Endurance right after HIT - too much stress due to cardiac drift?

I’m not sure I’d agree with that - what you’re seeing is significant cardiac drift after hard efforts - which means your base is getting a little shaky when you challenge it. Can you share the cardiac drift numbers you see for a recent workout?

Unlike the comments from others in this thread, I see significant value in adding a large endurance block before or after my intervals. It helps establish consistency in duration of effort similar to my races as well as helps to train my body to deal with extra stress

As an example, yesterday I did Baird +6 and included an extended period of time at 75% FTP after the intervals. During the first 10 minutes post intervals I was at an average HR of 146, the next 10 was at 143, next 141, and the last 10 at 137. Today I did 25 minutes at 75% FTP as an extension to Brasstown and for those 25 minutes I averaged 134 BPM

It took me a solid 30 minutes for my HR to drift into the range I’d normally consider average at that power output, but it did get there eventually.

Thus, why I am asking about what type of cardiac drift you are actually seeing. It should take a while for your HR to come down, but given proper fueling, hydration, and base fitness, you should get back to the desired HR

For what its worth below is my cardiac drift numbers for the two rides I referenced above

Baird +6
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Brasstown
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