Week 6 already!! BRICK thread...
Second time starting the thread!! Amazing this is already week 6.
Due to upcoming business travel I had to do my Tuesday workout tonight. Total 60 min with some big-time intervals -- 2x20'(4'). Take 2 mins off the recovery and that's an FTP test!
The 20 min intervals presented more of a psychological hurdle than anything else. I started off a bit easy as a result, and built up over the course of the workout.
Overall stats:
Interval 1 (20' @z4) - NP: 218w, TSS: 35.6, IF: 1.034, VI: 1, cadence: 88, HR: 151
Interval 2 (20' @z4) - NP: 223w, TSS: 37.4, IF: 1.058, VI: 1, cadence: 91, HR: 160
Starting slow left me with some energy so the last 5:00 of interval #2 ended up being np=230 (1.092). It was also about that time I got an email from a colleague that was going to require pretty immediate attention and therefore a last minute cancellation of the brick run...
(mabe only a brick "postponement", since hopefully I'll tack it onto Thursday's workout)
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/67215818
Cheers, Matt
Comments
The boss is coming into town this week so I had to get my brick done today also. Matt you aren't kidding doing two 20 minutes does have a psychological affect. I pushed through it though and finished. The run on the treadmill wasn't very fun either. I actually had that pukey feeling when I got done. Then it didn't help to go down stairs and find my wife cooking grilled chicken tacos. All I wanted was frozen mixed fruit smoothie. Ate the smoothie and since I didn't warn her about my workout at two tacos about 30' later. 3 hours later I feel great now, except my legs are still feeling it.
Feel great today. Woke at 5, did 3x8 on the trainer and 15' brick run. Well, with one problem: I thought the bike was going to be 2x8 (doh!). When the trainer threw me that unexpected 3rd interval, I was sagging a bit, as you can see:
http://www.trainingpeaks.com/sw/3TNT5ADGF3ICK7CKYLRLR2MTCQ
It was like thinking the finish line was just over this hill, but over the hill was yet another hill!
I assume on these intervals, I should be trying to maintain power/speed at a relatively even level throughout, yes?
Thanks
I need a vacation. Only 5 1/2 weeks until we leave.
2 x 15 here. 1st one at 97%; second at 100%
Like Matt, I worked into both. I was cruising and feeling good by the end of each. No other way to do it, but easing in. Waaaay better than dying.
@Michele--Gotta love it when PB comes to the rescue!
Oh yeah! It was ALMOST worth it.
Today's bike/run is complete. Run was split from bike for about 2 hrs as I had few errands to run and get to the gym to do it.
65min, AP 240W, xP 250W, IF .96, TSS 99.60, 2x20min(4min)@FTP
interval 1 AP 274W xP 273W IF 1.04 HR 149 cad 97
interval 2 AP 275W xP 274W IF 1.04 HR 153 cad 98
Run 5mi@EP.
The bike workout felt very good, even effort and strong, no strain. Legs were a bit tired as I flipped weekend workouts and previous bike had less than 48 hrs. Once again, I cannot emphasize enough how much I find this OS typical week construction productive. It really allows for consistent hard but precise work to be accomplished. This is my best 2x20min on trainer to date, I tested 5 weeks ago at xP 262W. Last season outdoor peak was 276W, which I have never been able to produce indoors.
So far, OS does in my case better than advertised. I am rogue a little as I do swim and pretty hard too. But that does not seem to detract from quality work as I am not doing it on account of shortening my sleep. I don't advertise swimming, follow coaches advice, please.
Keep it up group, pleasure to have you along. Thanks.
When it was over I thought--doh--shoulda done that. Good idea. I mean, why the hell not?!
I'm here in office, and thinking..."great, everyone hitting good workouts today and now I have to hit it good tonight in the garage to keep pace". My motivation is good, legs feel ready, mentally ready.....it's just several more hours away :-(
Here's a picture of the new bike:
And here's a picture of my pain cave (sure beats the YMCA):
@Dave, thanks. Same here as far as reading these threads. They always motivate me for my workouts. I will be looking for your tonight's report. Like Matt did, I eased into it and started below watts I thought I should be able. I just wanted to be comfortable for as long as possible. So it happens that I could spin at 272W and not think much about it. Than I know that it will be right in min 18-20. After the second interval, I had plenty left, most likely another 12-20min interval was possible. Than I know I did not overachieve it.
@Allen, nice ride. Enjoy it.
I got through my modified brick this afternoon, 40 min of shoveling (wet crusty snow
) and 60 min on the drainer (no run today, need to save legs for LT and VO2 Max test). I'm still riding the high from the weekend as I banged out 2x15 without staring at the clock the whole time. The first 15 was at 1.01, the second at .99 (and I went an extra minute by mistake). The rest of the ride was at .88.
Looks like everyone else is doing a great job, keep it up.
@Allen - great setup. Enjoy the new rig!
Aaron
Glad to see everyone getting it done. It's very motivating seeing these posts pop up through the day.
Since I had to sandwich my thur/sat bike to sat/sun and I swam hard last night (was supposed to be easy but my sis who is a former college swimmer turned up the heat on me and I don't have the ability to stand down if challenged because I'm a dope)
I wasn't sure how I'd respond to a 4th hard day in a row. However, no running has it's benefits.
5' wu
2x20' 309, 309
add in the 4' in between and after the sets, left me with 7' to sail home at .85 and call it a day.
It's been interesting to compare my progression with last year's OS. It's pretty close, but I was running last year. Which leads me to a question I will pose in a separate thread.
I remember last year that I always looked forward to the off day, but felt it harder to get back at it on Tues and Sat, like my rhythm was messed up, but the consecutive days of work felt more like I was in a flow. Anyone else notice that?
Dave
Allen--congrats on the nice new ride! Nice workout space too!
Dave--I know what you mean. Sometimes it's better to spin a bit between hard days--keeps the vital capacity up a bit so getting back to the hard stuff is "easier"--or at least the body feels more ready. You well know that's where it gets tricky. It's gives some people the license to drill it. MIS-take. And as you say, not running makes it a whole different story for me too. I can get away with a lot more sessions at 85% on the bike than if I was running those mile reps. If I tried to add that in with the running intensity--I'd be baked already. I'm riding ~ 5x week, and swimming 3x. Managing the intensity (i.e. backing off if necessary) in the pool on "off" days, and on the spinning days is working well for me.
Don't try extra stuff at home kids, if you're in the full-on OS program. This is talk between "rogues," those of us in "running jail" who have multiple years of this under our belts.
Running makes a HUGE difference.
Couldn't do a true brick but I did get a run in during lunch at work. Had to go commando, HR strap and footpod on the Polar were both inop so I went by RPE. I knew I had a tailwind on the way out but didn't realize how strong until I turned around. Not good at holding back by RPE, ran 3.87 in 27:56 for an avg pace of 7:13. Kind of no-man's land for me. E pace is 7:50 and MP is 6:45. I did push hard (too hard, probably) and forced myself to run a negative split even with the strong (18 mph) headwind on the way back. We'll see how tomorrow's 1 x .5 and 2 x 1 goes...
Caught an early flight back to Chicago so was able to get in another bike ride tonight. Even though I did 60' incl 2x20' yesterday night I figure a bike tonight is okay, esp since I blew off the brick run. What I REALLY should have done tonight was run, but it's 9 degrees outside so not going to happen. Treadmill at the office gym tomorrow mid-morning...already blocked on my calendar. And the Wed 60' run planned for Thurs morning in Houston. But I digress...
So with my assigned 2x20' in the bag already, I made up my own bike workout. I wanted easy intervals for a change (!!!) so went with 10' W/U, then 3x10'(4') @z4 then 8' at z3 to finish one hour total:
Interval 1 (10' @z4) - NP: 225w, TSS: 18.9, IF: 1.064, VI: 1, cadence: 89, HR: 150
Interval 2 (10' @z4) - NP: 227w, TSS: 19.4, IF: 1.077, VI: 1, cadence: 90, HR: 156
Interval 3 (10' @z4) - NP: 230w, TSS: 19.9.4, IF: 1.09, VI: 1, cadence: 90, HR: 160
"Remainder" (8' @z3) - NP: 204w, TSS: 12.6, IF: 0.969, VI: 1, cadence: 96, HR: 154
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/67363060
@Allen - congrats on the nice new ride!!
Cheers,
Matt
Matt- Nice job adjusting the schedule to accomodate your business trip. Always easier to run when you are on the road!
Logan, I'm also a NewEnglander living below the Mason DIxon line for several years now. Never thought I'd EVER say y'all, but it just seems to roll off the tongue now
Linda- Thanks for the reminder to folks to not add to the plans. Good advice and I hope everyone was listening!
And yeah, there's no way I'd attempt the Advanced plans unless I wasn't running. It's actually been kinda interesting to see how much I can handle on the bike without any running (or pool running) to zap energy.
Michele- Many is the time scoops of peanut butter have saved me!
Halligan- YES!!! I absolutely notice it! I find it really hard to have a "day off" and it just seems to mess up my routine. I'm like a cat, creature of habit. On the "days off" I still get up early and do my maintenance routine (stretch, core work, roller, etc). That keeps me on a regular wake up schedule which seems to work better for me.
Allen- Pretty new bike!! Always nice to have a little bike porn dropped into the forum once and a while to get our hearts racing.
You know, you can replace the saddle if it's not working for you. Don't use the crappy saddle they ship with the bike if it isn't working for you!
As for me. I did the 2x20 outside yesterday and I learned (or re-learned) two things.
1: My outside FTP is consistently 1.05% of my inside FTP. I got done with the first 20' interval right at my turn-a-round point and when I flipped it there was exactly 2:00 on the clock, so I said WTF and just went for the next 20 to see what would happen. Impromptu FTP. Sure enough, my FTP for that 42 min set was just a little more than 1.05% the FTP I set in week 1. Sure, some of that might be fitness (maybe the "little more than" part), but I'm pretty sure this is just another confirmation for me on how I do inside vs outside. (PS- remember I'm not running, so don't try this sh*T at home!).
2: 50 degrees and no wind (or even some South wind) is a LOT warmer than 50 degrees and 15mph winds from the North. Brrrrrr, I got home and needed a hot shower, flannel PJs, hot chocolate, a fleece blanket, and a warm cat on my lap before I finally warmed up! I dressed OK for the "work" part of the sets, but the 85% stuff at the end (which was strait into the wind) got pretty chilly.
awesome job! I did my ride last night but because it was wicked windy (gusts in the 30-50mph range) I decided to forgo the brick. Hopefully I can add the run on to Thursday's ride.
In any event, I'm happy to report that post-cleanse I've had an easier time hitting and surpassing FTP for my work segments (FTP=147, during the cleanse I was staying in the Z4 range of 140-47, but in the lower half), this past weekend and yesterday I was able to hit or exceed FTP. My 2 15" segments were both at NP 152! Woo hoo. Because I wasn't running I did a full 15" Z3 segment - so with warm up and cool down my time on the trainer was 73 minutes. My weight has bounced up a bit since the cleanse but so has my power... since the clothes still fit, I'll take it!
@Allen - jealous of your set up... I wish I had a room to dedicate to pain.. and that I could fit in a treadmill... but I'm on the top floor of a garden style building. I don't think a treadmill could ever happen - I'd feel too bad for my downstairs neighbor)... oh well... so I'll just have to accept missing a few bricks here and there bc of weather.
So rather than the 2x20min prescribed in EN OS, which I actually completed last week ahead of schedule, last night my alternative mainset workout was:
3x6min(2') at 301w (115%)
30min at 232w (89%)
All intervals at watts as stated above (I was on coaching software on a computrainer), average cadence range on intervals 81-86rpms. Those intervals were "hard" on my scale of perceived effort. Took intense focus on 2nd and 3rd interval last night than the 2x20min intervals last week. I have a motivational message on wall in my garage and I kept glancing at it during those intervals to assist in mental game to not give up and stop. I always do quite well on the tailend of the workouts, whether EN or my alternative workouts. After doing intervals, subsequently going at 80%-90% feels pleasant and I can continue at that effort for a long time.
@Matt - nice workout. I love your cadence on those 3 main intervals. Your bike workouts are always very solid.
I'm very impressed by those of you who perform the bike intervals outside and are able to hit the numbers and duration fairly well. Wow; I'm spoiled with the CT erg files and believe I'd struggle some if I was without this tool.
Great job all - My calf is still sore (from Sat bike - think I overdid the intervals) - so just did 1 hour at Z3/Z2 - because I can't stand not doing SOMETHING....
Had to put off the Tues wko til today. My LSS is very high right now and I feel depleted.
First 20' was so damn easy, 301w, 88 cadence. Felt awesome and really thought second 20' was goiing to be great. Got into it and my legs go awol, I got nuttin. Tried higher cadence, lighter gear, couldn't hold it. Back to heavy gear...uh boy. Second 20' was 288w, 92 cadence.
I'm lacking verve, mojo, spunk, and fire in the belly. The first crit is March 20 and I need 20 ft points and 20 less pounds. Gotta keep grinding. Oy.
@Allen- Nice setup! Looks like my basement, but we have 2 bikes and TM. I put a really thin yoga mat under my bike to catch sweat. It has decreased the room smell as the carpet is no longer getting musty when I sweat buckets.
@Becky- Last year for OS, I did not do a single Tuesday BRick run until late March. it was too much work to change clothes for outside. I did the Saturday BRicks only. My season was awesome, so no big deal!
@Nemo- Much better to do a sneak attack FTP test. Planned ones just hurt. It is all mental, I know.
Disclaimer: This is my 3rd OS. Not for new to EN folks.
For the "off days": I don't lose weight in OS. So I have been trying an extra day of 30-40 minutes spinning at 70% to see of I can make a small dent in my weight. I have continued my core work all along. Since I hate to get on the scale, I am going by clothes fit and only weigh in every other Saturday (if I remember). In the past week, I finally feel like I am not going to bust the button on all of my pants. Might be working, goodness knows I have not changed my diet. I just can NOT give up hot chocolate at night.
Overall: 1:01, TSS=93.9, IF=.964, Pavg=211, Pnorm=223
20' #1: TSS=35.4, IF=1.023, Pavg=237, Pnorm=236
20' #2: TSS=36.3, IF=1.04, Pavg=241, Pnorm=240
I'm still battling plantar pain. My brick run felt good today though. I've been really trying to focus on form and it is feeling much better. What happens when volume picks up remains to be seen...
I thought I would play with my power a little on the 20's getting myself ready mentally for my next test. I was trying different cadence and gearing to see if I could find more comfortable combinations. I'm setting a lofty goal for my next test and I'm feeling better about after today!
Have to 'fess up to missing more than a few workouts but have been pretty consistent with the bigger ones (especially Tuesday bricks and weekends) so I've been able to maintain target watts and pace even as the intervals have gotten longer. Feeling stronger and confident that it will pay off despite not being able to dedicate 100%.
Well it is what it is. But I have to say that even though I've been only an occasional lurker here, team mojo and accountability (however remote) still helps immensely, especially when suffering and pushing right to the bitter end. It helps knowing that out there… somewhere… a teammate is going just as hard (or harder!).
Sweet Allen! Nice pain cave too! I too had a bit of, ahem, discomfort upon arrival of my new bike. Actually it was an epic all out war we titled "Battle of the Saddle 2009". A proper tri fit and a different saddle (Adamo for me) did WONDERS. I can now ride all day in minimally padded tri-shorts. If you are not feeling more comfortable shortly it might be somthing to consider. It's so pretty to look at - it'd be a shame for you to wince when you think about riding it!