CTL:
Starting CTL at 75 in mid Dec. Up to 90 by end of January. Down to 80 for some lesser volume build through Feb and March. Up to 95-105 April through June, then broke my collarbone July 12 and CTL dipped to low 60s this month. Back up to 70 currently.

Recovery weeks were ~400 TSS when I was at 80 CTL, and ~560 during 100 CTL timeframe (hitting around 50-60% of max weekly TSS for the block).

That was fun. First time I've taken the time to summarize CTL over time. Unfortunately, I didn't keep notes in my spreadsheet so it's not easy to pick out when I was on form, feeling strong, feeling overtrained etc.

Based on the books, recovery weeks should be in the 100-200TSS range. A recovery ride really should be ~20TSS.

Hmm, I read to keep intensity during the week, just do less of it and include successive recovery days.

I do Mon Tues recovery (~30 TSS for the 2 days), Wed the usual long ride but climb tempo rather than threshold, Thurs Fri recovery. So that's back to back recovery days twice with my typical long ride on Wednesday but taking it easier than usual. Then weekends would be either a bit easier (~200 TSS combined) or maybe typical (300-400 TSS) depending on how I feel.

Keeping intensity is for tapering, not for recovery weeks. Take a look at some of the sample training plans in TARWAPM and you will see 5 day blocks every 3-4 weeks of nothing but recovery rides.

I really hate recovery weeks. Since I'm riding less, I burn fewer calories so I feel like I can't eat as much so I'm hungry. But they do seem to prepare me well for the next block.

Well it seems to be working for you! Maybe I'll give it a try... but I don't want to give up Stahl Ride every 4 weeks haha!

Hehehe..494 is a HARD week for me :D

Regarding CTL:

Right now mine is sitting right in the low to mid 50's. Based on the time I'm willing to devote to this sport (5-7 hours a week) I'm figuring my theoretical maximum would be around 65-70 depending if I did the old man training schedule (2 weeks on 1 week off) or the young man training schedule (3 weeks on 1 week off). And that gets depleted even further by sick days or "Dad, I need to get to a previously unscheduled basketball practice" days. So probably knock another 5 points off the top there. That does, at least partially, explain my lower level of fitness than a lot of racers. And I'm ok with that. :)

You and me both bro.

I have been resting for about 1.5 weeks now and have just hit 140 CTL.

But where's the peak(s)??

That would equate to consistent 20+ hour weeks, no?

not sure if you're asking me or DZ or someone else.

I'm around 110ctl all year, averaging 15 hours week. Think I have one week where I was 20+ hours.

It was dz, Matt posted the same time I did. My 18 hour weeks were just over 100 ATL IIRC.

Yeah I consistently do 20 hour weeks. I tie my commutes into training and don't have many extra responsibilities.

I think both me and Fudgy though understand what it is like when we hear that a "recovery" ride should be 20 TSS......Gotta learn to rest more (Atleast I do).

My recovery rides are down around 30tss for 70 minutes, typically.

I look at it the other way around. Everyone else rests too much.

It really depends on the person and the rest of their life. Some people can rest hardly any and be fine. Some people have to rest a ton in order to keep at it. Not everyone is as perfect as fudgy.

it's just conversation. you needn't go out of your way to find offense in it.

I once got mine up to 95, but I think my FTP was set too low. As of today it's 72. I think I could get mine over 100 if I quit my job or deserted my family. Or both.

i'd posit that the response to the former post is also just conversation, and you don't need to go out of your way to find offense in a reasonably worded response. certainly i find the response to be a lot more grounded in reality than a statement saying everyone else rests too much

off-season drama starting already??

that's totally ignoring the context. dz said something, I quoted and replied back to him.

dz suggests we know we should rest more. I think the other way in that lots of people would benefit from working more.

I don't name names or prescribe it for anyone specific, but [MENTION=197606]Creatre[/MENTION] has a guilty conscience I guess and took it so. :innocent:

Don't **** with me today dude. Not sure why everyone has a problem with me all of the sudden.

I was the one making conversation, you are the one stirring the **** around. Let it go dude.

YEP!

Apology accepted!!!

You are right that it's not specific, as you suggest everyone else rests too much
Wouldn't have chimed in other settings, but we are dealing with an OP who has obviously over-reached and perhaps over-trained. Don't see "everyone else rests too much" being conducive to someone who apparently has had the same cycle of intense build up followed by huge drop in training for a few years.

I'm a big fan of volume. That being said my leg blew up at 90 ctl in March and it took months to recover, so doing too much definitely has a penalty. In Phil Gaimon's book, he referenced racers that did grand tours had amazing form a few weeks after the race. Obviously we aren't pro's and riding 2200 miles in 3 weeks would be cray cray, but its important to find the razor's edge and build on it with recovery weeks sprinkled in.

Back in my running days I was faster when running 100 miles per week versus 50, even for the short 5k races. I don't think cycling is much different in that regard.

Recovery is always a PITA, living on a hill I use 10-15 tss just leaving home.