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Past EN Plans vs New EN Plans
Question for WSM's.
The older Full IM plans EN used to do were a max of 6 hours on Saturday's with Zone 2 and 3 mixed in.
The newer Full IM Plans are 7 hours zone 1.
Just curious as to why things have changed.
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I see the value of it.
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@John Schneider the 7 hour challenge rides are not a frequent occurrence in the plan from I have seen. Those are meant as challenge rides to accumulate time in the saddle. Almost like a couple of volume boosts throughout the IM build. The other Saturdays were changed to a shorter more intense ride of 4 hours with z4 intervals. Intent being similar TSS without logging 6 hour rides in case you are time restricted. If you can add more z2 time on a Saturday ride and run afterward, that is almost always going to be beneficial as you dial in nutrition, bike fit etc to set you up for the best race day experience. The caveat being that the added time on Saturday doesn't negatively affect downstream workouts like your Sunday long run or abp ride depending on where you are in the plan. So if you are sticking to shorter 4 hour rides most weeks, the 7 hour challenge ride can really highlight any fit or possible nutrition issues you have that may not present in a 4 hour ride. I also think it's nice to break away from the planned intervals setting and have a long bike day where effectively if you are riding you are checking off the workout but also having fun.
Also @John Schneider I'm not a WSM so #disclaimer haha but @matt limbert may have more insight. He has been super helpful with my plans this year
@John Schneider @jrbenson4@gmail.com said it well. The big ride or challenge ride is new. Coach Patrick's intent is for you to "reset what you would call a long ride." It does a couple of things: like @jrbenson4@gmail.com said it does give you a significant volume boost, with all that time and miles coming in one ride, it really forces you to nail your hydration and nutrition - there is no faking it and early fueling or hydration errors become really obivious in the last few hours, it also provides a big confidence boost - and does reset your mental boundary for what a long ride and effort can be. Note: 7 hours is not magic, but it is target for someone who has been able to follow the plan. The goal and intent of the ride is to reset what you would call a long ride, so if your longest ride up to that point was only 3 hours - then a 5-5.5 hour ride will work for you to reset that long ride boundary. (There are 5,6, and 7 hour ride time targets based on level 1,2, or 3) Use this as an opportunity to explore, test that nutrition and hydration execution, and set a challenge ride for you that is relative to your current long ride fitness. It only comes around once during week 3 in the Full plan.