Job done. 318 miles logged this week, 184 of which were outdoors and the rest indoors doing TR workouts. Big week for me, double my usual weekly TTS.
Had planned to do the 3R 100km ride this AM but woke up unmotivated. Blew it off and will do an easy 1 hour recovery ride to get more over 310 “trainer” miles and call it good.
Sadly, AT doesn’t really look at TSS specifically from what I know.
Wrapped it up today, I’d done a short trainer ride earlier this week but “made up for” it today to end up with 500km of outdoor riding. Plenty of wet roads but not much riding in actual rain; not bad for Seattle in December.
I really enjoyed this; definitely more weekly TSS than normal, but I feel good overall and have learned some things about what works and what doesn’t in terms of nutrition, gear and contact points. Skratch Labs umami rice cakes for the win!
Finished up today with a 38 mile gravel ride which unbeknownst to be at the end of the ride left me 1km short 
Had to come home and jump on Zwift to finish the challenge.
Congratulations to all that completed the challenge whether IRL or virtual or combined. If you did not complete the challenge, make adjustments for next year.
I’ve done it previously and both failed miserably, just about managed it or finished it relatively easily so this year I couldnt really be bothered adding the extra miles in. That was until I realised that by Boxing Day I already had over 200km and I was going to pretty much complete it anyway. Ended up having to add 5km yesterday to make up the distance 
I technically finished at 886km, because my 2.5 hour TR scheduled endurance workout (dombai) gave me 48.27 miles last night. (19.3mph avg). haha. (oh and I ran ai ftp after my petty exertions in the zwiftive500 on Sat. and it bumped me up 6w.) TR kept trying to adjust my PL down because I wasn’t doing the workouts for the last week. 
Frustrated AI coach goes off the rails. (speaking of AI, here’s an AI interpretation of that last sentence). Oh man. I love that AI’s name is AO!
Oh man I could make these all day. literally tears streaming down my face while laughing.
I’m regretting doing the Festive 500 this year. It took 15 hours to do and now I have very low motivation to actually start training this week. Probably just a combination of having the past week off for the holidays and also having to go into work, but man I’m dragging. I feel like the week after an A event where I really want nothing to do with structured training. Not ideal for week 1 of 2024. Thanks for coming to my vent talk.
See a recovery week as training. Hopefully you will get a nice fitness boost coming into next week.
Yeah, you gotta schedule some recovery from the R500 if it is a big jump in mileage for you.
Even at pure Z2, it is a big load if you are not used to it.
Go easy this week and start your planned training next week.
Yep, I made this a recovery week after the F500. This was supposed to be the 3rd week of a build block, I moved workouts around so my next block will be 4 weeks instead of 3 and this is recovery. The F500 (all outdoors) was the highest TSS week of 2023 for me, plus I’d gone hard before it.
Rest weeks are the best part of training, they’re when you actually get strong! Make it a week to focus on mobility, active recovery and good dietary habits, and enjoy the increased fitness you’ll feel next week.
Yup, depending on the jump in TSS, Time, etc. from a typical week in the recent history, needing a recovery weeks seems pretty darn likely and expected IMO.
I get the feeling that there is an overemphasis on starting right at the new year here, that needs to be shelved in light of selecting to do what amounts to a Training Camp for most people that take on the challenge. Just like a TC, planned recovery after is a necessary consideration to apply.
I need my years to start out slow unless I have an event. If I go full blast out of the gate each year I will hate training in no time at all.
Alright, well I guess this is now a recovery week! Thanks everyone.
Same, but I expected it, so I made this week a recovery week. This morning is my first with a normal HRV in like 10 days.
Did you add the Festive 500 as an event in TrainerRoad?
It’s a regular workout for me.