Tuesday - Workout (Unsure of threshold or V02Max)
Thursday - Race (1 hour cycle there, 40 min race, 1 hour cycle back).
Sunday - Ride (4-5 hour mtb ride)
From June/July onwards - I will have races on Tuesday & Thursday.
I am wondering what to work on during my Tuesday Workout.
The XC Races are on natural & technical trails; rarely anywhere you can properly recover. The descents are undulating and relentless so you cant just sit up and recover. The ascents are technical requiring some 500+w spikes to get over certain features. In my head the races are basically an O/U style TT but the overs are at 110+%.
I recently had high Progression Levels in both V02 and Threshold @ 270 FTP. My new FTP tested at 300W (4.6wkg). So I am unsure if threshold or V02 is more appropriate to getting use to my new FTP. (Last year peaked at 295w)
I am leaning on V02 for getting use to higher power but the rest period between the intervals isn’t very race specific.
you will start racing from June onwards (in two weeks) twice a week with a long 4-5h mtb ride on sunday. what’s the intensity on those long rides? Are you asking what you should do tuesdays in the remaining two weeks until june? if so, I’d suggest endurance rides and start racing season fresher than trying to hammer more intensity into those two weeks. looks like you do plenty of hard rides as is.
2x races per week from end of June onwards. My question would be for I should do for the next 4-5 weeks (starting today). Basically I have 1 more block before proper race season.
Sunday is an endurance ride although I try to practice some tech climbing which does put me over. I try to rest before and after the tech sections for 2 mins or so just to get my HR back down. Try my best to keep it within Z2/Lower Z3. Easy going.
For this block, I will take the races fairly easy. Still leave some in the tank so not to burn out for when I start doing two races a week (which includes 4+ hours extra per week of riding to trails).
In the case of your suggestion, I would do shorter V02 sessions, nothing too hard. V02 generally takes less out of me compared to a 1:30h Over Under session. Probably start at 30/30 and build up to 3min x 6 by the 4th week?
seems like you already know what you’re going to do then. what kind of advice are you looking for? or do you just need confirmation, a “go ahead”. I think it depends on many factors. Maybe TrainNow could step in here and you gauge week by week how you’re feeling instead of already planning out what you’re going to do. I don’t know you but to me sounds like you’re digging a hole before climbing in it when race season starts. (all of this depends of course on your training history and general fitness/ability to recover)
If I were racing on Thursday I wouldn’t be doing VO2max workout on Tuesday…I’d move that workout to Monday. But I’m 55 years old and need more recovery between hard workouts.
I think I’ll listen to you guys and maybe just take an easy day on tuesday, probably go to the local park for 1hr of zone 2 + practice some cornerning.
I’ll be doing the odd friday and saturday rides (2-4 hours) so my weeks can easily turn into 15 hour weeks. So best to keep my tuesday easy.
