Originally Posted by
mike868y
Thank you so much for the help. I don't have a powermeter, but I think I can estimate what 90-95% FTP feels like with at least some accuracy. The bit regarding no warm up is very interested. I generally warm up for the first 20 minutes or so (on a long ride of course), but I will start trying to go hard right from the beginning.
It is also interesting to me that SST on shorter rides is useful. I just kind of assumed that this was not the case. However, I'm glad it is as I like this type of efforts.
Well, keep in mind that the intensity of SST changes according to duration. On the steady rides, you're supposed to go out hard enough that you're fading slightly throughout the ride. On a 45' ride, that's a pretty brisk SST...
Originally Posted by
mike868y
Now for my questions...
How would you determine when you "can't improve" on STUCI intervals? I assume you would need a powermeter for those...
You really can't do those with that protocol w/out a power meter. I'd just say to do two 10' intervals and two 8' intervals with 2' rest between them. You can also just do 2x20 or 2x10 with 5' recovery between each interval as a "normal" interval workout.
Originally Posted by
mike868y
When you said 5' rest inbetween 1125211 intervals is that between each set (ie 1'1'2'5'2'1'1' 5 minute rest 1'1'2'5'2'1'1') or between each individual intervals (ie 1' 5'rest 1' 5'rest 2' 5'rest 5' 5'rest 2' 5'rest 1' 5'rest 1' 5'rest).
Yeah, that's 1 on, 5 off, 1 on, 5 off, 2 on, 5 off, 5 on, 5 off... etc...
Originally Posted by
mike868y
Finally, on the hill repeats do you generally need a hill that is longer than 15 minutes? I wish we had those around here....
The hill I use is about 4:40. I was too brief in my description. I do 5 repeats that are about 5' long, with about 5' between them. Sometimes I just roll straight through the descent and head back up (maybe 2:45 recovery).
Originally Posted by
mike868y
I'm doing a 20 mile ride tomorrow. I think I will do just an SST effort but w/ no warmup...
Thanks for the tips, keep them coming
Have fun! You'll feel a little screwed in the first couple minutes -- don't go too hard. I guess you should watch your speed. For me, SST is around 20-21mph on flat ground (on the tops/hoods). So, don't start too hard and try to hold too fast of a pace. After about 4', my legs really come into their own, and I'm able to maintain that pace much easier. That's when I ramp it slightly, then get a little fatigued, and just fight the fatigue all the way back to the office.
Originally Posted by
El Diablo Rojo
I can attest to the fact that WR gets every second out of his workouts and it pays off...WR I'm going to start joining you and Jonathan on your lunch workouts on Mondays and Fridays...
Looking forward to it. I'll be riding really light this Friday, but from home (vacation day). I imagine Jonathan will be taking it easy as well. Next Monday will be business as usual, although we'll be feeling like crap after Hugel. I wish your schedule had worked out differently, but I've given up my share for the same reasons this year -- it's all about the kids!
Originally Posted by
YMCA
warm-ups are only necessary for hard efforts, so I agree you can get straight into SST within a couple minutes of leaving your house
cool-downs are a different story, I find there should be at least a short bit before climbing off, where you were able to let the body bring itself back down to sedentary living,
a 45' session of SST would only need a couple minutes of easy spinning in the neighborhood, whereas a couple hours of racing would need at least 10' of gentle coldown
Yeah, my return to the office usually involves one traffic light and a left turn, so I end up getting cool down anyway. I'd still rather just have that two minutes of SST than two minutes of recovery though. I have about a 75m walk back in to the office from the bike racks, and a jaunt up the stairs. Good enough cool down for me. I agree on the races -- same with intervals. I'm usually limping home -- there's no way I do my last interval into the parking lot