Scary upcoming workout

Sometimes I look at how others have fared with an upcoming workout. I have Chicoma -3 on my calendar next week (the last week of base 2 low volume), and of the last 20 people how have done it, only 12 have completed it. This scares me! I thought the idea of adaptive training was to give us workouts that we can almost always actually do!

Well, one possibility is that those people may or may not be using AT. So, those performing that workout arenā€™t guaranteed to be following TR & AT recommendations. Keep that in mind.

Those fails might be an indicator, but with so many unknowns on that side, I donā€™t know if that is enough to cause worry for your performance. And unless there are notes by the riders (which are not as common as they should be, IMO) you donā€™t really know what happened in those workouts and why they look like they do.

Personally, I would ignore those other peopleā€™s workouts. Look at YOUR current Progression Level related to that workout, and any similar workouts YOU may have performed in the week or two prior to see how you handled them. Review any notes or experience you had in those and consider if you have anything you can or should do in prep for your hard workout.

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The issue with this workout is that there is only 30 second rest between the intervals. So itā€™s basically 48 minutes of straight sweetspot. Should be doable since this is actually low sweetspot, but thatā€™s probably why people struggle. Most donā€™t have endurance at sweetspot and threshold.

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or they just get bored

Well, i was exaggerating my concern a bit, but i hear what you are saying. It is a pretty small sample size, as well. Iā€™ll try it and see!

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I wasnā€™t intimidated by the structure of the workout so much as the success rate that people seem to be having with it. If I canā€™t handle it, i have no shame backpedaling.

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No offense intended, but its just a workout. Worst case you give up. What is scary about that?

Well, sometimes it can grow to become something more than just a ā€œworkoutā€.

Iā€™d wager that most of us old-timers canā€™t help but flinch a bit when we see or hear ā€˜Leconteā€™. :wink:

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That is a ā€˜problemā€™ Iā€™ve seen in other threads. Like people dreading an upcoming workout so much they feel physically ill. I think some people (not implying the OP or anyone in particular) could benefit from changing how they think about workouts and training in general to make it lower stress and easier to handle mentally and emotionally.

My least favorite type of workouts are VO2max. Iā€™ve changed how I choose to think about those types of challenging workouts to not be worried / scared / etc. of them. They are workouts I voluntarily do to get stronger and again, what is the worst that can happen (within reason)? For me, I could bail. Big whoop.

I think mindset going into certain (i.e. difficult) workouts is super important. Do I think I would do well if Iā€™m ā€˜scaredā€™ or worried or dreading a workout? No. Iā€™m already psyching myself out in advance and basically preparing myself for failure.

Iā€™ll agree to disagree on Leconte. :wink: I thought it was a good challenge.

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And just wanted to add a thank you for all you do on this forum. As an outsider it appears you put in a lot of time and effort and I think you deserve more appreciation.

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Yup, agreed. I think the perception and feelings heading into challenging workouts is key. Essentially what I was getting at with my first reply above, in terms of looking at it more objectively based on prior training.

Despite what we all ā€œknowā€ about hard workouts or fitness assessments (tests), it is still understandable to go in with some level of nerves and/or uncertainty. I think it actually can be leveraged and may even lead to ā€œmental adaptationsā€ that might be applied in our ultimate events or application of this fitness we chase.

I agree, taking a good look and perspective at stuff like this is helpful overall and we can work to frame things in more positive and beneficial ways if we do it right.

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You and everyone else are more than welcome. My primary goal with my involvement here is to help people get the info they want & need, and promote a positive community that helps one another.

I appreciate the kind words :smiley:

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I agree with the point @Craig_G is making, and itā€™s a good one, but I think heā€™s focusing a bit too much on the word ā€œscaryā€ as if itā€™s some sign of weakness. Itā€™s just a word the OP chose to say, ā€œwow, this one looks like itā€™s going to be toughā€.

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I think there are horses for courses here.

Sometimes itā€™s useful to ā€œpsycheā€ up for a challenging workout.

The flip side is that itā€™s not healthy to have to go deep into the well for every session of course, but sometimes you donā€™t want to give yourself an easy out.

But, I think PBase is right and ā€œScaryā€ is used here in a more fun way.

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I feel ya. I had Taylor +3 on my schedule for this morning and I woke up dreading it, lol. Didnā€™t actually believe I could do it and thought AT had lost its damn mind. But then I remembered that if I failed, everyone I knew would see it on Strava, and lo and behold, turned out I had it in me after all :joy: So go out there and kick its butt, youā€™ve got this. But - where do you see the stats on other people doing the same workout? Iā€™m only a couple months in and have plenty still to figure out, but I donā€™t see that option anywhere!

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Click on the workout, scroll down to the bottom, and you will see ā€œall ridesā€ as an option. There you can see every ride done on that workout. ā€œMy ridesā€ will show you every time youā€™ve ridden it.

Funny side note, I followed @mcneese.chadā€™s link to Leconte and here are my notes from a workout :rofl::rofl::rofl:.

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  1. Open the desired workout from the TR library, on the web specifically.
  2. Scroll down and open the ā€œAll Ridesā€ tab to see a list of the most recent completions of that workout. Notably, it only shows for those with their TR account set to Public.

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Iā€™d say my notes = ā€œscaryā€ :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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Great stuff. :+1:

Here was my last run at that, and the most relevant info:

*** FEELING DURING: ripped the 1st full set, solid on the 2nd and even dreamed of kicking it up in the last (idiot :P).
Worked hard thru the 1st half of the 3rd set and knew I needed help. Pulled hard and shifted to the 50T in the last kick before the mini-break. Then had to rip hard to spin up the cadence for the last 10 mins. Took some effort and I may have paid for it later. Was doing pretty well to keep the cadence up in the last but got mentally week. Took a 15 sec back pedal after the 3rd kick. Had to dig to get the speed back up and finished. Already mad at myself in the final low, I decided to punish my self a bit with a full standing kick and a mini-sprint to finish. Overall, really pleased with this compared to how brutal this beast can be. This goes in the win column again. Good job, Chadly!!!

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Maybe that is the case for the OP, but someone replied below your post about dreading a workout (though happy to complete it) and I vividly remember a thread wherein someone described how they would ruminate on upcoming workouts so much that they would feel physically ill. It it just a word, but words have meaning. My mental state going into a workout thinking its scary or going to suck affects how long Iā€™m going to last and how much discomfort I will tolerate. Going into a workout thinking its going to be tough but Iā€™m going to give it all Iā€™ve got is a different but important mental state.

I didnā€™t say ā€˜scaryā€™ was a sign of weakness. It could be a sign that someone is already psyching themselves down and preparing themselves for underperforming in the workout.