UT_Dude

Question is pretty simple. How often do you do intervals or jumps that are above V02 power? I do them....never, which I think is part of my current problem that's making me hate my bike.

kensuf

One day a week I do 60s intervals where I try to get to the republic of anaerobia by the end of each one. I hate them with a passion and it usually takes me a few days to recover.

cat4ever

Every interval I do of 2 minutes or less. A lot.

ElJamoquio

Right now, maybe once every other week. In a month or two, probably two times a week (one zone 6 and one zone 7 workout)

waterrockets 

I used to do 6x200 meters and 6x1m intervals every week, religiously. Since getting the PT, I tapered that down to 1/month for each (so I could concentrate on FTP), but getting closer to racing season I started doing one or the other each week.

I really think you should start hitting the 1m intervals. I think sprints are important from a technique point of view, but you can develop you NMP in 1m intervals if you do them right. I used to pace them like a mini insane TT -- so I'd be dead at the end, but tried to go out at my average power. When I got the PT, I realized that my 1m power with this method was much lower than it should have been according to my profile trend.

So, I changed up to starting off with a nearly full-on sprint for the first 15s, followed by sitting down, and making every single pedal stroke as absolutely hard as it can be. Two results:
-1m power went from ~560W to 740W
-I learned what it really means to ride yourself into a pile of crap. Six. Times.

Looking back at my match burning for Lago Vista yesterday, I burned 8 matches, and only got dropped once (out of my 2-man break with Racer_Ex - which included a 507W match). Even then, I recovered for the sprint. These matches were all from 410W - 525W. That's all anaerobic capacity right there.

Developing AC will absolutely help your racing. It may not do much for your hate of cycling -- this **** HURTS. You get done with a workout and just feel like the crappiest slow rider ever. These intervals are horrible.

Savor them

I would try to do some sprints at least every month. Really explosive, like you're trying to break your SRM.

botto 

MDcatV

Simple question, not a simple answer, but typically:

late Sept/Oct/Nov/Dec - rarely in a structured fashion, but hit those levels in unstructured group or team rides
Jan/Feb - 1x/week structured, then again unstructured on weekend team/group rides
Mar/Apr - 2x/week structured, then again unstructured on weekend group rides/races
May/June/July/Aug/Sept - depends

Crit Rat

Last year the only time I did them was while racing. It worked for me but my power profile is similar to WR's.

This year I'll be doing them some closer to race season which is still a bit off for me.

curiouskid55

Once a week in this phase.

wfrogge

I do them three times a week (staring with DST).

FatguyRacer

Same here. On rollers. I've been doing 3x3 min VO2 intervals last 2 weeks. This week I add another repeat to make it 4x3. And will add a repeat every week until i max out at 8. By then i will have read Coggans book cover to cover and figure out how best to train with my new PM. The last 2 min are whats really counting since it takes me a minute to get into that zone. Heck i could be doing them wrong as far as i can know. Im holding 95% max HR for 2 min. and recovering for 3 mins between them. The rest of the week 4 days of zone 1-2, 1 day zone 2-3 and 1 day all zones group ride.

NomadVW 

Turning in to 1 per week now.

ldesfor1@ithaca

currently 1x weekly, always on hills, as this is my biggest weakness (climbing, that is).

Last week, after a day off, I did 2:45 steep hills for 4 reps and 1:30 standing steep hill for 3 reps. Definitely more of an AE workout based on power percentages, but not all out efforts... yet.

This week after a day off, I'm hoping my long hill route is free of snow and will do 5-8 minute intervals x 3-4 reps aiming to hold 130%-140% LTP for the duration. I'm psyched!

I'm starting to bring some sprint work in too, just enough to get a feel for the bike/effort level (maybe 3 sprints 1x per week). Early season crits will start to be the grounds for vO2 max/AE work, though.

But I really agree, without work in this L5-L7 range, you will be getting dropped often, especially in fast, flat races (crits). I've got a buddy who has great endurance and decent FTP, but never works on the high end stuff and it really shows as he races way below his potential in all crits.

Keep at it!!

-L

snoboard2

every thursday until may, then starting again in june till september

cmh

I haven't done any structured VO2 work yet this year. I'm starting this week with 1m - 5m intervals. I'll do them 1 time per week. I have done sprint workouts of 10-15 sec sprints, but I havn't considered them to be VO2 work.

Bobby Lex

A LOT of them. Typically structured intervals Tuesdays and Thursdays. Group training ride on Saturdays where I'll spend 3 to 20 minutes above LT depending on the wind and the pace.

In a 96 minute hilly road race 2 weeks ago I spent 38 minutes above LT. Would never have been able to do that if I didn't spend lotsa time above LT in training.

Sure they hurt. But they hurt a lot less than blowing up in a race and watching the pack ride off into the distance.

Bob

esammuli

Thats because sprints are not VO2 work. VO2 intervals are usually 3-8 minutes, but can be shorter only if the recovery period is also short. For instance you ca elicit a VO2 response by doing 30 seconds on/ 30 seconds off. Sprints train neuromuscular power and generally have a much longer recovery interval.

edit: nevermind, just reread your post. Forget I said anything.

UT_Dude

I said intervals *above* V02, a la 1 minute and less. I won, I get to do some sprint work in the near future...

esammuli

I've done some stomps a few times this season and they really seem to help. Get into your biggest gear (52x11 for me) and come nearly to a stop. Go as hard as you possibly can to get up to speed and try to maintain a high wattage as long as possible. I'm generally wasted after 40-50 seconds. Give yourself at least 5 minutes between efforts, maybe more.

substructure

I'll do 5 sets of 5 on and 5 off tomorrow. I do these on a week before a race around the same time.

waterrockets 

Just sprints? What about the anaerobic capacity work?

I've uploaded my WKO from Sunday's race. The matches I burned are labled as "match." I swear AC will help more with these efforts. One gridline at FTP, and one at 150%

UT_Dude

VO2 is anaerobic work. I do that, although not much yet this year, plus I get a lot of the short anaerobic stuff out of races. I'm racing nearly every weekend, so that adds up.

waterrockets 

This is true, but it's not anaerobic capacity work. It's that ability to be completely anaerobic, totally buried, more power than you thought possible, just dying, and still be able to reach into your pocket for a little pop-top 3 Oz. can of whoopass for 15 seconds.

I don't have any efforts in my races that replicate these workouts. The stuff in my races adds up to a really good VO2Max and threshold workout, which is are different systems. My peak 1m power on Sunday was only 504W, but I'm capable of 740W.

That 504W is well out of my VO2Max range though, so the AC workouts allow me to go there without much penalty.

seppomadness

Sometimes when i am not in the mood for 'structured agony' i just use a fast group ride. Try not to drop further back then top 10 and every 5-10 mins launch something serious off the front and try to hold it for 60-90 seconds.

Its not really ideal but sometimes its all I can stomach. If I had mates I would definitely team up with them for 'structured agony' sessions. Its easier to give more when you have an audience.