Failed a training ride😔. What now?

[BaronGreenback]

One comforting thing might be if you look at the public workouts of the same one you’ve just failed, I guarantee that you won’t be alone. These sessions are damned hard. I’ve failed a couple, learnt when to back-pedal and my fitness has gone up and up.

[edreynolds]

That’s life, don’t sweat it and move on.

[Gigageek]

@jdv

The other thing you can do is check out the “All Rides” section of the workout to see how others have tackled the same workout.

@jdv how do I check out other peoples rides? I didn’t know I could do that?

When I select “all rides”, I just see all of my rides.

[bazcurtis]

During my last rest week I failed doing Whorl. I was shocked. I gave it up after 50 minutes. I too was disappointed. Looking back, it was a rest week, it wasn’t a great loss. I think my head wasn’t in it, so I couldn’t push through. Maybe I needed more rest.

I just took it for what was and came back fine the next week.

[Westonite]

Can you elaborate on the changes you made?

Thanks

[batwood14]

I broke down my take on workout “failure” in another thread a while ago – link below:

Whats the consensus on failing workouts?

There are 3 types of failure in my opinion – Good Failure ----This is where you are barely hanging on for the last few intervals or last few minutes – and maybe you have to take a backpedal or two. Or you dialed it down for the last interval, but only 2%-4% – but you pretty much hung in and got 99% of the benefit of the workout. Ignore this type of failure. Change nothing. Example below on Mills +1: [50%20PM] Bad Failure ----You are overmatched. You start bailing out about 50% of …

[G650]

As noted, if you dont fail any workouts, your FTP is too low.

[rmhoff]

It was tips that they discussed while talking with Amber.

Full disclosure: I’m a triathlete.

I typically train early in the morning. So I don’t have time to eat a big breakfast. So I would typically get up, eat about half a cup of Granola, drink water, have a BM, and then get on the bike. All in all, I’d usually be riding about 20-25 minutes after waking.

I would originally have a bottle with calories in it, but nothing too substantial. I’d take in maybe 200-300 calories for a 90 minute workout. Then it would be time for me to do a 5k or 10k brick run, and I’d do it and just be spent afterwards.

Like Nate said, I figured was tired and fatigued afterwards because I’d just done a hard workout. But then I made some changes for my next big workout after the podcast with Amber. The workout was a 2 Antelope + 5 with a 10k run tacked on to the back.

1. Still ate the granola. Just added a bit more.

2. As soon as I started turning the pedals for my workout, I ate a waffle.

3. I drank 2 bottle of Roctane at about 200 calories a piece.

4. I ate a gel after 30 minutes, and after 75 minutes.

The ride was challenging, and it worked my legs a LOT. But when it came time to do a 4.5 mile run at tempo afterwards, I felt like superman. My pace felt so much more sustainable, to the point, where I was running in my threshold range, and it felt the same as my old “tempo” pace.

I then did this for several more key workouts leading up to a race two weeks ago, and the increased performance was the same every time. I had never realized just how much I’d been underfueling.

The added benefit to this was that, like Jonathan also mentioned, I wasn’t as ravenous after tough workouts. I used to think that was normal too… that I needed to go gorge myself on a ton of food to recover properly. But when I consumed more while ON the bike, I could significantly reduce how much I consumed afterwards, perform better, and then recover better.

[PusherMan]

A few people have said that if you’re not failing (I’m assuming a couple of workouts) that your FTP is too low. I struggle with this. When people fail, I see lots of comments recommending a re-test as the FTP could be too high.

I honestly believe most failures start and finish in the mind. Some TR users seem to obsess over the workout before it has even started. I jump on the bike, hit ‘load workout’ and that’s it. I don’t know the numbers I’m aiming for and I can’t compare this ride to any previous workouts. I’m just there, in that moment and what will be will be.

This works for me because I haven’t allowed or encouraged self doubt. Control the mind and everything else will follow. Yeah, it’ll hurt at times and boy I’ve hurt.

[DanielAG]

This is great timing, I had my first failed workout yesterday and I was feeling a bit down about not doing Dade +4 in full (normally I can just take a short break or extend a recovery and complete it, but not yesterday). But reading what people have said here lifted my spirit a lot.

I also might just have been stressed from real life as @Nate_Pearson has said multiple times, real life stress will affect performance, and I’m starting a new job on Monday so getting everything in order at my current job has me kinda stressed.

Even just Wednesday when I had an endurance ride planed I skipped it completely, I was planning to it after I’d put the kids to bed, but I was so tired I went to bed 30 min later (a good two hours before I’d planned). So something is affecting me, that’s for sure.

As @jdv and @BaronGreenback mentioned I just looked up how other people have fared with Dade +4, and that shit is apparently insane since most people actually don’t complete or tone it down a ton. That makes me feel a bit better as well

[GregH]

You didn’t fail the workout, you worked out for 50 minutes and gained fitness through it.

Failing the workout for me would mean staying in bed and not starting, or quitting before the first effort was through.

We’re all human, just forget it, move on, and nail the next workout. No worries!

[jdv]

@Gigageek

When I select “all rides”, I just see all of my rides.

If you open the workout rather than your workout, so here:

Mt Hale Workout

You should be able to browse “all rides” at the bottom and see how other users have got on.

[SlothRider]

I pretty much skip any session over an hour long as mentally I just cannot sit on the TT for longer than an hour I am literally dying inside from boredom, even Netflix only helps me for an hour max (I am doing a sweet-spot plan) so technically I fail once a week.

personally I tend to struggle with the long interval sessions like 85-95% FTP for 15 mins short break and repeat. sometimes on the last interval I have to slack off but I just move on and don’t think about it I know I am getting stronger as a result.

[Gigageek]

@jdv thanks a lot. I didn’t know about that. Looking at the other rides is definitely useful.

Thanks again for the responses👍

[bherbers]

@PusherMan

A few people have said that if you’re not failing (I’m assuming a couple of workouts) that your FTP is too low.

I would say that a failed workout every now and then means that your FTP is set just about right. Failing every 2 out of 3 workouts probably means you’re due for a re-test.

Training is like popping a bag of microwave popcorn. You want to get as many kernels popped as possible without burning the whole bag, so ya gotta keep bumping up against that line without going too far over.

[brendanhousler]

failure is part of the game; maybe you’ve uncovered a weakness of yours, which is a good thing to find; you can now work on improving those.

a gel or two before would be better than solid foods IMO, or just some carb based drink in your bottle. I’m not a big fasted fan but everyone is different.

move forward and best of luck!

[mcneese.chad]

Yup. All success or all failure is a sign of a problem. Could be FTP, or any of a number of influences as discussed in various other threads.

Struggling and/or coming up short on later intervals is a “hard” workout seems likely if you are properly assessed (FTP) and prepared (nutrition, mindset, etc.). This is subject to the intensity, duration and intent of the particular workout, but the “hard” ones should be hard in one way or another.

Skipping a few short on/off intervals in a billat style set is a good coping measure. Backpedaling in in recovery periods or even used to split longer intervals are aids that can allow you to get more time and power in zone, which seems to be the common goal of many workouts.

As such, employ these as needed, but also evaluate at the conclusion of the workout. Did I really “need” them to get a full interval and/or set? Was it mental, physical, a blend? Did I hit the 95% (if that is right) goal compliance to the workout such that I consider it a “win”?

Then push past a single workout review and see the trend for the week and even months. Is this a “one off” problem, or are these more frequent than they should be. That is where we have to take on some responsibility and review our own work. Then consider any adjustments that may be necessary to get up pointed in the right direction.

I think many here are hopeful that some of the guesswork above will be assisted by TR software. There have been numerous hints about ideas like that and more to help us get more directed and appropriate training. Hoping to see some releases soon per the teasers dropped by Jonathan at the very end of a recent podcast (198?).

[ambermalika]

I get so jazzed reading that the tips we discussed have helped so many people on here! It’s amazing how simple changes can make such a substantial difference. I’m very happy to hear this worked for you and that you’re enjoying the benefits of good fueling! Thank you for sharing!

[Bplgocards]

Switch to Zwift, I hear they have fake training plans.

[kbeers81]

9 minutes at 105% is nothing to scoff at bro. Fuel up. Keep hitting it hard