Am currently on the 40k TT MV specialty plan and about to face my first practice time trial in the form of Dardanelles -2. Just want to find out what tips you would recommend for keeping the focus for the entire duration of the effort (~48min of work right at FTP). I can’t help but feel that this is near impossible to complete indoors and would appreciate any advice or tips on how I can maintain the focus or motivation to carry on for the entirety of the workout. Or is this just a case of having to HTFU.
You’re getting into proper automaton territory now. Consider doing these while entering races on Zwift.
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If music is motivating for you, I would find a few long songs or an album at a tempo that is aligned to your desired cadence. I have a handful of go-to playlists and albums that I use on long endurance, SS, and threshold-y workouts.
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I agree with @Shrike. This might be a good opportunity to use one of those Zwift trials. Face it, you’re going to have higher external motivation on the road, but the trainer is the best training option. If I were doing the 40KTT plan, I’d seriously consider some Zwifting alongside these kinds of workouts. Music works for the 15-20min efforts, but I don’t think I’d be able to hold focus that long at that intensity just on a good playlist.
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Road Grand Tours is (used to be?) are free alternative to Zwift. Haven’t tried it since the change to RGT cycling but I really liked the Stelvio.
Personally, I’m not a big fan of these 100% Virtual Reality environments. And I’m not into online racing. However, these days I do almost all my longer intervals on Rouvy in Augmented Reality mode (you have an avatar but a “real” video. There are quite a few epic climbs available, my favourite is the Stelvio. Currently I do many longer sustained efforts, the setup helps quite a lot. You want to make it to the top of the climb.
Shorter intervals/efforts are good with watching race streams or so but for longish efforts these virtual climbs really help me. For me this was a game changer this winter.
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I have a trial of Rouvy I need to use and see how I like it compared to Zwift.
Not necessarily in this order, but you get the idea 
- Music
- HTFU
- Zwift
Also, you get 3 breaks during the 48min workout 
Take it one chunk at a time 