Long Endurance Rides >2.5hrs

  1. On long endurance rides is it okay to take a 5min break to get off the bike and stretch for a bit. The break also helps with saddle soreness. I try riding off the saddle but it’s not the same.
  2. At the end of the endurance workout my HR Zone is already at 3. I still breathe through my nose and I can talk if necessary. Should I be reducing the workout intensity at the end to keep my HR in Zone 2 or just continue as is.

Absolutely fine to take a short break whenever you feel you need it.

Partly for nature breaks, checking the route, stretching etc.

I guess I probably stop for 5 minutes every hour on a 4 hour ride.

Getting used to your position is part of the reason that longer rides are a great thing to include, not just the shorter trainer rides.

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On the second point, I’d say that as long as the ride still feels easy there’s no reason to drop the intensity; the HR drift can have many factors to it, including dehydration, overheating due to the indoor environment etc. On yesterday’s 7h ride, my HR crept into the 140s during the last couple hours, while usually on shorter 2-4h rides it stays at around 120 for the same wattage, and I suspect this is mainly due to dehydration.

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Breaks are fine and don’t worry about heart rate. :slightly_smiling_face: As visa suggests, do remember to feed and water yourself though.

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Re (2): assuming your fueling/drinking/cooling are dialled in already, I would even argue that increasing HR might be a “good thing” depending where you are with your training – it means long Z2 are still challenging → it provides sufficient training stimulus for adaptations i.e. you are getting enough bang for your buck. Keep it up and decrease power only if you are not recovering for next hard workout.

Once you are consistently not seeing aerobic decoupling anymore, it might be time to increase the Z2 volume or move to next phase and increase intensity.

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Thank you all for your inputs and help.

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7 hrs…on a trainer? :exploding_head:

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ass of steel

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