aaronmcd

What is SST? I've seen it used several times but google doesn't seem to know.

wktmeow

Sweet spot training

Wesley36

More details on SST

https://www.fascatcoaching.com/sweetspottraining.html

mattm

.88 to .94 IF, in terms of power. (88 to 94% of FTP - or is it 95%? meh close enough)

Which is a range I thought too small to hit previously, but my FTP was set too high. Now that the FTP is more realistic it much easier to maintain.

waterrockets 

For several years, SST has been a great way for me to move from base into build. It just seems to keep piling the gains on, and I really can handle 5 or 6 straight days of it.

beatlebee 

The range you have given is at the upper end of the curve in the link above. Is it found (anecdote) that say 80% of FTP for an hour or so is not hard enough?

waterrockets 

Turn the volume knob up or down based on ride distance. You should go hard enough that fatigue is starting to set in and slows you a bit as the ride goes on. You should feel it when you get off the bike, but the next day you should feel pretty fresh (until later in the week).

revchuck 

This about the same range as tempo in CTS speak (92-96% FTP). When I'm done the block of base I'm in, the next block will have a bunch of these intervals.

aaronmcd

I have a hard time knowing how "fresh" my legs are by feel. They often seem a bit sore, but then I'll go out and turns out they feel great once I'm warmed up. I tend to have to go more on how much I've done over the past week and what kind of shape I've been in lately. That normal for others also? Maybe it's stiff muscles faking being sore. But I know I'm not going hard the next day if I still have trouble climbing a flight of stairs in the evening.

revchuck 

Especially after several consecutive relatively long days, it takes a half hour for my legs to wake up. I'm older, so that has a part in this, but I think the more tired you are, the longer it takes to warm up.

Wesley36

+1. I test my FTP this week, next week, base II. 2 x 20 SST interval sessions twice a week, I am looking forward to it.

I feel like my first base block has been very productive, I have accomplished everything I had hoped to accomplish by this point in the season, and to boot, my power seems to be up 10-15 watts (judging by the fact that these days my HR is staying z2 but I am well into z3 power). Cardiac drift is nice and low (>1.5%).

However, if I had to do another block of primarily z2, even on the rollers, I think I would go crazy. I am really looking forward to turning up the intensity and starting to really push my FTP.

aaronmcd

Really easy commute after swimming, one spin up to 177 rpm. Not feeling well (throat hurts, tired even after 2 consecutive 8 hour sleep nights), but I'd hate to waste a 4 day weekend. Gonna try to sleep extra next 3 days and take it easy on the bike.

caloso

1:42 total commute with a solid z3 60' block in the middle. It's SST-ish.

rkwaki

When I was young and racing some big races it used to be an hour plus to wake the legs up...
Age has nothing to do with it

Ygduf

there is a "low key" race here Thursday up Mt. Ham. (17mi 4300ft) I'm feeling good about it after setting a solid PR yesterday on 21min climb. https://www.strava.com/activities/96917635#2062375160

I may dust off the tubulars. If I'm going to peak in November I might as well really try.

oespinoza83

Did about 5 hrs of riding this weekend. 40 deg temps, with 15+mph headwinds about half of the miles. Mother of God it was brutal and had me questioning why I ever climb onto that saddle

rideaz

I rode in the rain here this weekend. I made the mistake of spending an hour cleaning my bike after the Saturday rainy ride, ended up riding in a shower or 2 on Sunday again. Coming down South Mountain on wet roads was a first but the brakes actually worked better than I thought.
I also got the Garmin 500 with HR monitor last week. I wore it on a few rides but the data doesn't mean much to me, except I am surprised at how high my HR is. I guess the last time I read anything about HR, it was the old 220-age for max heart rate (which for me would be 180). I got mine up to 188 no problem and wasn't maxed out.

furiousferret

2 hours easy on the flats, no IT Band pain, and it wasn't freezing.

revchuck 

Thank goodness. I thought it was just me being old and feeble.

revchuck 

That's a kinda-sorta-ballpark figure. I'm almost 62, so mine should be 158...which is about the HR I use to determine it's time to pull off from the front of the paceline. The highest I've seen mine is 174, about a month ago, and that's not my max, don't know what my max really is. The majority of fit people seem to have considerably higher max HRs than that formula would indicate.

mollusk

Often it has a lot to do with what you have been doing for the previous days. Too many serious efforts and there is no juice left and your legs are on life support. Not enough stress and they "lock up" and have to be pried open. In a short race you may never get there and in such a race "there" might be from the gun.

Everyone needs to find what works for them in the week (or longer) leading up to the event. And it probably will be different if you are prepping for a short crit or at the opposite extreme a seriously long road race. Asking for "the one and true answer" is like asking "What is the most comfortable saddle?" or "What are the most comfortable cycling shoes?". Everyone's ass and feet are different and so is everyone's physical response to activity. There is no single answer, but general guidelines are a great place to start for looking for what might work for you.

caloso

I've had an average HR for a 50' crit that was a few beats higher than my 220-age "maximum." YMMV (Or rather, YmaxHRMV)

mattm

30 minutes spinning, "active recovery."

Legs feel ready for base 2, week 3!!

rbart4506

45min of recovery and core... Did 2 sets of 20 pushups, I'm bulking up baby!

jsutkeepspining

more sst work. tomorrow will be easy, then a 3 hour ride in the sun on wednesday to spin my legs out after my flight. Probbaly will only do about 200 watts to keep it z1ish. I'm generally exhausted after flying