Last night, I was set Moncong, which included 3 blocks of a 155% FTP sprint for 30s, then 13:30m at 100% FTP, with 4 mins reco between each block. I couldn’t complete it, the third 13m 100% interval just finished me mentally rather than physically. just didn’t have the willpower to complete.
Anyway, I notice that I’ve got basically the same session, Sitkinak, (3 x 14m at 100% with the first 30s of each being at 150%) only two days before a 3-4 hour gravel B race next week.
Firstly I’m worried that I won’t be able to complete. Secondly, that if i do i will still be feeling the effects 48h later when i’m racing. Thirdly, the text with this session calls it Sweetspot. Sweetspot, at 100% FTP???
This session just looks horrendously hard at the best of times, but i wonder why it is being suggested only 2 days before a B race? I would have thought I’d have been set a good few easy days to make sure i was well rested.
Any thoughts on this?
Thanks.
GF
Hey there!
That workout is definitely a tough one.
Sweetspot sounds like a typo – was this the in-workout text that pops up during your session? We can get that fixed for sure.
You may have openers before a B race if you selected that option, but our plans don’t taper for B races. If this workout seems a bit tough a couple days before your race, I’d advise moving it earlier in the week if possible or using Workout Alternates to find an easier replacement workout for that day.
Hope this helps – feel free to let me know if you have any additional questions!
Setting the B race question aside, you should adjust the workout(s) if you can’t complete them. If it was flagged as a failed workout, adaptive training should back off on future workouts (if you are using adaptive training).
All that said, I personally wouldn’t adjust my training to accommodate a B race. In my mind, B races should be respected as B races and can often be beneficial to go into them fatigued. I know it’s tough to have this mindset when it may contribute to lower performance during the race, but I find there can be a lot of benefit to racing without so much focus on results (which is seldomly results in the best training in a race). Ironically, I’ve had some pretty solid races going in with a lot of fatigue and a “whatever” mentality toward results. I’ll also use it as an opportunity to “race stupid” and try some things or just try to get a great workout (again, sometimes this turns into great results you never expect). You might surprise yourself with what you can do fatigued with race day motivation. At the end of the day, I think of the primary objective for a B race as contributing fitness and experience to make me better for my A races.
Yeah, they both look rugged and I know I couldn’t complete either of them right now. When I view Sitkinak, it describes it as threshold.
FWIW, I’ve got a B gravel race coming up and I got a taper, and not because I’m due a recovery week.
@ZackeryWeimer
Hi Zach, not to hijack, but I have a B race on March 2nd. I did get a taper for it. I even changed it to a C race to see if the taper went away but it did not. Any suggestions?
Good advice already! To echo what @grwoolf said… I have had some solid performances in the middle of some tough training as well, so don’t be afraid of going into a race a little tired, you might surprise yourself.
That said, I think a 2 day “taper” is always appropriate. I mean it is a race after all and if I am putting all the time and money into doing a race I want to perform well. Personally I prefer an endurance ride two days out then a light “shake-out” with some accelerations the day before (about 30-45 min… 60 at the absolute max). But everyone has their own thing they do. Recently I read the “openers & priming workouts” thread and was amazed at how much volume and intensity some people do before a race. But you gotta do what you feel works for you.
Best of luck to you!
No problem – it looks like your B/C race happens to fall on a recovery week that is now scheduled a bit earlier than it normally would.
Since our plans are built as 3 weeks “on” and 1 week “off,” sometimes, an “odd” week like the one on your TR Calendar will appear if the number of weeks between the start date of your plan and your A race doesn’t align with that 3:1 ratio.
When this happens, you may get a couple of 2:1 work/recovery weeks to ensure you get an ideal taper leading into your A race(s) entered into your plan.
If you don’t like how some of those weeks look, don’t be afraid to Edit your TR Calendar to copy/move your weeks around to better fit your schedule.
Hope this helps and feel free to let us know if you have any other questions!
Move the workout up a day and/or opt for something a little easier per @eddiegrinwald suggestion. In any case, just make sure you are fueled for the event. For myself, I don’t mind be a little fatigued as long as I’m properly fueled for the event.
Hey @ZackeryWeimer, I just moved my calendar around as you suggested I might. This is the first time I did this on TR. I found it super-easy to do, especially after I realized that I am only really moving the structure and not the actual workouts. The calendar may look like I am moving actual workouts around, but adaptive training is going suggest adaptations to make it all flow progressively once I get closer to the moved days. Very cool. 