I’m a triathlete and typically do 5-6 half irons a year. I’ve always trained consistently but some years my bike times would range from 2:10 on a flat course to 2:15, contrasted by other years where it’d be more like 2:13 to 2:20. What was the magic to get me the 3-5 minutes faster during my “good” years??? Total KJs/wk., regardless of whether I was doing a TR plan supplemented with additional z2, or whether I was coached, or whether I was coaching myself. The consistent sign of me riding well was more KJs, and you guessed it, when doing more KJs there was a lot more z2 as well - shocking (or not).
2 Likes
It’s not the answer everyone wants to hear for obvious reasons, but in endurance sports volume is king!..once you chose the right parents obviously 
I’m not really working any more so my training goal this year is a 10-15% increase in annual training hours (+50-70hrs). Even as a genetically ordinary 50 yr old I’m hoping that gets me to the next level?!
Darn right about this:
If it was Keegan, Sofia, or Amber it would be amazing a pro is sharing the plan like this, but because it’s Dylan its bragging…
7 Likes
I heard somebody mention this on a podcast recently. They thought it may have been Coggan who said it but they weren’t sure: “It’s an Aerobic sport, stupid”…
1 Like
That seems right, and I’d even go one further. I don’t think the the intensity mix would matter that much either, unless you have zero intensity. I think the Z2 is more a symptom than a cause, meaning that, as you say, it goes up because you can’t do intensity all the time.
You want to continually do more and more total load, until you run out of time or you just can’t handle it. Some intensity is good so that you maintain that energy system, but it isn’t absolutely necessary if you’re a long way out from your event. I don’t think the structure matters at all, but it does matter that you stress your body with the same kind of intensity you’ll experience in your event, the closer you get to that event.
2 Likes
I think thats one of Coggans most repeated and quoted statements…
The phrase that stands out for me is that once you build your engine it takes remarkably little intensity to tune it for race day!
If he’s adapted to that volume and is within his limits, it’s not though… Just because that volume would smoke you or I doesn’t mean it destroys him. It’s also important to note that although the volume is huge, the relative intensity of each individual ride is relatively low. There’s multiple 3-4 hours rides that he’s clipped that are <150TSS.
I’ve heard of this happening, but I’ve only ever seen anecdotal evidence. Would be interesting if there were concrete data on this, I’d assume it’d be pretty difficult to obtain because unless you get multiple tests withing close proximity to one another on the same riders, how do you know whether it was inaccurate or not.
The thing with Dylan’s base phase, as has been mentioned in this thread, is that of course riding for 20+ hours for weeks on end is going to make you fast. You’re building a massive aerobic foundation to build upon later on, and for a lot of riders, that’s something that can take years.
Anyone that complains about “genetics” holding them back is just making excuses. Most elite level riders and racers don’t use that as an excuse. Having raced against world champions and Olympic level riders, there is something to be said for their abilities, but it doesn’t just allow them to get up off the couch each season and ride away from the group, it’s from the years and years of cumulative fitness that they’ve built.
When you build a strong foundation, the house has a lot more stability.
3 Likes
I enjoyed the video - always good to see what pros get up to. The only thing that surprised me is the amount of tempo he did. I’m guessing 300w for him is ~LT1
You are maybe missing the sarcasm in the smiley 
Hah. Sorry. For me that emoji has always been an eyeroll, so I assumed it was more of a criticism.
2 Likes