I’ve been doing a year of ssb2 MV base → MV sustained power build cycles. At least for as far as it concerns sustained power build, HV seems not that far out of reach. I must admit, after a build block I have accumlated fatigue and really NEED the rest week.
Is there a way to “ease in” HV sustained power build by having some hybrid form of MV and HV? Currently, I am in base. Should I swap some trainings or what?
I figured… since oftentimes HV is too hard, perhaps you can “train towards” the training load of HV by doing a block that is in between (I guess around 500-550 TSS).
Use an easier version of a workout progression if you find it too much. I wouldn’t expect to use an easier version one week and the planned version the next week unless there was some extenuating circumstance (i.e. sick kid cut your normal sleep in half).
Skip the extra endurance portions at the end of some of the rides if you’re totally cooked.
Skip an endurance day entirely if you’re really spent.
B. Make a MV plan harder
Use harder versions of a workout progression.
Add endurance at the end of existing workouts (i.e. extend the cooldown, ride at 65-75%).
Add endurance rides on some normally scheduled off days (i.e. Pettit, Fletcher, etc).
FWIW, I did Short Power Build High Volume (SPB-HV), Sweet Spot Base Mid Volume (SSB-MV) but modified it to four weeks, and am in the last block of Sustained Power Build High Volume (SusPB-HV). In hindsight I probably should have done SSB-HV and followed some of my own advice from step A above since SSB-MV still has a lot of intensity at and above threshold, and I’m getting mentally and physically tired of doing hard intervals three times a week.
Whatever you decide, listen to your body - aches, pains, fatigue, tired, grumpy, etc. If they persist more than 1-2 days beyond a particularly tough workout then you’re probably ramping up too quickly and need to dial back.
I am doing SSBHV right now, but am swapping our the weekend SS rides for Z2 Endurance rides (3-4 hours).
I can handle the physical aspects of the SSBHV plans, but the mental grind of basically only doing SS wears me down. So doing Endurance rides on the weekend breaks it up, gives me some added hours on the bike and keeps things fresher.
Extend the weekday VO2 Max and threshold workouts to 1:30. Ie Taylor for Taylor -2, Ebbets +2 for Ebbets, Trojan for Jepson, Kaweah +1 for Donner, etc. Sometimes it takes a little poking around the workout library, but I find the extra 1 hour of intensity is all I need to spice up MV! If that’s too much, just start tacking on 30 min of endurance work to the end of the RX’d workouts.
I think a good test would be to complete the MV plan but add in enough extra Z2 (either extended cool downs or extra rides) to equal the total volume of the HV plan. If that goes well then give it a shot.
I do a hybrid of MV base with 3 SS workouts Tue - Thr then Friday zone 2 and keep o/u and SS at the weekend. That said I start with easier o/u and build up to the likes of McAdie and Palisade over 12 weeks as I think those workouts are to hard for Nov/Dec when my race season starts in April/May…use things like Mono/Mooses tooth etc to build into o/u and use 75min versions of all the standard SS (Carillon/Tray Mountain/Antelope etc) in the week. I have done HV base before and got through it but the tedium is extreme and I no longer have the time to sit on the trainer for 2 hours after work!
I’m trying to take some extra volume on my MV plan. 2nd week now into ssb1. Replaced all the 1h ss workouts with a 1.5 or 1.25h workout and replaced the ou session with an extra long 2 hour ss ride.
Also replaced pettit with Tehipite on Wednesday.
Going to stay with ssb2 mv so the transition into short power build is a bit smoother.
