Before measuring success, this is how I define my cycling goal: up to 24h long distance discovery rides (not races):
- long distance: want to get far, i.e. get relatively fast in/out of already too familiar home county
- discovery: intensity should be low enough, so focus can remain outwards (higher intensity → focus turns inwards to maintain effort) i.e. I want to keep continuously moving but having enough attention to “smell the roses”
With that, improvement means for me various things:
- highest intensity for lowest HR Z2 (unfortunately my power vs HR zones do not align well: HR goes top of HR Z2 at ~65% of FTP, remains stable through power Z3 and does usual stuff at Z4)
- TTE for 4-24h
Basically, I measure highlighted HR point for power:
- 2019 (couple months) - 2020 was SSBHV on loop (+ additional Z2 at the end of workout during outdoor seasons)
- 2021 TBHV + SusPBHV on loop
- 2022 my own Z2-centric plan with 2 hard days a week (2xSS → 1xZ4+1xSS → 1xZ5+1xZ4)
- Despite the drop in 2023, FTP actually remained same. I am simply experimenting various stuff + maximizing volume to see how much can push myself over longer period (2-3 months) without losing motivation. Because of this, consistency haven’t been too good, even it will become highest volume year for me.
To summarize: I do not think that Z2 is somehow magic. It is simply specific to my goal. Harder days are just supporting workouts to raise the ceiling, so Z2 can follow and extend. And for indoor season, I do prefer more pyramidal or threshold approach, not a fan of long Z2 here. Sidenote: for cyclists like myself, TBHV is pretty good approach, I think it has pyramidal TID.