We all suddenly have the time to train like pros

so with work and life slowing WAY down for some of us, what’s the proper way to train like the pros do? im 29, and have been on the high volume plans for a couple years so I should be able to handle the stress of more riding. the past few days I have been just doing the sweet spot efforts from the prescribed workout, then riding for like 2.5 or 3 more hours at a z1 or z2 pace, just cruising not really paying attention to the power. my question is what do i do moving forward? when the build phase of spring/summer comes do i do the same thing and get the prescribed workout efforts out of the way early in the ride, then just cruise around for another 2 or 3 hours? id love to see how the big guys structure their weeks and daily workouts when you can spend 15 or 20 hours on the bike. what ideas do you guys have for filling up time productively or weaving in structured efforts into a 3 or 4 hour ride daily?

I got a decade on you but I’d just sleep more🤣

All I’ve heard is if you have more time do additional z2 work. I prefer to add z2 in at the beginning of workouts versus the end. A lot harder to do those SS intervals after 3-4 hours at z2.

3 Likes

The IRL consensus: do long rides with lots of “stuff” in them. :+1:

2 Likes

Honestly I totally didn’t see this coming but I’m finding myself with less time to train. My wife is used to me and the kids being gone all week. We’re now all at the house. My routine is an early morning workout before everyone gets up and then another workout at lunch. The early morning one is no issue. But the one at lunch has been a challenge. Wife is taking care of the kids all morning while I’m holed up in a room “working.” Then it’s time for lunch run where normally I’d have no issue leaving my desk and heading out but now I feel super guilty. Longer workouts on the weekend are likely to be this way too.

7 Likes

I understand your enthusiasm but going from 10h per week to 20h is not something I would do quickly, if at all.

I had six months off work in 2017, healthy, and burned out doing high volume full distance triathlon build. Had to stop training altogether.

Which brings me to the next point, you’re likely to get sick soon, I wouldn’t plan to far ahead :slight_smile:

8 Likes

I’m in the same spot as you

Definitely less time to train here. I work from home, but my wife is a prof and will be teaching from home for the foreseeable future. School is closed, as is daycare, so our 6 and 2 year olds are home all day as well. My office is much more crowded… If I can keep a modicum of fitness between now and June when wife’s spring term ends, I’ll be overjoyed.

1 Like

I wouldn’t be so fast to dissuade the fella. He’s young and used to the stress of HV plans so additional Z2 shouldn’t really be a problem. My n=1 is doing 4 months of HV Z2-only (as well as working!) and feeling almost no stress; I also ramped it up pretty fast with no ill effects (beyond having to get up earlier). Z2 is healthy exercise.

I might advise replacing one of the intensity days in the plan with a long pure Z2 ride instead of always mixing the two on the same day.

You won’t know until you try! :+1:

1 Like

I just happen to be finishing up week 6 of SSB1. I am planning to do high volume z2 rides the next three weeks totaling 15, 17 and 19 hours. Then a recovery week (10 hrs) and then two weeks with VO2/threshold workouts on Tues/Thurs and z1/z2 the other days, but hitting the hard workouts really hard. Then pick up back with SSB2.

I think I got a good boost around Thanksgiving and Christmas when I had some time off and basically got in a training ‘camp’ each week with 15-17 hours. But z2 doesn’t necessarily mean easy or tooling around. 17 hours at the high end of z2 was over 1000TSS for the week and I was smoked at the end. I will be aiming to be mid-z2 for most of the rides because its 3 week instead of 1, so TSS won’t be quite as high. Currently planning around 670, 720 and 820TSS. I am coming in from around 630-650 TSS /week from SSBLV and extra rides.

I’ve concluded that I suddenly have the time to recover like a pro. Trying to double my time spent in Z0 and perfect my ‘why stand when you can lay down’ position; wife says I actually have to do some training first. :grimacing:

13 Likes

Yes, I’m thinking of trying to run with my toddler in the pram, or my eleven yo on a scooter so it’s still family time.

I’m going back to sweetspot base now my plan has been totally ruined race wise.

In fact I’m going to start getting used to riding 100+ miles on the weekend

2 Likes

currently coming towards the end of SSB LVII with nothing planned for the next phase so quite flexible. I’ve got an extra 2.5 hours free each day now so wondering what’s the best approach? Adding 1 hour Z2 rides to each day or replacing some of the 1 hour workouts with a split of 1 hour in the AM and then 2 hours in the PM Z2 riding ?

1 Like

I find that I have more time but the workouts are harder because I’m just not used to being at a standing desk all day. It’s all I’ve got at home in my small apartment. I’ll adapt eventually I expect but for now the legs feel sluggish when I get on the trainer and my joints are quite unhappy if I do even a base run :laughing:

Maybe I should switch to training in the morning and then see if I can make it through the rest of the day instead! Also yeah, I’m ‘planning’ on getting sick eventually and having to do a hard reset :sob:

I don’t envy people trying to balance working from home with young kids. I’m a student who works part time, so for now i’m just studying from home with no commute time and I don’t have to balance work. Definitely got the better end of the stick time-wise (but not money-wise… :P)
Additional z2 work sounds like a good idea to me. I’m usually on a pretty strict schedule, so i find it really nice to be able to wind down slowly and put some bad youtube on after a hard workout.
Also, I struggle mentally with long endurance rides, so I like the ones like Ptarmigan with tempo/sweetspot efforts throughout if I can swing it :wink:
I think another overlooked aspect of ‘training like a pro’ is eating and sleeping better- I’ve had more time to focus on that, and my workouts have felt super good.

Last day of school for us in the UK today. My wife is working from home already and I have to do 3 days over the next 5 weeks to cover the children of key workers although this could change.

I will do more zone 1 and 2 running and biking to make up for the lack of swimming. Its a surreal time to be alive.

Just completed three months of SSB and a taper for the Mid-South and Austin Rattler. I’m thinking of starting over with traditional base after some virtual racing.

Next year is going to be vicious if we all stay vigilant and motivated. Leadville might run out of big buckles in 2021 when a bunch of super fit TR-trained riders show up after 18 months of preparation!

2 Likes

Work keeps getting busier. Wife is home w son. She teaches her students online and then homeschools (now) our son. She is burned out already. We won’t close even if lockdown gets tried. And it is planting time. How the heck do I get more time for training?

Give traditional base HV a shot if you like the idea of many hours in a row on the trainer. Seems like this is the perfect season for a lot of us to take a risk on something new.

2 Likes

Yeah, I work in healthcare. Between covering extra shifts for people who can’t get childcare and planning the logistics of what is rapidly becoming a real-life worst case scenario- goodbye, gains.