other more and more as we get deeper into this!!!
Good run on the 9x400 today, i was able to push the pace a bit compared to two weeks ago. I love running on Zwift especially on May Field, it feels like i'm at the track outside. But yesterday's bike was painful, first interval was IF=0.82, second one IF=0.99 but i could't push the last one, when you're struggling the ERG mode destroys your legs pretty quickly by making it so hard to push the pedals so i only was able to do IF = 1.0 on very tired legs and was a bit disappointed.
But I remembered what @scott dinhofer said in one of his post that all the work counts and that you have to finish the interval even if you're struggling, so i did.. that was a good mental exercise!
@Vincent Sivirine - good job on finishing it and I had some issues mentally in the 3rd interval as well!
when you say you had the ERG destroying you pretty badly, what was your cadence at? one thing to do is try to get your cadence in the low90s before starting an interval and keep it there.. it helps..
@scott dinhofer I was overly enthusiastic last night about biking with a bad cold. Slept like shizz... worse today. Unlike an injury, I should be able to ramp back to the JOS work by the weekend. Zn 2 for an hour on Sat/Sun with some short runs... only if things go well. My tight hamstring has returned to normal, unless I repeat my mistakes of last week. A little frustrated, but see the opportunity to put this 14 week JOS puzzle together.
@scott dinhofer yes i always ride around 90 rpm cadence but when I'm on ERG mode and i get very fatigued then my cadence drops and therefore the trainer compensate by increasing the resistance to generate same power, then it becomes harder to turn the legs, resistance increases, deadly spiral . i know that when it happens i have to force myself to increase cadence but i think the slowing cadence / increasing cadence on fatigued legs gets you to the point of no return faster.
I love the ERG mode as long as i can keep a high cadence, when that is no longer possible it takes me to the "dark side" quick..
I'm baaaaack! Did you miss me? I missed you all but I missed my bike more. 😁
I was out in Charlottesville VA for a few days visiting my mother in law. The point of the trip was to see her and do some chores that she needed help with, so workouts were very low priority. I did get a few runs in and lots of walking. But alas, no biking. Too much trouble to take all the gear and it was cold there.
I got back late last night and did the Tuesday bike workout after work. I agree that the workout description is vague, but personally I like the ramp up version. I SWAGed my FTP at 220 so my first interval was at 180 in Zwift. I started there and added 1% every minute and ended up around 200. The second was 220 to start so I started at 95% (210) and worked up to 108% or 230 watts. The 3rd interval was 240 so I started at 110% (~220) and worked up to 108% again which was 256 watts. The last 3-4 minutes was all above 250 watts and it was hard. That last 3 minutes was about 116% of my FTP. By contrast, if I would have done the interval at 240 it would have been 109%. With the ramp the IF was 1.10 so I got an extra 1% of work in. Probably insignificant, but hey, I did it.
Keep up the good work folks. It will pay off in your races this year.
I got in the 2x15' sweet spot intervals done today, with 5 min rest in between. 0.90 IF for both. Physically my legs felt fine and my HR was in line with where I expected, but the RPE was higher. Work has been mentally grinding the past week due to internal politics, positioning, etc. so while I'm going to bed early and eating well, my system feels fatigued from the drama.
The OS is a good reprieve, but I certainly can tell the difference when additional stress is present.
@Mark Maurer welcome back, those extra 1%'s add up over 14 weeks.
Solid work everyone, with @Shaughn Simmons over the top with the 3X15'.
@Jeff Phillips It's good to note and keep on top of the stress factors in life. If you can't avoid them then dial it down slightly when overly fatigued.
2X18' for me interestingly enough my power meter kicked in during the last interval to confirm I was pushing enough watts or slightly higher at the end. Given my estimated FTP in WKO5 was 234 a week or so ago I might just be in the wheel house. I've picked up a few more watts and should be around 240. That puts me about 20 watts off my all time high so I'm going to really have to work for the increases now.
Final musing. In looking at the last two bike workouts I almost convinced myself to increase from L2 to L3. Why? For 2 more minutes of work I can get an extra minute of rest. Seems like a good return. Given my restless sleep last night I know I'm on the edge and pushing hard enough so used discretion going in to my rest day tomorrow to ensure recovery and not wreak havoc on downstream workouts.
Got the W3 Sat ride done today! 70' @ 0.87 IF, 15' @ 1.0 IF, 15' @0.8 IF. I'm still grinding away at the Tron bike in Zwift (50% done now), so I climbed Alpe du Zwift for the umpteen thousandth time. Set a new PR on it, which was cool. Losing a little weight over the last few weeks has had a surprisingly big effect on speed going up the Alpe in Zwift.
Got those run intervals done yesterday, and am getting more comfortable going "fast" on the treadmill. For some reason, I'm concerned I'll trip on that thing. As I gained comfort with it, I kept increasing my pace as I progressed through the 9x400s.
Just wrapped up the sweet spot intervals on the bike. 2x15' at 0.87 IF and 0.91 IF. They felt tougher today than expected; probably a combination of mounting work stress and the strength session completed earlier this morning. Cranked up the AC/DC, tried to disengage my mind from the discomfort, and powered through.
Got in the 2X18' intervals this morning@.92, .94. Felt much better this morning vs. yesterday. It has been cold and very dry here(cold for us, that is), think I let myself get a little dehydrated.
1 hour 40' on today's ride. If my power meter was working I'm sure I'd have more TSS this week than last.
40'zn3 then 2X6' zn4 limped home 2X10' zn3. The FTP work broke me this week, split the interval and had to do similar with the final 20' coming home.
Solid workout and I could feel the lack of calories and I'm always working on body comp in the OS. Don't want to Jinx it but following the Hoff Chirstmas challenged I went the wrong way for a week and just picked it back up sloly in the OS. Closing in on my next milestone of 199 lbs which I was targeting for the start of the OS.
I did the L2 wko this afternoon. The 15 minutes of FTP after 70 minutes of Z3 was tough. I got some help though. At about 10 minutes in this came up on my playlist https://youtu.be/mk48xRzuNvA (if you don't want to click on it, it's the song Hall of Fame) That lasted until about 13 minutes then Born to Run blasted through to carry me home. I only did a couple of minutes of the Z3 after that and went to the cool down.
133 TSS, 183 NP 0.84 IF Relaxing with my Air Relax boots now and a wee dram of Jamison. Hot tub next and then to bed.
Got the Saturday ride in yesterday. 80' at Z3 and 15' at Z4. Like @Gordon Cherwoniak , my legs were feeling the work from the week, especially having done the 9 x 400 the previous day. Definitely want to keep that interval run on Wednesday next week. Dialed things back a little from what I had planned and stayed in low Z3. Split the 80' into 4 x 20'. IF 0.79, 0.82, 0.80, 0.79. The 15' at Z4 was tough. Did not even want to start it and wanted to quit the whole time doing it. Somehow pushed through and got it done. IF was 0.98. I split the workout into 2 sessions that I did one right after the other. So a short break after the first two 20' intervals to start the next workout. Then had to take a break after interval 3 to eat a couple of apples and some clif bloks. Experimenting with how long I can go without fueling. In the end TSS 139.
Used the Sunday Cruise and Crush for my weekend long ride. This is always hard work for me to be able to stay with the group, so my HR was in Z3 and beyond for a good chunk of the ride; once I was hopelessly behind the group and on my own, I felt a little free to back off a bit and let the HR come back down. I even managed to get my block of time in Z4 in while on my own out there, too. For some reason, this was not as much of a challenge for me as doing so in the midweek workouts (probably because I find myself trying to close the time gap between me and the next rider ahead...). I'm always amazed at the watts I can do in this event.
In the end, both Zwift and Training Peaks informed me that my FTP has increased by a few watts. And several all time power records for me in Training Peaks from this morning (5 sec, 1 min, 10 min, 20 min, 60 min, and 90 min). Overall IF for the ride today: 1.01.
Like @Wendy Kelly i did the EN Sunday Crush and Cruise as my long weekend ride. Couldn't keep up with the group - but did get a good WKO in and earned my EN Zwift jersey. Nice chatter on Discord including a Serbian professional rider.
Lots of chest congestion, but emerging from sick bay. 60’ @zone 3 seemed to be a good re-entry. Hooked-up a much improved video monitoring system in the pain cave, so looking forward to returning to L2 Bike Form on Tuesday. Trying not to be frustrated with the 4 days off. Everyone else seems to be takin’ care of business.
Hey @John Culberson good to see you on the Alpe today! I got the W4 Tues WO done. 2 x 15' with the first one building form Z3 to Z4 and the second building from z4 to Z5. Felt good! Legs felt like lead at the start of the brick run but they loosened up a bit and felt good by the end.
wow, while I have been busy skiing with @Al Truscott and trust me every day is a workout. 2 days ago I had my butt kicked by 3 70 yr olds who ski everyday, and yesterday my friend who is a former pro-mogul tour skier and her 22 yr old nephew just out of the military schooled me on bumps, not to mention all the fresh snow we are pushing around.
@Andrew Lustigman & @Wendy Kelly - great job on the CnC this week! consider "weight doping" to stay with the group. the cruise part of the ride is supposed to be zone 2ish.. with soul crushing efforts on the sprints & KOMs, i understand what happens when you fall behind as I have a few times.. hard not to be in Zone 3.
here's a shot from the top of the back bowls looking at Blue Sky Basin
Comments
@Andrew Lustigman - Google?! "endurance nation on zwift"
https://www.endurancenation.us/teamen-on-zwift/#schedule
I now have a bad cold, so tried to convince myself to take a rest day... but without a fever, I figured that I’d at least get into the ring with the Gorilla. My take is that without a fever, a good hard WKO, without to much duration is fine... and today’s intervals were just that! Hard, but not long enough to create too much TSS. I chose the Team EN version and used the up/down to toggle the ramps. Ended up with an appropriate:
12:00@IF=.83
12:00@IF=.94 with last 3min@ IF=1.0
12:00@IF=1.08 with last 3min @ IF=1.1
Bonus: Fastest HR’s (5s-20’) for the year. Might indicate that my body wasn’t running on all cylinders, but I went the distance. Next week its 2x18 with ramps.
@Jacklyn Moore Dang... 3 min at 250w at the start... that must of hurt!
@Gordon Cherwoniak While I’ve lost 20 bpm on on HR since age 40, I have’t lost a comparable percentage of speed or FTP. I know from experience that 3x12’ means that my relatively weak Muscular Endurance at this time of year will result in difficulty doing the work necessary to reach the numbers that others are hitting. (@John Katsoudas found 160bpm “downright easy.” Don’t worry, RPE will assure that you are doing the work.
@Mark McCombe That’s a Maximum Aerobic Capacity WKO like a Zwift Race!
@wendy Great flexibility once on board... midway through the second interview is where the WKO begins anyway ;-)
@Bill Eckert Your ramp WKO ended up looking a lot like my numbers. I actually enjoyed pushing the “up button” every 2 min!
@John Culberson . Yes. Yes it did. My legs were burning the whole time. It was great!
felt a bit buggy yesterday and only got Tuesday's wko done today. Ramped up the 1st two intervals and hung on by my fingernails for the last interval. I think it's clear that @Bill Eckert is correct about the Tuesday intervals.
@scott dinhofer - that's great looking profile of work!
@John Culberson nice work despite the cold!
Hey all, had a crazy weekend and think I got something. Also slept like shizz last night. Apologies for not being more engaged over the last few days. I DO want to thank everyone here for the incredible engagement this OS, let's keep it up as we are going to need each other more and more as we get deeper into this!!!
Good run on the 9x400 today, i was able to push the pace a bit compared to two weeks ago. I love running on Zwift especially on May Field, it feels like i'm at the track outside. But yesterday's bike was painful, first interval was IF=0.82, second one IF=0.99 but i could't push the last one, when you're struggling the ERG mode destroys your legs pretty quickly by making it so hard to push the pedals so i only was able to do IF = 1.0 on very tired legs and was a bit disappointed.
But I remembered what @scott dinhofer said in one of his post that all the work counts and that you have to finish the interval even if you're struggling, so i did.. that was a good mental exercise!
Good luck you all for tomorrow's bike.
@Vincent Sivirine - good job on finishing it and I had some issues mentally in the 3rd interval as well!
when you say you had the ERG destroying you pretty badly, what was your cadence at? one thing to do is try to get your cadence in the low90s before starting an interval and keep it there.. it helps..
@Andrew Lustigman I had a hard time finding the page myself, so when I did I bookmarked it. Here it is:
https://www.endurancenation.us/teamen-on-zwift/
@scott dinhofer I was overly enthusiastic last night about biking with a bad cold. Slept like shizz... worse today. Unlike an injury, I should be able to ramp back to the JOS work by the weekend. Zn 2 for an hour on Sat/Sun with some short runs... only if things go well. My tight hamstring has returned to normal, unless I repeat my mistakes of last week. A little frustrated, but see the opportunity to put this 14 week JOS puzzle together.
@scott dinhofer yes i always ride around 90 rpm cadence but when I'm on ERG mode and i get very fatigued then my cadence drops and therefore the trainer compensate by increasing the resistance to generate same power, then it becomes harder to turn the legs, resistance increases, deadly spiral . i know that when it happens i have to force myself to increase cadence but i think the slowing cadence / increasing cadence on fatigued legs gets you to the point of no return faster.
I love the ERG mode as long as i can keep a high cadence, when that is no longer possible it takes me to the "dark side" quick..
I'm baaaaack! Did you miss me? I missed you all but I missed my bike more. 😁
I was out in Charlottesville VA for a few days visiting my mother in law. The point of the trip was to see her and do some chores that she needed help with, so workouts were very low priority. I did get a few runs in and lots of walking. But alas, no biking. Too much trouble to take all the gear and it was cold there.
I got back late last night and did the Tuesday bike workout after work. I agree that the workout description is vague, but personally I like the ramp up version. I SWAGed my FTP at 220 so my first interval was at 180 in Zwift. I started there and added 1% every minute and ended up around 200. The second was 220 to start so I started at 95% (210) and worked up to 108% or 230 watts. The 3rd interval was 240 so I started at 110% (~220) and worked up to 108% again which was 256 watts. The last 3-4 minutes was all above 250 watts and it was hard. That last 3 minutes was about 116% of my FTP. By contrast, if I would have done the interval at 240 it would have been 109%. With the ramp the IF was 1.10 so I got an extra 1% of work in. Probably insignificant, but hey, I did it.
Keep up the good work folks. It will pay off in your races this year.
3 X 15'(5') this morning in Zwift London:
Got in the 2 x 20'(5') today. IF 0.91, 0.92. Right in the sweet spot.
Great work @Shaughn Simmons and @Bill Eckert
I got in the 2x15' sweet spot intervals done today, with 5 min rest in between. 0.90 IF for both. Physically my legs felt fine and my HR was in line with where I expected, but the RPE was higher. Work has been mentally grinding the past week due to internal politics, positioning, etc. so while I'm going to bed early and eating well, my system feels fatigued from the drama.
The OS is a good reprieve, but I certainly can tell the difference when additional stress is present.
@Mark Maurer welcome back, those extra 1%'s add up over 14 weeks.
Solid work everyone, with @Shaughn Simmons over the top with the 3X15'.
@Jeff Phillips It's good to note and keep on top of the stress factors in life. If you can't avoid them then dial it down slightly when overly fatigued.
2X18' for me interestingly enough my power meter kicked in during the last interval to confirm I was pushing enough watts or slightly higher at the end. Given my estimated FTP in WKO5 was 234 a week or so ago I might just be in the wheel house. I've picked up a few more watts and should be around 240. That puts me about 20 watts off my all time high so I'm going to really have to work for the increases now.
Final musing. In looking at the last two bike workouts I almost convinced myself to increase from L2 to L3. Why? For 2 more minutes of work I can get an extra minute of rest. Seems like a good return. Given my restless sleep last night I know I'm on the edge and pushing hard enough so used discretion going in to my rest day tomorrow to ensure recovery and not wreak havoc on downstream workouts.
Got the W3 Sat ride done today! 70' @ 0.87 IF, 15' @ 1.0 IF, 15' @0.8 IF. I'm still grinding away at the Tron bike in Zwift (50% done now), so I climbed Alpe du Zwift for the umpteen thousandth time. Set a new PR on it, which was cool. Losing a little weight over the last few weeks has had a surprisingly big effect on speed going up the Alpe in Zwift.
Got those run intervals done yesterday, and am getting more comfortable going "fast" on the treadmill. For some reason, I'm concerned I'll trip on that thing. As I gained comfort with it, I kept increasing my pace as I progressed through the 9x400s.
Just wrapped up the sweet spot intervals on the bike. 2x15' at 0.87 IF and 0.91 IF. They felt tougher today than expected; probably a combination of mounting work stress and the strength session completed earlier this morning. Cranked up the AC/DC, tried to disengage my mind from the discomfort, and powered through.
Got in the 2X18' intervals this morning@.92, .94. Felt much better this morning vs. yesterday. It has been cold and very dry here(cold for us, that is), think I let myself get a little dehydrated.
Spin class KICKED MY BUTT! We did a power burn out. I was the last female standing. OUCH.
Looking ofrward to tomorrows 2 hour ZWIfT ride with my new JERSEY! Ya.
Happy Saturday team! Some early morning Team EN HangOn ride work:
Thereafter some Z3 and Z2 work
🤢
1 hour 40' on today's ride. If my power meter was working I'm sure I'd have more TSS this week than last.
40'zn3 then 2X6' zn4 limped home 2X10' zn3. The FTP work broke me this week, split the interval and had to do similar with the final 20' coming home.
Solid workout and I could feel the lack of calories and I'm always working on body comp in the OS. Don't want to Jinx it but following the Hoff Chirstmas challenged I went the wrong way for a week and just picked it back up sloly in the OS. Closing in on my next milestone of 199 lbs which I was targeting for the start of the OS.
Good luck for 199 @Gordon Cherwoniak
I did the 3R Steady Ride today with some other ENrs -- it's always a great time on discord. 2 hr 35 min, 164 TSS, IF 0.8.
It felt like a good alternative to the workout, although I missed the 15' at FTP -- but I got some Z4 work in some surges and hills in Zwift.
I did the L2 wko this afternoon. The 15 minutes of FTP after 70 minutes of Z3 was tough. I got some help though. At about 10 minutes in this came up on my playlist https://youtu.be/mk48xRzuNvA (if you don't want to click on it, it's the song Hall of Fame) That lasted until about 13 minutes then Born to Run blasted through to carry me home. I only did a couple of minutes of the Z3 after that and went to the cool down.
133 TSS, 183 NP 0.84 IF Relaxing with my Air Relax boots now and a wee dram of Jamison. Hot tub next and then to bed.
Got the Saturday ride in yesterday. 80' at Z3 and 15' at Z4. Like @Gordon Cherwoniak , my legs were feeling the work from the week, especially having done the 9 x 400 the previous day. Definitely want to keep that interval run on Wednesday next week. Dialed things back a little from what I had planned and stayed in low Z3. Split the 80' into 4 x 20'. IF 0.79, 0.82, 0.80, 0.79. The 15' at Z4 was tough. Did not even want to start it and wanted to quit the whole time doing it. Somehow pushed through and got it done. IF was 0.98. I split the workout into 2 sessions that I did one right after the other. So a short break after the first two 20' intervals to start the next workout. Then had to take a break after interval 3 to eat a couple of apples and some clif bloks. Experimenting with how long I can go without fueling. In the end TSS 139.
@Shaughn Simmons @Gordon Cherwoniak @Jeff Phillips Work!!! Way to get it done!
@Mark Maurer Good tunes! After the workout, air boots and Jamison would have equaled pass out in the recliner for me.
Used the Sunday Cruise and Crush for my weekend long ride. This is always hard work for me to be able to stay with the group, so my HR was in Z3 and beyond for a good chunk of the ride; once I was hopelessly behind the group and on my own, I felt a little free to back off a bit and let the HR come back down. I even managed to get my block of time in Z4 in while on my own out there, too. For some reason, this was not as much of a challenge for me as doing so in the midweek workouts (probably because I find myself trying to close the time gap between me and the next rider ahead...). I'm always amazed at the watts I can do in this event.
In the end, both Zwift and Training Peaks informed me that my FTP has increased by a few watts. And several all time power records for me in Training Peaks from this morning (5 sec, 1 min, 10 min, 20 min, 60 min, and 90 min). Overall IF for the ride today: 1.01.
Like @Wendy Kelly i did the EN Sunday Crush and Cruise as my long weekend ride. Couldn't keep up with the group - but did get a good WKO in and earned my EN Zwift jersey. Nice chatter on Discord including a Serbian professional rider.
Lots of chest congestion, but emerging from sick bay. 60’ @zone 3 seemed to be a good re-entry. Hooked-up a much improved video monitoring system in the pain cave, so looking forward to returning to L2 Bike Form on Tuesday. Trying not to be frustrated with the 4 days off. Everyone else seems to be takin’ care of business.
Hey @John Culberson good to see you on the Alpe today! I got the W4 Tues WO done. 2 x 15' with the first one building form Z3 to Z4 and the second building from z4 to Z5. Felt good! Legs felt like lead at the start of the brick run but they loosened up a bit and felt good by the end.
wow, while I have been busy skiing with @Al Truscott and trust me every day is a workout. 2 days ago I had my butt kicked by 3 70 yr olds who ski everyday, and yesterday my friend who is a former pro-mogul tour skier and her 22 yr old nephew just out of the military schooled me on bumps, not to mention all the fresh snow we are pushing around.
@Andrew Lustigman & @Wendy Kelly - great job on the CnC this week! consider "weight doping" to stay with the group. the cruise part of the ride is supposed to be zone 2ish.. with soul crushing efforts on the sprints & KOMs, i understand what happens when you fall behind as I have a few times.. hard not to be in Zone 3.
here's a shot from the top of the back bowls looking at Blue Sky Basin