Bailed for first time today, arghhh!

Week one of General Build MV, I completed Spanish -3 needle yesterday, a tough workout but no problems. Then had Antelope +5 today but only managed 3 1/2 intervals, my heart rate was a lot higher than normal, up to almost the max. I just couldn’t complete and had to bail. Why? Is it fatigue or dehydration? SSBMV 1 & 2 completed without any failures.

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Are you sure you are on Traditional Base? Those are some tough workouts and not the goal of TB.

I went back and looked at my calendar for Week 1 of TBMV and those are not on there.

Sorry, I’m on general build MV.

I assume you had a FTP increase? You’re likely just fatigued if you went very deep to finish Spanish Needle. Spanish Needle has a high failure to complete as RX rate. You nailed it, but at what cost. Apparently the next days workout. No big deal, just recover and hit next weeks workouts. Also, if you’re never “failing” workouts, meaning reducing in some way, your FTP may be too low. If you are truly challenging yourself there will be days you fall short of RX. It is expected and how you learn about your training.

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Yep, FTP went up 6% (303W to 322W) after the ramp test at the start of general build.
Must be fatigue as my heart rate was nowhere near as high as today for workouts with similar (and higher) power requirements, eg during carpathian peak over unders my HR never went above 178 bpm yet today it was over 190 during the third interval at lower watts.

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Funny, last year I had the same problem. I failed my first workout after Spanish Needles. I think I made it most of the way before the peddles stopped against my will. I think it’s accumulated fatigue. Plus, Spanish Needles taxes your body hard, but in a totally different way than Antelope. It’s a brutal one two punch. I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Just keep at it. If you never failed a workout, than you are probably not pushing yourself hard enough.

I’ve since failed many workout’s, but you always remember your first.

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I don’t think there are too many conclusions to be drawn to a failure that happens periodically. It happens. It’s going to happen again at some point. Don’t get in your head about it. If you fail multiple workouts in a significant fashion that is perhaps something to come to the forum and try to investigate.

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Congratulations :slight_smile: on your first incomplete work out.

The FTP increase would have hit you pretty hard I think as I had a similar increase and the first workout in build was very very hard. I believe my body needed a couple weeks to adjust to the Tuesday V02 max workouts.

Keep persisting though as that antelope is a tough workout and you will adjust and grow through the plan.

You need to be really fuelled to finish that set and the ones that are coming up.
For example, I would do a sports drink an hour before and another two bottles during that session. I would also make sure you have enough air blowing over you. I usually crank an espresso right before too.

Sometimes you can adjust the effort after you finish your first interval if you feel that the struggle is real. Maybe down 5% - 10% depending on how you are feeling. Do not be afraid to do that but try not to make a habit.

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Thanks for that all, every day a school day :blush:

Half my problem was lack of hydration between sessions and doing antelope more or less fasted, ie first thing in the morning straight after a single bowl of cereal. Build phase makes you realise how important nutrition and recovery are to performance.

Mid Volume is no joke, especially Mid Volume Build.

The Sunday workout is frequently the hardest since it’s a back-to-back and comes at the end of a hard week.

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I found this in a previous thread, a good option for recovery smoothie?

Update
Completely different approach to recovery and nutrition this week. A green smoothie each morning with added protein (hemp hearts) that did me until lunch. Increased my water intake dramatically, especially after and before workouts. Did lion rock yesterday and then Juneau -1 today, similar to last weekends planned workouts. Unlike last week heart rate was on point (170 versus over 190 last week) and finished out workout no problem :+1:t2:.
It’s all in the recovery!!

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great job, keep it up