There are two new workouts in this plan for VO2 in the first part.
Saddle mountain is 3x4min @ 106%
Dollar law is 6x2min @115%
a similar progression is also in the LV version of ShortPB.
Only 12min VO2max in a 1h workout? That leaves one really really fresh! I’m a sustained rider and don’t have much short power fitness. when I think that before we had stuff like Kaiser or Spencer in SSB2 LV …
Any opinions? I know I can change the workout myself
As a steady state and sustained rider myself, I never found I could complete Kaiser or Spencer as prescribed without failing the next workout. The fatigue was too much for me, and I’d be buried by the workout for a day or two. The level jumps for them from week to week were also quite large if you compare the workout level progression of the old plans, so now they’re more of a steady progression. That said, feel free to substitute using the workout levels as your guide! Nothing wrong with that.
And of course, once you get Adaptive Training, the workouts it will prescribe will change to tailor to you, as well.
My understanding is that VO2max workouts’ intention is to develop cardiovascular system. Other two weekly workouts (threshold and sweetspot) are meant to develop strength endurance.
I’m doing SusPBLV currently. I’m a mountain biker & these types of efforts come fairly easily to me. For the first vo2 workout, I substituted Black Pine for Saddle Mountain & also did the threshold interval of the warmup at v02 wattage so I ended up with 19 minutes in zone for the workout. I do these in “standard” mode on my Cycleops Hammer so I can add time in zone where I see fit. I’ll be doing Hillers tonight.
I used TrainNow to get an idea of where my vo2max progression level stood then went through & selected similar workouts to what the plan had in store for me but at a progression level that matched what I need for a training level. Or something like that. Basically, I did what AT will do for me once it’s out of beta.
Sil was a killer for me & it looks like Ritter is going to give me a hard time along with Bear Creek. Those over unders just destroy me
Where are you in the plan progression? Are you early or late in the block? I am not super familiar with the LV plans. I would suspect workouts that are trying to maintain a 1:1 or 1:2 work to rest ratio are doing so to aid in recovery at strategic points in the plan. Admittedly, I would probably have snuck in one more interval on each rather than the rather lengthy cooldown, but there might be a more holistic concern here. Freshness might be the objective.
I would question your choice in plan (without knowing the context) if you are a sustained power rider, would it be more beneficial to work your “weaknesses” on something like the rolling road race plan? I am not sure if you are using plan builder or not, but if you’re feeling like your lack of short power is an imminent concern, you might find a better breakdown there. Be prepared that on an LV plan, you’re likely going to be ripping your legs off for every workout, but it might round out the gaps in your power curve the way you want.