Scaling 40k tt workouts?

Training
1

The 40k tt workouts—specifically the practice tt workouts on thursdays—are crushing me. Any suggestions for how to scale these to make them doable?

I’m doing the mid volume 40k tt plan to work on something a bit different. I typically race crits but last fall I decided to schedule a tt on my birthday (mid February) to have a goal on the calendar.

I’m 2 weeks into the plan and have had no issues with the other workouts so far and fact I’ve been pleased with how the last few workouts have felt—except for Dardanelles -2 and today’s Dardanelles -1.

I completed 2/3 of D -2 and was looking to improve on that but couldn’t make it through 10 min of -1. Both times I’ve felt like I’m holding on for dear life for the entire time I’ve attempted the workout.

So how to go about scaling these? I’d like to make the most of these workouts and it seems like getting through only small chunks of them isn’t the way to go about it.

2

One option is to use the Workout Intensity adjustment. Bump it down to something lower than 100%, to what you think you can hold. Sometimes a decrease of 2-5% is all it takes to make a notable difference.

2 Likes
3

First time I did Dardanelles I toggled off ERG after an hour to let me pedal at a unforced power target, so I could pedal below the target without falling into the ERG spiral of death.

3 Likes
4

As well as adjusting intensity, how are you scheduling your week? Did you do Bald knob the day before and a rest day afterwards?

Check your recovery and nutrition. 0.92 IF is definitely going to be a tough workout and they expect you to have a day off afterwards.

1 Like
5

Schedule is the basic T: hard W: easy R: dard so yesterday was bald knob and Friday is off.

I feel like I’ve been eating a ton going into these workouts but definitely struggle to get food down while going. I’m going to swap to drinking carbs for the next ones. I’ve been working around a holiday schedule which I’m sure is also throwing me off a bit.

1 Like
6

Thanks I’m also planning to go back to dard -2 next week rather than moving forward in the progression.

I’ll definitely try turning the intensity down a couple clicks—hopefully a small adjustment is a big help.

If I keep struggling with these should I keep lowering the intensity until it’s doable or is there a low limit that I shouldn’t pass.

7

Nutritionwise Id just pop one gel before the session at most.

Well, my concern is that if you can’t handle intervals just below ftp, how are you going to hold ftp for the 40km?

How did the base and build phases go? And what’s your estimated 40tt time?

8

Any decrease greater than 5% would seem to be an indication of something being off.

1 Like
9

How have you tested? Is your FTP set from a ramp test on a road bike? A 20 min test on the TT bike? That is going to make a difference in how your feeling.

Might be a good idea when on a recovery week towards the end to do a 20-30 min TT test and then can do your ramp test on Tuesday on your road bike. Or just do a 20-30 min test on the TT bike instead of the ramp test.

10

I’ve been using the ramp test and my road bike. I don’t have a tt bike. I’ve done merckx time trials but that’s it.

I think I see what your’re getting at by trying an alternate test–gives me a chance to try holding that steady power for a good amount of time. I’ll try to give that a shot.

1 Like
11

Going into this I was hoping to complete the tt in an hour–it seemed like a tough but doable goal. I’m going to be doing this all on zwift and don’t have a ton of tt experience so I figure I’ll get a better sense of how I’m doing over the next few weeks as I get through more of the specialty workouts and try a couple zwift practice efforts.

Base was fine and build was tough. This whole training plan has been an experiment for me and I’m generally happy with how its gone and what I’ve learned as I struggled through parts of build. One of the main goals was to try to hold ftp for an hour but it’s not going to break my heart if that power I can hold for an hour / the “event” is a bit lower than what I measured via ramp test.

1 Like