I have two unrelated questions. Please excuse the beginner nature of both.
First, if I’m on a three day a week plan, does it matter if the rest days / workouts are evenly spaced throughout the week? Would I be losing any benefit if I rode Saturday, Sunday, and Wednesday? Let’s assume I’m not feeling rundown or especially fatigued Sunday morning after the Saturday morning workout.
Second (and this applies more to running, as I don’t have power numbers for that), if I’m trying to maintain the 70/30 or 80/20 split of HR zones, do I slow down on mornings after drinking, when my HR is elevated from that, or should I maintain the speed I know would be in the right zone on a “normal” day?
No worries if your rest days are spaced evenly – it really depends on what works best for your schedule. Ideally, we’d avoid stacking harder days back to back, but if you’re not feeling fatigued, then go for it!
As for the running, we’d say that depends on how your rate of perceived exertion is doing. If your HR is higher than normal but your RPE is what it would be on a normal day, then going by RPE might be more useful for your running progression. If, however, your RPE feels higher and matches that elevated HR, then it would be a good idea to dial things back.
Hope that helps! Feel free to let us know if you have any additional questions.
