Training Status??? (IV)
10-26-15, 07:38 AM
#1651
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VO2 efforts are definitely my main weakness.
If MTB races were comprised of 10-20min uphills and 5min DH sections, I'd be set. Unfortunately, they consist of starts that put me well into the red, and despite living in Appalachia, the longest climb in any MTB event I've done this year was just under 13min, which was a TT.
In the race where I broke my hand, my "home" race, my PR/CR from the bottom to the top of the climb is like 7:15. Which was the longest continuous climb of any mass-start race I did this year. The races in WV and NC featured substantially shorter climbs, surprisingly.
If MTB races were comprised of 10-20min uphills and 5min DH sections, I'd be set. Unfortunately, they consist of starts that put me well into the red, and despite living in Appalachia, the longest climb in any MTB event I've done this year was just under 13min, which was a TT.
In the race where I broke my hand, my "home" race, my PR/CR from the bottom to the top of the climb is like 7:15. Which was the longest continuous climb of any mass-start race I did this year. The races in WV and NC featured substantially shorter climbs, surprisingly.
10-26-15, 07:52 AM
#1652
Nonsense
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FWIW i'm finding unstructured vo2 is way easier to do this time of year. I don't know if it's a mental thing but trying standard 5x5s was an utter failure on Wednesday, but I was able to accumulate ~25min vo2 on saturday along with ~20min at ftp.
Also today is off. I'm one fried unit.
Also today is off. I'm one fried unit.
10-26-15, 08:09 AM
#1653
OMC
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Better than being one fried eunuch. 
__________________
Regards,
Chuck
Demain, on roule!
Regards,
Chuck
Demain, on roule!
10-26-15, 08:13 AM
#1654
Ninny
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I think, or at least hope, that unstructured "fartlek" intensity is useful for sort of keeping in touch with training zones, but I don't consider it real vo2max type training.
On a typical 2 hour offseason team ride I'll have 20 minutes of Z4 and 20 minutes of Z5+, which is a relatively intense ride (and is a lot of fun), but in practice many of the actual efforts are too short to feel like real training. Like, 5 minutes at threshold, or 90 seconds of vo2max. It's fun to go hard, but without structure the effort tends to tail off right when it reaches the point where, in a real interval session, you start to feel like you're getting to the whole point of the exercise, right when it starts to really hurt and you know you are truly stressing the system.
On a typical 2 hour offseason team ride I'll have 20 minutes of Z4 and 20 minutes of Z5+, which is a relatively intense ride (and is a lot of fun), but in practice many of the actual efforts are too short to feel like real training. Like, 5 minutes at threshold, or 90 seconds of vo2max. It's fun to go hard, but without structure the effort tends to tail off right when it reaches the point where, in a real interval session, you start to feel like you're getting to the whole point of the exercise, right when it starts to really hurt and you know you are truly stressing the system.
10-26-15, 08:33 AM
#1655
Ninny
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Review of Zwift workout mode.
Sounds like they did a pretty good job designing the workout mode. I like that you get a visual finish line to aim for, instead of just a new way to play mind games with a stopwatch.
It looks like there are a few dozen canned workouts to choose from, with no facility for building your own. The workouts don't track the terrain at all, you're just riding around the regular course with everyone else, and if your rest between intervals happens to be on a hill, you rest on the hill. For smart trainers, the resistance follows the workout effort target, not the visual terrain.
Sounds like they did a pretty good job designing the workout mode. I like that you get a visual finish line to aim for, instead of just a new way to play mind games with a stopwatch.
It looks like there are a few dozen canned workouts to choose from, with no facility for building your own. The workouts don't track the terrain at all, you're just riding around the regular course with everyone else, and if your rest between intervals happens to be on a hill, you rest on the hill. For smart trainers, the resistance follows the workout effort target, not the visual terrain.
10-26-15, 08:59 AM
#1657
Nonsense
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I think, or at least hope, that unstructured "fartlek" intensity is useful for sort of keeping in touch with training zones, but I don't consider it real vo2max type training.
On a typical 2 hour offseason team ride I'll have 20 minutes of Z4 and 20 minutes of Z5+, which is a relatively intense ride (and is a lot of fun), but in practice many of the actual efforts are too short to feel like real training. Like, 5 minutes at threshold, or 90 seconds of vo2max. It's fun to go hard, but without structure the effort tends to tail off right when it reaches the point where, in a real interval session, you start to feel like you're getting to the whole point of the exercise, right when it starts to really hurt and you know you are truly stressing the system.
On a typical 2 hour offseason team ride I'll have 20 minutes of Z4 and 20 minutes of Z5+, which is a relatively intense ride (and is a lot of fun), but in practice many of the actual efforts are too short to feel like real training. Like, 5 minutes at threshold, or 90 seconds of vo2max. It's fun to go hard, but without structure the effort tends to tail off right when it reaches the point where, in a real interval session, you start to feel like you're getting to the whole point of the exercise, right when it starts to really hurt and you know you are truly stressing the system.
10-26-15, 09:01 AM
#1658
Senior Member
I don't wave, I'm a snob, but I do give kudos/thumbs up/ride on, whatever it's called if I actually know people (and funny enough, I have seen several people I know). And I did get passed by King (it was z2 day for me and he was at the sprint segment). Zwift is neat enough, better with workout mode for sure, but I always require multiple visual stimuli (either radio or other sports on the ipad)
10-26-15, 11:20 AM
#1659
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Today marks the 4 year anniversary since having a large chunk of cartilage removed from my knee. That surgery put an end to distance running and triathloning. At the time I was really bummed, the surgeon wasn't very optimistic and I wasn't sure what my post surgery activity level would be. The silver lining: it led me to cycling. I rehabbed on a stationary bike and then bought a road bike, met some really cool people and got into bike racing. Today I did a 30 minute trail run, I'm able to hike, mountain bike and ride as much as time permits. I feel super lucky!
10-26-15, 12:44 PM
#1660
Senior Member
traveling on wednesday and thursday this week so trying to "front load" my training. after a weekend of cross racing today was a steady 2.5 hours on the fg. tomorrow will be more cross work.
10-26-15, 05:30 PM
#1662
Senior Member
Today marks the 4 year anniversary since having a large chunk of cartilage removed from my knee. That surgery put an end to distance running and triathloning. At the time I was really bummed, the surgeon wasn't very optimistic and I wasn't sure what my post surgery activity level would be. The silver lining: it led me to cycling. I rehabbed on a stationary bike and then bought a road bike, met some really cool people and got into bike racing. Today I did a 30 minute trail run, I'm able to hike, mountain bike and ride as much as time permits. I feel super lucky!
10-26-15, 07:47 PM
#1664
Senior Member
Today marks the 4 year anniversary since having a large chunk of cartilage removed from my knee. That surgery put an end to distance running and triathloning. At the time I was really bummed, the surgeon wasn't very optimistic and I wasn't sure what my post surgery activity level would be. The silver lining: it led me to cycling. I rehabbed on a stationary bike and then bought a road bike, met some really cool people and got into bike racing. Today I did a 30 minute trail run, I'm able to hike, mountain bike and ride as much as time permits. I feel super lucky!
10-26-15, 08:53 PM
#1665
once a runner
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took today completely off, felt so ****ty i even left work early. i'm kind of proud that i'm actually listening to my body and not continuing to flog myself, though the irrational part of me still hates swallowing goose eggs. looks like this is my first day off in a month, which is approximately my normal pattern - feel good for ~3 weeks then fall off a cliff for two rides before bouncing back. which might mean tomorrow will also suck, but only time will tell.
10-26-15, 09:05 PM
#1666
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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took today completely off, felt so ****ty i even left work early. i'm kind of proud that i'm actually listening to my body and not continuing to flog myself, though the irrational part of me still hates swallowing goose eggs. looks like this is my first day off in a month, which is approximately my normal pattern - feel good for ~3 weeks then fall off a cliff for two rides before bouncing back. which might mean tomorrow will also suck, but only time will tell.
10-26-15, 09:20 PM
#1667
once a runner
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mmm, i think its a little more nuanced than that, it comes down to how i feel. i usually am able to handle about 2 hard and 2 medium days give or take, but last week i think doing flat work made me misjudge a little bit and probably ended up closer to 3.5-4 hard days which is why my legs fell off so quickly up King's yesterday (heck, i bet i could've wheelsucked another whole minute or two if i was fresh 
)
)
10-26-15, 09:47 PM
#1668
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I have been experimenting with a set of intervals I'm calling Pyramids. Every interval is half as long as the previous one, increasing wattage by 100w. I just picked round numbers I knew I could hit. So today's looked like this:
8' @ 200w
4'@ 300w
2' @ 400w
1' @ 500w
30" @ 600w
15" all out
There's probably a more scientific way to pick target wattages. Maybe by looking at my CP curve.
8' @ 200w
4'@ 300w
2' @ 400w
1' @ 500w
30" @ 600w
15" all out
There's probably a more scientific way to pick target wattages. Maybe by looking at my CP curve.
10-26-15, 10:00 PM
#1669
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Today marks the 4 year anniversary since having a large chunk of cartilage removed from my knee. That surgery put an end to distance running and triathloning. At the time I was really bummed, the surgeon wasn't very optimistic and I wasn't sure what my post surgery activity level would be. The silver lining: it led me to cycling. I rehabbed on a stationary bike and then bought a road bike, met some really cool people and got into bike racing. Today I did a 30 minute trail run, I'm able to hike, mountain bike and ride as much as time permits. I feel super lucky!
Awesome post. Ride on!
10-26-15, 10:19 PM
#1670
Not actually Tmonk
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I have been experimenting with a set of intervals I'm calling Pyramids. Every interval is half as long as the previous one, increasing wattage by 100w. I just picked round numbers I knew I could hit. So today's looked like this:
8' @ 200w
4'@ 300w
2' @ 400w
1' @ 500w
30" @ 600w
15" all out
There's probably a more scientific way to pick target wattages. Maybe by looking at my CP curve.
8' @ 200w
4'@ 300w
2' @ 400w
1' @ 500w
30" @ 600w
15" all out
There's probably a more scientific way to pick target wattages. Maybe by looking at my CP curve.
__________________
"Your beauty is an aeroplane;
so high, my heart cannot bear the strain." -A.C. Jobim, Triste
"Your beauty is an aeroplane;
so high, my heart cannot bear the strain." -A.C. Jobim, Triste
10-27-15, 09:22 AM
#1672
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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I have been experimenting with a set of intervals I'm calling Pyramids. Every interval is half as long as the previous one, increasing wattage by 100w. I just picked round numbers I knew I could hit. So today's looked like this:
8' @ 200w
4'@ 300w
2' @ 400w
1' @ 500w
30" @ 600w
15" all out
There's probably a more scientific way to pick target wattages. Maybe by looking at my CP curve.
8' @ 200w
4'@ 300w
2' @ 400w
1' @ 500w
30" @ 600w
15" all out
There's probably a more scientific way to pick target wattages. Maybe by looking at my CP curve.
10-27-15, 09:30 AM
#1673
Senior Member
5*4' hill repeats on the cross bike then a bunch of single track. brake slipped in the middle of the single track so it quickly became an exercise in not dying. HR confirmed that I suspected...I'm really damn tired. now off to savannah for two days of business travel.
10-27-15, 10:16 AM
#1674
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10-27-15, 10:38 AM
#1675
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Is it harder to do 500w for 1 minute, or 600w for 30 seconds, then 400w for 30 seconds immediately after? That may be a good one to do as I can see how it would be beneficial for races.