OS Week 18

s7334

Last week was pretty draining for me on the bike, the run is coming along very good but it feels like I hit a peak a week or two ago and cannot hold the same watts.

How does everyone tough through the longer intervals in the last few weeks?  Any suggestions on how to break through what may be a mental block?  All suggestions/input is welcome.

Steve

delesh

I had a pretty tough week mentally last week as well.
I made sure that I was recovering properly. I made sure I was eating enough good food and getting every last minute of sleep that I could squeeze out.

On the intervals I really focused on being very smooth with my power and getting into a nice groove.
I also paid attention to my breathing and made sure I wasn't hyperventilating with shallow breaths and instead inhaled deeply and exhaled all the way.

I felt stronger and stronger as the week went on and finished in a really nice place.
Surprisingly, I think the breathing focus helped me the most. Go figure.

talltim

Hey Steve. I can validate your experience. It seems that lots of folks hit a plateau and the transition from VO2 work back to FTP is jarring. It probably also coincides with a bit of accumulated physical fatigue and mental load too -- at least for most of us. As Coach R said in his podcast last week, near the end of the OS people are heading out on the knife edge in terms of what is sustainable physical and mental effort. Though the recovery is well baked into the week, I have seen many posts/comments of folks who seem to be feeling it anyway. I know I have been feeling pretty good during the workouts, but damn tired every day.

I think you'll find the focus/relaxation idea from David a good one. I also try to build into the longer FTP intervals, as suggested by Coach P some time ago. If you're a little under at the halfway mark and then push for the balance, your avg watts for the interval will probably be spot-on.