I wonder what the failure rate for this workout in week 1 of SSB2 (medium volume) is? It’s in the first week with a new FTP and has you do 5x10 basically within the margin of error of your brand new FTP. Maybe I just had a bad day, but I’ve attempted the sequence twice and failed miserably each time.
Just seems like 50 minutes at a newly set FTP is quite a task right out of the gates in week 1. Most pro’s don’t do a 40k or 1 hour effort at their estimated FTP. (think I heard Jonathan say that on the Flo podcast).
I’ve done the workout a couple of times. It’s tough but doable and all segments are below your FTP. I would suggest next time you do the minus 1 version.
You can check and see how others have got on with this workout.
I’ve done it three times. I put notes in at the end of every ride so I don’t just have to look at it and wonder how I felt
On each of them, I had 9 or 9+ RPE (barely doable). When I was pretty fresh (the first 2), it was a tolerable ride. Last one was pretty horrible. I was carrying a lot of fatigue and my cadence was plummeting toward the end!
Yea I was gassed at the end of this workout. I struggled on the last one. Cadence and power were a mess the last 4 minutes but I held on, somehow. Metallica helped also🤘
Did it yesterday after a 7% FTP gain and got through cleanly. Had to dial down Geiger +2 by 3% and then eventually bailed on it after an hour as I didn’t recover well enough from Kaweah and a bunch of hard manual labor this week… it’s a tough back to back with a higher FTP, no doubt.
I did it in early October after a week of random workouts to get my head back in the space. Don’t be afraid to select a variant (like Kaweah -2) with reduced time and less intervals for your early work.
I encourage my friends to train all winter on our little private FB group and I always suggest making adjustments towards success. Adjust the workout -5% or -10% (bottom left ± buttons) if it helps you complete workouts; you can do this at anytime in the workout. Use -1 or -2 workout variations (available from the workout start page) to adjust the duration, number of intervals and the load if you feel tired before the workout in your calendar. Use a time shortened workout variation rather than skip a day. Try less intervals if you are not able to complete a workout. Space out the workouts more with an extra rest day if that helps with fatigue or a busy family schedule. If you really can’t hit the power targets, reduce your FTP -5 watts and try again.
Don’t quit.
Don’t be discouraged.
Don’t expect to mimic what other people are doing 100%.
Tough for sure, but I agree with others that it’s doable. I swapped it for that Sunday because Saturdays are my big days on the bike so while I was a little sluggish at first and I marked it as an 8 out 10 it was completed as perscribed.
It’s also good to remember that your FTP isn’t the be all and end all figure. I’ve been using a readily available spreadsheet that uses 4 different power ratings. That has helped me understand why I’m slower than people with lower Watts/kg FTP figures.
That doesn’t mean that FTP isn’t useful. It just means you have to realise you may have to work harder on certain workouts. That’s a weakness being highlighted and should be taken as an indication that the training load is working. If it’s too much, drop the intensity as suggested.
You didn’t fail. You now know what can be improved to make you faster.
Personally, I hate to bomb out on a workout. Sometimes I’m cooked from work and that’s cool. You can only expect so much from your body.
My OCD makes me keep trying every workout until I finish as prescribed. Unfortunately, the calendar gets messed up and you have to keep stretching it out. The results are solid for me using this method for now.
If you have the time to extend the plans I would recommend this approach for any other amateur hacks like myself.
This was my today ride. To make it worse I did a ramp test Tuesday and didn’t like the result so did a 8 min test Thursday then gym and sweet spot together on Saturday.
I finished this but it sucked.
If you are used to doing 2x20 I think it’s right on the edge of doable.
This thread is great to highlight the importance of using the ride notes function, it’s great to look back on how I felt or perceived the workout. I looked back at my history doing Kaweah and it usually starts with “Ouch!”, but then reports that while difficult, it was rewarding to get through it at the new FTP.
SSB2 is no joke and it doesn’t get easier. The weekends are rough (Clark/Hunter, CP2/Juneau-1, MA-1/Tallac+3, Leconte/WP-1). I have a hard time doing that week after week especially when the preceding workouts are vo2 and threshold work.
What I did though was Tue Vo2 and Wed threshold followed by rest on Thu. Then the over/under on Fri, Pettit Sat, and long SS on Sun. It helped a lot to separate them with Pettit.
With SS and Threshold work nutrition seems to be my number one limiter. Eat more.
I came into TR with a lot of long Z2 work under my belt and got beat all to hell by SSB.
I was super lean at the time and eating a pretty low carb diet that seemed to work well for traditional base work.
Long story short, my FTP is 45w higher than it was in October, I weigh a couple kilos less and I smash carbs all day long. No issues with work near threshold anymore.
Rode 30min at 100% FTP Saturday with another 15min 100% effort in the middle of 2.5hrs averaging almost 80% FTP. Had Tallac +4 today and ended up skipping all the rest intervals for 2hrs at 90% FTP.
Mentally, I am already telling myself that it’s going to be a ‘really’ tough six weeks, especially at the start. That way I won’t be surprised and demotivated when it is, and If I complete the workouts at 100% its a win.
I was probably a bit conservative in my FTP test, due to a tech issue on my last interval, which also gives me a bit of advantage, but if I am on track after two weeks at 100% I plan on possible giving myself a five-ten watt bump after 3 weeks.
Personally, If I go into something fearing it and thinking that I’m going to fail, then I probably will. SSBMV2 is a challenge but an important one, think of it as developing your body in new ways and preventing a plateau. I’m actually excited about getting into it and getting a kicking, but then again I’m a bit odd like that.
yeah, most of those bad sources are roughly 50% carbs at best by calorie (not by weight since 1 g fat is 10cal)
Beans and rice is one of my power meals.
As to the OP, just remember that week one is a bit of a bruiser, but stick with it and you should be able to handle weeks 2 and 3. Weeks 4 and 5 are where things really get tough again. Of course this was more true when doing the 2x8 test and that workout was roughly 80 tss, so it depends on what sort of filler workout you do on testing day for week 1 of SSBII.
