Bike Training

atasic

 Here we go, week 15, SC adv. Thursday bike workout done today, 4x2.5min(2.5min)@120%.

120%=332W

intervals:   333W 336W 338W 335W  all on target

Tomorrow comes today's brick, will report PM.

Joe Hallatschek

Has anyone looked at the week 7 Saturday brick wko on the 12 week plan? This is that killer 2.5 hr wko that I couldn't do during the OS. I remember some discussion that the numbers might have been wrong. Anybody remember?

mkmiec

Regarding that week 7 of 12 week plan / week 15 of 20 week plan bike workout. That looks tough indeed! Not sure if it is a misprint or not. I have a sprint tri with a 20.5 mile ride and 4 mile run that same day, and frankly, I feel like the workout isnt that far off from an actual race. I'd bike further probably and in 20' run brick I'll get more than halfway through 4 miles.



The slated Sunday run workout the next day, with the 2 x 3/4 mile Z4 and 2 x 1000' Z5, is no joke either.





Today I did a Vo2 workout, 6 x 2.5 ON/OFF done, with a great mental push to maintain that last one. Woot!!

atasic

 Changed the workout today to 2x20min from adv. SC 5x2.5min. It came out good, hard but hit the numbers.

interval 1 xP 271W IF .98

interval 2 xP 273W IF .98

Easy run after as planned. Will post tomorrow scheduled run. 

Joe Hallatschek

Still feeling yesterday's run wko and some lingering fatigue from Tuesday's bike. Numbers weren't as strong as Tuesday. Looking forward to just a swim tomorrow. Remembering thos OS days when Friday was my off day - seems so long ago.

I think I am going to do the outdoor option for the bike session this weekend. At least that will make the intervals seems better and get me out of my pain cave and get some fresh air for a change!

Christy Beal

Yesterday went over my SC race route. I think I can do it 2x a week. Does that seem like a good idea to all or would it be better to ride different routes to train.

mkmiec

Christy,

I would think that practice makes perfect, so riding multiple times could be great.

I guess if it starts to get boring, or if there are other routes nearby that are more fun, you can change it up? 

Perhaps practice the harder portions of the route over and over again? like, if there is one big climb, practice riding that over and over?

I'm glad the weather is improving!

Christy Beal

@ Michael I think riding the harder portions is a good idea, that way I can keep it interesting. There are only so many ways I can ride around a 10 mile course though. Its been a long time since I set a short course goal!

I agree, nice to see some warm weather finally.

filarl

oh crap, starting on week 4 of the 12 wk SC plan and for tomorrow morning it's back up to 2x20 min already...

Joe Hallatschek

Linda - oh yeah. Those were some mind numbing sessions! As a HR guy, that drove me to finally put a rear wheel bike computer on so I could at least get cadence and speed also.

Next OS it'll be power for sure - hope the wko went well!

mkmiec

not sure about you guys, but I am really enjoying the Vo2 training.  Granted, I am  "enjoying" it more when I am DONE than when I am actually working, but feels great to bang those out!

 

Keep it up gang!!

Joe Hallatschek

Back with the living, pretty much. Did an outdoor ride and pushed it and tried to do the intervals as prescribed. This (week 16 Saturday brick) is a hard wko! Then got in a run at Z3 out and Z4 back. Now to rest up and finish off this cold! Looking forward to getting a good run in tomorrow and getting back on track.

atasic

 I opted to write about Week 18 RR in this thread and yes I am little behind, my apology. 

Little data background, I am 40 years old, 5'9", 155lbs, FTP tested in week 8 JOS 277W, about 4.0 W/kg, VDOT 54.6.

RR conducted on race course, rolling hills, few stop signs and lights and numbers are indeed lower due to stopping and restarting, I will give them raw as I will not engage in what they should have been, it is what it is. Very humid morning, temp 62F, humidity 88%, very wet roads from raining right up to beginning of the session. Two other athletes accompanied me as they are both racing the same race.

olympic distance targets:

bike 92-95%FTP      255W-263W

run HMP 6:30/mile      more on this later

I gave both athletes a head start as I am stronger on the bike than both, they had 30sec.

25.46mi (course is longer than standard)    time with WU 1:07:11  

First 15min power below prescribed 80-85% due to traffic lights.

lap 1    duration 19:48   avg speed 24.3mph  AP 263W xP 267W

lap 2    duration 32:19   avg speed 23.5mph  AP 255W xP 258W (few stops and braking for lights/ wet roads really affected it, both power and speed)

All in all ok, I am not super happy but it will do. I seem to not be able to touch the numbers I was producing on the trainer, maybe humidity, who knows.

Run is where I made a big mistake. It is rolling but with the huge chunk of it on a soft trail that got rained on whole night. I kept trying to push the pace I am supposed to be doing with disregard for actual conditions and what my body was telling.

I was on target for the first 1.5mi where the slowdown started and in the end quads cramping.

first .5mi uphill 6:44 pace

next 1.0mi  in the trail 6:37

next .67mi in the trail 6:51

Run pacing will get tweaking for the surface for sure. Cannot produce that same pace.

In summary, mediocre. While subjectively I am feeling stronger than ever, faster running than ever, the bike numbers seem to be hovering around my previous years. I broke indoor best FTP with OS in week 8 and than VO2max segment set me back for whatever reason. Than I dug a whole.......so no progress on the bike from week 8 JOS at least not in actual numbers. I was really expecting to go over 280-290W on FTP outdoors but cannot even match my trainer numbers.

Taper is feeling good. This morning I was done with 3x4min@FTP. Mentally ready to lay the hammer. My PR on this first race is 2 years old at 57:05. Will see if I can brake that.

Joe Hallatschek

Aleksandar - good summary. Humidity might have made all the difference. No way of telling in an experiment of one. I think the time and overall placing from the race will tell if you are fitter/faster than 2 years ago.

Also, sounds like you got the needed rest and got your mojo back.

mgraffeo

Jumping in to join you guys! in week 7 of the adv SC plan, modded the bike to an FTP session, 2x18. Solid for the first, though I forgot that I wasnt outside (crappy weather here put me on the trainer) and I worked it a bit too much, affecting the 2nd interval, where I had to take a break 11 minutes in, and could only accumulate 2 more minutes.

Off the bike, did a shorter brick run, realized that my legs were still finishing their recovery, and called it a day. Good to be back in real race training!

kimmydct

Jumping into SC week 12 after12 weeks of OS hurts! 2 x 20' Z4 bike was painful but got it done... barely. 1st 20mins @ .998 IF and 2nd 20 @ .936IF. Doesn't look good for test coming up in a couple of weeks. Lots of stress and juggling WKOs this week so I'll get through as much as I can and hope for better luck next week!