Week 4 and 8 are recovery weeks in the Base HD plan
Just got done with an FTP test. I was sitting at 326W at 86kg (3.8W/kg) and I had a really good training block and a solid end to the XC ski season, so I was optimistically thinking I might get up to around 340W for a nice even 4.0W/kg.
BLEW THAT OUT OF THE WATER! 358W giving me 4.2W/kg!
I am incredibly stoked right now!
16 Likes
Epic!
1 Like
Wowsers!!
1 Like
Interestingly enough today I was contemplating doing some blocks of traditional base instead of sweet spot since I have the time now. I know @JulianM has done this before and what is your take?
It worked well for me definitely when I did it.
What have you been doing up until now? If you’ve been following any one of the other plans and have some decent fitness levels I’d be tempted to skip the first phase of traditional base and do parts 2 and 3 if you have.
To my mind that first phase is more appropriate for somebody right at the beginning of a new block which most of us probably aren’t at this point as I guess we’ve mostly begun to build to a race and have some level of fitness.
Like everything I think the key is to do as much as is sustainable without causing excess fatigue, illness or injury.
3 Likes
Thanks and been doing some work and more than likely will be fine w/o the first block. I like the endurance style stuff quite a bit more which is some of the reason i gravitate to it.
No swimming for me and started running more but lower key stuff. I am pretty sure I am not doing a TRI this year and want to get my bike fitness up to where i think it could be if I was dedicating more time to it.
Edit: @JulianM. Just added first block of MV traditional. Will give it a shot and know I will like it.
1 Like
No we will all be fat and out of shape by 2021.
4 Likes
“In the greatest race since the Iron War, Brownlee and Frodo are neck and neck down the last km here in Kona, trading blows as they run towards the finish. Gasping for air, Brownlee give one last push and it looks like he just might edge Jan for the win…and he does! In a…well…historic winning time of 13 hours and 42 minutes. Jan with his pot belly just behind him collapses into a pile. Thank god this ordeal is over.”
3 Likes
Way to go man, that is huge!
Totally agree. In my case, it was the start of my “off-season” having just completed a 70.3 after an entire B,B,S HD MV cycle. I didnt find it challenging at all, but really enjoyed the simplicity of it from a mental as well as physical point of view. I can really feel that I’ve benefited from it ito aerobic endurance and a suprise bonus was that my FTP still increased after Trad Base 1 HV block. As I mentioned in a previous post, I extended it to 6 weeks by repeating wk2 and wk3.
Onto 2nd week of Trad Base 2, HV now and the workouts are for sure more challenging; but I’m enjoying them a ton and am positive about the entire process.
1 Like
Wow that is amazing. Well done!!!
How long have you been doing structured training for? And what has your FTP progression been like since the beginning?
So peeps, if we did our own virtual race how would we do it?
@schmidt @Scheherazade @TG333
I’m think a bike/run, because swimming is out for most of us except @WildWill
In the UK we’re only allowed out once per day, Spain not at all, I’m not sure what the heck is going on elsewhere.
Bike 40km or 90km
TrainerRoad would give us all different distances for the same workout, so I’m thinking Zwift/Rouvy/RGT for the bike or Strava if you’re allowed out.
Run 10km Or 21.1km
Outside/Strava if you can, or treadmill Zwift Run, I’m not sure any other apps out there. My Apple Watch records indoor runs, but the distance and paces are way off.
Timing
We’re all in different time zones, so maybe just do it at the weekend, and upload the results to this thread?
Meetups
We could set up a few meet-ups on Zwift for those who are in similar time zones, say 07:00 Saturday for PST, EST, GMT, etc?
Plus all of this might put us ahead of the game when Ironman VR is released…
Thoughts welcome!
3 Likes
Timing: You could open up the window for doing it/submission over a period of time, say a couple of weeks. So if your first go is awful you get another stab at it. It’s your best time, in that two week period, that counts?
Also, are we doing them as time trials or bricks?
Well I was thinking monthly (or even weekly) and concurrent with others online if we can, straight from bike to run, just for a bit of motivation during lockdown 
I would be in for the run/bike portions for sure. All pools are closed by me and at this point I might drown anyway. I can get outside currently.
Re: meet up I know you remember us trying it and it works as long as everyone is on time. You cannot join late.
And I am on est or located in Atlanta, GA
1 Like
What kind of turbo is required to enter the challenge ?
Or, if you’re an enormous nerd put your late, lamented target race into Best Bike Split as faithfully as possible, turn its plan into a workout and do that 
5 Likes
Thanks,
And I unfortunately don’t have a great answer for you. I’m pretty sure I started with an FTP around 285 back in March of 2019 when I first started with TR. Around June I got up to 305, then I took off my gen 1 Favero 'Be Pro" pedals for the first time in around 3 years and was an idiot. I tried to take them off but messed up the threading and was tightening them vs loosening them. And my god was I cranking on them!
All of a sudden I test at 356! I fiddled with them, tested at 330. Then 305. And every workout felt off either too easy or too hard. I lost a couple weeks of “good” training messing with that until the new Assomas I ordered arrived. I tested at 305 in Sept and decided that was fine and did IM Florida in Nov.
In late November after I was kinda recovered I tested at 313. Biking then became secondary as I focused on XC skiing (skate) and really hammered hard on that in January and Feb. Though I took a ramp test in mid-January to get 326. For the last couple weeks I grabbed workouts here and there from SSBHV1 but nothing super-structured. Now I’m officially jumping into my Oly training plan targeting nationals hence the test, and the 358.
I think the major jump was probably the massive amount of Z2 I was doing in preparation for IMFL, followed up by quite a bit of intensity with the XC skiing during the winter.
1 Like