gsteinb

I'd never have guessed.

gsteinb

My coach has me doing some different stuff. Considering it rained, I was thankful my workout was shorter.

sarals 

Gary, it's true, it's true!

10 x 1 minute intervals after warmup followed by that 30 minute *** today. The *** was actually 26 minutes and a ***/walk. After the intervals my legs were pretty much destroyed. TSS 89.2 (short ride), IF 0.977

I'm starting to feel better about this!

IBOHUNT

2 x 20 min sweet spot followed by a 2.2 mile 880' climb at FTP

TSS 159

sarals 

Openers for another FTP tomorrow. It looks like rain is going to bump it to Thursday, though. Easy on the gas this morning, just a few spurts to get things moving. TSS 71.9, IF .891, NP 150 watts.

shovelhd

That's way too much TSS for openers unless your FTP is too low.

IBOHUNT

2 laps around the neighborhood; 10 miles with 1,654' gain.
TSS 77.3
IF 1.047

Hermes

Time trial?

sarals 

I suspected as much, Shovel. Coach told me just a little while ago that, essentially, I go too hard. This may not mean anything, but I reset my PT this afternoon, and it was NOT zeroed. It is now.

Openers, as I understand them, is easy efforts with some very short harder efforts thrown in. 1 hour. That's what I tried to do.

This may sound odd, but I just don't know how to go easy. For some silly reason, I have this notion in my pea brain that if I don't hurt a little, than I'm not doing myself any good. Now, having said that, I know full well - as the adage says - you have to go slow to go fast.

I am just starting to understand TSS, too. I really didn't have a grasp on what it meant until very recently.

Allegheny Jet

Sara, sometimes I think of recovery rides as healing rides, sometimes they are reset rides and sometimes they piss me off because I so want to "go". In the end I do what my coach wants me to do. One reason I need a coach is because I would overdo it on my own.

valygrl

Every time sarals posts a TSS or IF number, I'm like, WTF, NONE of my rides are even close to that hard.

FTP too low? Not recording zeros? Rides really hard every single time?

My coach looked at my first recovery ride since i started with her, last week, and told me I went too hard. One minute at 130 watts. Average for the ride, 67 watts. That was too hard. Not allowed to exceed 115 watts on a RR, the top of my recovery zone is 90.

Allegheny Jet

First start to finish sub freezing ride of the season. Just under two hours total time with most of the pace at z3 PE.

Racer Ex 

It's a learning process. We're a myopic lot and there's a lot of internal and external noise that keeps us from taking the long view of a coach or allows us to understand the concept of the value of "easy". And for a coach it's sometimes a challenge to get that message through the noise.

One of the curses of PM's is that at lower FTP's a watt here or there (or a bad zero, or a PM issue) makes a lot bigger impact on TSS than if you are a watt chomper. From a coach's perspective I'm always looking at workouts and trends to see if adjustments need to be made to FTP or there might be an issue with the device. Sometimes those clues don't show up as readily as others. Pat on my back I've caught a bunch but I'm still regretting one I didn't.

And we make assumptions at times that people zero their units before every ride, that they understand the workouts, and that they follow the plan. It takes time to smooth all those glitches out. In Sara's case we're just getting started and at the base end of the curve. Week two had a pretty good laundry list of things to correct and clarify. Not a big shock.

My experience with Sara and other racers taught me that for the best results and outcomes I need to be "full time". I could make more and have more clients doing tier services but for me this isn't a business first and too many things are lost doing that. So I don't do that anymore; my motivation in doing "tier two" was more about helping people who were really floundering or having people reach out to me who had limited resources.

Writing plans and answering an inquiry or three was better than folks trying to figure out things for themselves or trying to follow a plan designed for a 23 year old Cat 3 stage racer. But there's still a huge amount that got lost and the athlete didn't going to learn as much, and I wasn't able to connect as well with the athlete.

FWIW for all the numbers that get tossed around (FTP, TSS, IF, CTL, ATL) you'd think that math ran this sport. It doesn't. Individual response does. I've won and podiumed at Nats on numbers that would make people laugh. I've had clients that have done the same.

Those successes grew out of a relationship and a lot of communication, the PM math was a great tool but it wasn't the building plan.

That said everyone should go and do a 3 hour z2 ride tomorrow.

dadof7

^ I would have to be sitting still to keep it in z2 for 3 hours right now....

Allegheny Jet

Sorry, no can do! I have to get home from work with enough time to have a little daylight in order to get one last cyclo cross practice before Saturday's SC. Not being able to *** due to the fused ankle I practice my "penguin styled" dismounts/mounts and shouldered bike carries. I started doing some work three weeks ago and now my legs and one movable ankle hardly even ache the next day.

It’s looking like the races will be mudfest. Friday there is a 70% chance of rain, then Saturday has 33 degree high temps and snow showers. I may take the MTB as a backup/pit bike since I sold my other cyclo cross bike earlier this year. Wet muddy leaves will clog up the space between the brakes and tires and some guys will change bikes every lap with a pit crew member cleaning one bike for the next time around. Just when I think that I have the right amount of bikes I end up getting snake bit again!

IBOHUNT

Directed to me? If it was then the answer is "No, just a hard ride"
Turn right out of my driveway and .6 miles later... hello CAT3.

Hermes

Your intensity factor was over one for the hour of riding. Sometime racers practice TTs on a course that they design. I get close to an IF of one when I time trial but if I do a climbing ride around my neighborhood the descents lower the IF even though I may be climbing at threshold or above.

sarals 

Ex, thank you. It took me a LONG time to see through my own white noise, the better part of last season in fact, and I still don't really have clarity. TSS really meant nothing to me until recently. That people were cringing when they saw the numbers I put up I had NO clue. And, one of the hardest things for me to do - umm, being Type A and finally embracing it - is not looking at every single rider who rolls past me, at any time, as a challenge! OMG, I've got to get past that. It so detrimental.

I'm off to do another FTP test. No expectations. Except that I'd better do it right.

valygrl

Good luck on your FTP Test, sara!

I wish I could do a 3 hour z2 today, but it's my rest day. blah.

IBOHUNT

Well I'm not sure if makes it better or worse but the ride was only 43 min and there wasn't much coasting on the downhill bits; about 85% FTP

Today was 40 min of Z2 (power based) Cadence work

sarals 

The FTP test is in the can. I'm tired! I felt that it was probably the best TT I've done yet. I got a good warmup and then I was very steady in the FTP segment. Could I have gone harder? I could, but I wouldn't have been as smooth. For the whole ride, 15.83 miles: TSS 116.6, IF 1.046, NP 151 watts; for the FTP segment (I don't care who knows) TSS 44.3, IF 1.132, NP 163 watts.

revchuck 

Sara - Congrats on getting a good FTP test under your belt!

sarals 

Thanks, Chuck!

And Valygrl, thank you!

AzTallRider

A well executed FTP test is a major milestone. Way to go, Sara.

sarals 

Thanks, AzT. It felt right - still waiting on word from coach!