Transition weeks as Bike Focus Block
When I set out my year plan, I identified a ‘contingency bike block’ in case my bike FTP wasn’t where I wanted it at the end of OS. Well, it’s looking like my bike isn’t gonna be where I want it (more crying about that in a different thread).
Given the following broad strokes:
-three weeks to work with. Maybe four.
-most stuff still indoors, but I'm fine with that
-I want to keep maintenance running in there only to the minimum required to ensure no decrease in pace(s)
-I’m probably good up to about 10h / week cycling as a total footprint in that period
-I seem to get better adaptations from intensity as a ‘single sport crash’ than concurrent R and B
and assume:
test at end of OS shows not too much ceiling to gain
run is exactly where i want it
Would this get at it?
M rest / swim
T bike FT + brick EP (like normal OS – 20’ and strides, maybe)
W run FT (maybe FT intervals as 3 x 1mi to max 19:30’ work, don’t get fussed about RI time)
T bike FT + sweet spot (as in Tuesday, maybe to up to 1:30 with 85% stuff)
F rest / swim
S Bike 6 x 2.5 vo2 / long + brick EP (total 2 - 3h; run as 30’ EP or 15’EP out/15’ HMP back)
S Bike FT + sweet spot as in Thurs. Optional 30’ EP run as brick.
This is probably most consistent with the intensity bike discipline focus P discusses in the wiki, but I’d like to hear thoughts from others.
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Comments
you know what you can handle better than anyone else. My initial reaction is that 3 FTP sessions plus a VO2 session on the bike in a week is enough work that I'd plan for the wednesday run to be more of an EP run with strides than a FT run. I'd also back away from the 3 bricks, maybe down to 1-2. You won't lose much run fitness in a space like this.
Personally, I'd probably move the Bike VO2 session to Tuesday, go for an EP run with strides on Wednesday, do a 20-30' TT on Thursday, do a 2 x 20 on Saturday, and then plan to spend as much time as possible at 85% on Sunday. But, again, you know yourself better than the rest of us.
When would this be kicking in? I'm also a touch concerned that this would be during your 'transition' weeks, since that's the timeframe where you consolidate a lot of the work you've done for the 20 weeks of OS.
Dave - My thoughts, and that's all they all, just things to think about, not really advice:
If your ceiling is peaked, why are you spending energy on VO2 work?
I know you've been round and round about this, but I get the feeling that the best chance for getting ready for IM training after getting all you can out of the OS is to emphasize middle distance rides (2-4 hours) with a bunch of 80-85% work. And maybe pushing the upper part of that envelope in the last hour of each ride, to max the chance it might help raise your race capable power level.
Anyway, what I do with Big Bike weeks is go for steady (5-6%) long climbs that last a while (5-8 miles), so that informs my thoughts. But if this is all indoors, then pushing at that level for 3-4 hours is IMHO not feasible day after day. Any way to get some of this outside? A long weekend in AZ?
@Dave, before I continue suggesting on your presented weekly schedule, let me ask you a few questions:
1. How do you feel about longer continuos FTP work, 95-100%FTP for 30-45-50-55min length, one shot.
2. What do you think about 3x20min(5min)@FTP, are you up for that
1 and 2 require serious recovery effort after. Never did 2 but did 1, it was a powerfull medicine. If you are reaching a plateau, Skiba and few authors suggest very judicious change in stimulus. Coggan suggest good category 3 and 2 riders build to 3x20min and than some.
Plateaus require a drastic approach from time to time.
VO2max work in form of maintenance mode is recommeded by Skiba after you finished with the focus. That looks good, just dial it in at maintenance level.
I have a few concerns about your week, but as Mike indicated, you are your own best judge. Let me know first what you think about 1 and 2.
All of this is only if you are sure you are stagnating. As idicated above, fitness gains can be obscured by incurred fatigue. I would allow myself at least one easy transition week, test again and conclude with condition assesment. No improvement, change the stimulus.
1. As Aleksander said, longer FTP work and more sets
2. Also, I seem to recall you mentioning once you were very good at 85-90% or somewhere in that area. One guy said he was doing 5 x 20' @ 90 with a 10' rest period thrown in. Two times a week. He also had 2 days a week at tempo. Claimed his w/kg rose from 3.82 to 4.4. Basically the guy upped his FTP 40 points
3. Don't think this helps in the short term but I found it to be a good read. Seems like it would work better if you were going to take a big block of mainly cycling. http://www.peakscoachinggroup.com/Articles/the_next_level.pdf
Good luck!
First, some background. This is about plateau bustin.' Last year, I had similar questions about how to make gains in my run work - I felt like I had maxed out the OS and wasn't getting to where I could be - and the advice of the board brought me to a single-sport run block in 'pre-OS' that gave me a very large bump that I've been able to carry across the OS. So, it's not that I'm completely immune to gains that can come from FTP or v02 max work ... it's just that I think I might have maxed them out based on what my system can absorb as presented in the OS model when I am combining the two disciplines. (Note for new readers that I have *many* successful OS's following this system, and they work ... I just want to move outside myself and break through). Short version: A concentrated block of running moved me to the next level, and I'm hoping the same would be true for bike.
Mike: solid advice on the run. As I'm envisioning the block, it would be all about the bare minimum running. When I've done big bike volume blocks in the past, the infrequency of running has really been a consequence more than a choice, so I think it will probably work out to be much like you are suggesting.
And on the overarching "you know your body" piece ... I can take some WAGs about bike work, and the knowledge that bike stuff is going to be much more sustainable than a 'crash' period of running or multisport. But we'll see how it plays out.
Current thinking about when this would kick in: I'm in w 14 of Nov OS at the moment, and would have a 2 week trans with a 12-week training season leading to CDA. So, I'm thinking this block would be w19 and 20 of OS and the 2-week trans. One of your earlier posts - 'the only things that matter are the VDOT and FTP you are exiting the OS with' - is the prevailing guidance on this.
Al, I can always count on plenty to think about with your posts. Why did I include v02 work? Honestly? It's because I see it in the last 4 weeks of the OS plan, and figured it must be there for a reason. However, reading further to Aleksandar's comment about Skiba's 'maintenance' recommendation, I feel like there must be something to it. (I was also interested to keep it in there to see my responses in a (mostly) single-sport context. To illustrate: when I followed the run-only block in the autumn, I was a v02 superstar - I really excelled at these, and felt like they were working insofar as they were achieving the intended adaptations. They were hard, but i could hit even the longer intervals at pace. Flash forward to trying v02 run during the OS, and I was dying at 300m at speeds I had earned and been at many many times before.
Good point on outdoor riding. This should occur when roads are clearer, so weekend rides are possible. Riding in AZ is a different beast for me - my work there is about 'go far in your aerobars with many 40' blocks of 85%' - so it will instead be coinciding with an early IM Training week.
Aleksandar: Interesting suggestion about the longer FT blocks. I had seen some of Trent's posts about comparable sessions and these had piqued my interest. Here's my problem and a physical limiter: a 'kink' in my external iliac artery frequently impairs my ability to push sustained watts (the leg goes 'wooden' after maybe 10' running at LT or 15-20' riding at FTP. Sometimes longer, sometimes shorter. After a minute or two standdown, though, all is well and I can return to hard work for the same duration). But this is random, so if some days I'm feeling it, I can probably push to the longer intervals.
All that said, the 3 x 20 option would probably be doable.
Tucker: I don't visit the wattage forum. I will. 5 x 20' at 90 is very doable, and is my kind of work. Which is either very good to play to my strengths, or very bad to neglect other systems that might benefit from earnest attention. But recognizing that the goal is spitting out a faster IM biker at the other end, both are probably okay. Also, thanks for the link. Added to my weekend reading.
Patrick: currently in week 14 OS, then 2 weeks trans, then 12 weeks IM training.
Patrick - thoughts on timing?