I did Leconte today. Husband asked “how was your ride?” My response: “I think it tried to kill me.”
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Spencer +2 was on the calendar today and I’m happy to survive! First 5 intervals were done at 105 rpm and was starting to get ragged. For the last interval I upshifted one gear to drop the cadence down to 95.
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I’ve been doing Vo2max work outside. I wouldn’t say it’s easier but it is a touch less brutal. I only have a power meter on my mtb (maybe I’ll upgrade drivetrain on my Vassago Fisticuff garvel bike next spring with one) & I have a good carriage road which has 2 or 3 different pitches to work on. The first is flat & I just hammer til the road heads up, downshift a couple of gears into a higher cadence spin which lasts a minute or so, then flatter grade again so up shifting & lower cadence chasing the power & finally it ends with another pitch that gets my cadence up for the last time. I think I can get 3.5 minutes on it but have only done up to 3.
But anyway, not having erg mode & varying my cadence seems to help a lot with these Spencer +2 type workouts.
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I did Bashful +6 yesterday, and hubby said afterwards he thought I was going to pass out. I guess he was making coffee nearby when I was in the last set of intervals and my breathing was, uh, labored.
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I’d love to see TR bring out a total compliance rate for all workouts based on all TR users & an individual compliance rate. It’d be fascinating to see which workouts are most difficult, where people typically fail etc
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I like this, I’d say the RPE gets to the same place outdoors, it just takes me a bit longer to get there. I just started doing VO2 Max outdoors again and also plan on using my mountain bike, those two factors make the work more tolerable.
I’ve realized that there’s a compromise between indoor and outdoors. I enjoy the mostly distraction free setting indoors that really allows for focus, but often there’s a mental (and cooling) factor that makes those really hard workouts tough to bare indoors. While outside the cooling and psychological effect of moving and changing speed is helpful but the terrain and external variables can be distracting. I think it’s important to try to do focused workouts on the bike you race though so I like the idea of outdoor workouts on the MTB.
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That would be good…but even better would be a PERSONAL compliance rate, taking into account missed intervals, lessened power, backpedals, and skipped workouts, that accumulates as you go. With some sort of grade given at the end of the block.
one of my favorite workouts and possibly one of the scariest (along with Elephants -any flavour). Always intimidating, but a tremendous sense of satisfaction when it is completed
I have gone through ssbmv twice this year, the first time through I almost swapped Spencer +2 for something a little easier but I ended up completing the workout to my surprise. The next time through with a little higher ftp had trouble with last two efforts but still managed to end up with a higher average power than the last time through. In the past I would do VO2’s at 93%, so this is a general improvement.
+1 this would be amazing. Probably a relatively long term project but the ability to somehow evaluate personal compliance for a given time period (seasons???) as well as individual workouts would be really cool. That would allow us to draw comparisons/evaluate what effect compliance had on a particular gain/loss in fitness vs another time. I can think of hours of fun I would have digging into this.
Yeah, it’s doubtful. They go out of their way to say “failure” is not a binary thing so producing a “score” would kind of imply that you succeeded or didn’t. I personally would love it and kind of use the IF actual vs. projected to gauge my success myself, but I repeat workouts rarely enough that looking at compliance for a single workout might not be that helpful, but would be interesting to see how “hard” some workouts are for the masses. I think IF is an indicator, but obviously some high IF workouts are harder than others.
Deep breaths are for meditation and relaxation.
At VO2max, concentrate on forceful exhalation. The goal isn’t necessarily to take on O2, but rather to expel CO2.
I’d guess that my lung volume ranges between 20% and 80% during heavy VO2/anaerobic breathing.
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As far as Spencer +2 goes, I had it last week and actually attempted it twice. I was coming off of about 7 months of near 100% compliance with schedule and nailing workouts, but was kind of floundering a bit on Mary Austin. So I was worried that I was finally starting to wear down. First attempt was miserable. Made it only through 3.5 intervals before throwing in the towel. I decided I would try it again the next day after having experienced what it takes to do 3 minutes at VO2 and did significantly better. Was able to mostly get through it with a few backpedals on intervals 5 and 6. But man it’s tough. You kind of feel like you are drowning. I think it takes some acclimation, which may explain why I was able to do better the second day. I don’t think Base does enough to prepare you for Spencer + 2. I remember having much less trouble with Kaiser +2 at the end of Build, which is 9 intervals of 3 minutes rather than 6 and that was probably because of all the other longer VO2 work you do in the build phase prepares you for it. Taylor, Bluebell, and Mills are not quite enough.
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. Yes. Sometimes I scare my dog with my breathing. Congrats on Bashful +6! Wow! I will probably cry if I see that on my calendar! 
. Good job!
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It looked so unassuming but hurt so much!! I will have to check out these elephants! Lol. Thanks😊
Yes, definitely a more gradual buildup, and also Kaiser+2 is at 118%.
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I’m 56 and yesterday had a similar Spencer +2 experience. Barely got through the first interval, so I reduced the intensity by 5%. Finished the remaining 5 intervals with HR reaching 181 bpm at the end of the 6th. Tallac +3 on Sun. felt much easier.
Nailed Spencer +2 today! Had to reduce the intensity back in March on my first go at it but today was 100%! Apologies for tooting the horn but man that felt good!
Eat it, Spencer +2.
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So, this morning I rolled up to the trainer for a little workout called Shortoff +6 … what the heck is that?! 
It is kind of similar to Spencer + 2 (6 sets x 3min VO2 @ 120% FTP / 4min recoveries between intervals) in the sense that it is 3 sets (9 efforts in total) of 3 x 3min VO2max intervals @ 115-120% FTP / 3min recoveries between intervals and 6 min recoveries between sets. All this with a 45min Endurance section tacked on for some good ol’ shiiiitzzzz and giglezzzz.
So the main difference between the two is less recovery time between efforts and an extra 3 efforts in there, plus the 45min Endurance section. In the wise words of Sir Ron Burgundy, “milk was a bad choice.”
Does not seem to be a great completion/compliance rate on this one! Alot of TR users dialing the effort down in the last 3 x 3min efforts and/or missing the last 3 efforts.
After doing it myself, I can see why! Managed to get through the first 7 efforts with relative ease AKA managing the suffering. The 8th efforts I was up and out of the saddle and mashing the pedals but got through it. In the 9th effort (bottom of the 9th is a saying that rings true here) the legs were cooked and I lasted 1 minute before having to dial the effort down by 5% to get through the last interval effort. Settled into the 45min Endurance quite well though and upped the effort into an Endurance, Tempo, Sweet Spot pyramid effort for the interval.
Now, time for bulk pasta. Brutal. Absolutely brutal.
Anyone else had the pleasure of attempting/completing this bad boy?! 3min VO2 max efforts are brutal no matter what workout you do! Spencer + 2 and Shortoff + 6 included!
I am scheduled to do Spencer +3 tomorrow morning. I replaced Spencer +2 in SSBMV 2. Seemed like more fun…
Will post the results in a few hours.
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