Those >100% Threshold workouts are absolutely brutal. I find the fatigue from them is so much worse than long intervals at or just under.
Inchwormed 3x up my local hill today, with 30s hard starts @ 150%
This one was really interesting. 2x23 mins, with the goal of keeping cadence around 75 to simulate climbing. I have a tricky knee, so appreciated the lower %FTP target while grinding it out. For the second time this week, I declined several adaptations trying to push my SS PL up. I feel guilty doing it, but my knee is feeling iffy and I have a cycling/hiking vacation with the wife coming up soon.
SS 7.5 on Tuesday nearly killed me. I rated it very hard, and then AI proceeds to think SS 8.8 today would be a good idea. This was the first time since getting back on the bike in March that I was dreading a workout. I hopped on fully expecting to fail. The warm-up was hard, that 1min hard start was so so so hard. And then, it got easier. I think I probably should have failed because of how hard this was but Iām stubborn.
I was worried it would make next week harder, but next week is SS 8.3. WHAAAAAT? Iām so confused.
did some standing climbing drills during intervals 2-3-4-5.
Even though this workout had no instructions, Iām now programed to take advantage of longer intervals to do things like standing, cadence, and quadrant drills. Itās this on the trainer coaching that to me sets TrainerRoad apart from the rest. āDo this other thing while youāre in the interval and hereās why and how it can help you.ā Thatās worth the subscription by itself.
Solid workout. Marked āHardā as it definitely took a decent amount of focus. It was an Alternate from the original adaptation āKeithā which didnāt look like one Iād get through with end of week fatigue in the legs.
Definitely started wondering if Iād bitten off more than I should have at the end of the second interval.
Week One of Build complete. Should be ~12hrs and ~700TSS after a short recovery ride for my Saturday tomorrow. Iāll have to manage the workout choices over the next two weeks to the rest, excited if I can maintain the work rate.
Saturday 6/18 and fwd
Nothing to report Saturday. Parenthood and marital responsibilities cancelled/delayed Remmel (thresh 4.2, productive). Weād had a family (spouse, 10, 8, 6) creekside trail ride planned for the AM, but spouse let loose too much on Friday night so everything was slow going in the AM. Just managed a short ride to an end of futbol season party with #2(8) and #3(6). Sunday, US Fatherās day: Spouse gets her workoutS in, then asks me what my plans are. My response- 90 minutes of intervals in the basement. Just as Iām finishing Remmel, she announces that sheās taking the kids to the local pool. I tell her Iāll catch up, and I shower and head down there. Then I rode my fendered-cx bike to the pool. 1H46m total, 126TSS (estimated). Lots of pool time, throwing my kids around a bit, and throwing other peopleās kids around even more.
Monday new federal holiday and hotter than heck. So I mad-dogged it and rode in the heat of the day. (116 minutes moving time, 84 tss, .64IF and 1440kJ). Associated it to Boarstone -2 (120 minutes, 72tss .60IF, 1455kJ), marked it hard because it was 97f out, and it was, but then I got the āfailedā workout prompt. I didnāt fail the workout, I rode it less steadily than I would have inside, but I didnāt have the āI didnāt fail this workoutā option, so I marked it moderate and moved on with my life. That bumped me from endurance 2.2 to 3.3ā¦. Wasnāt really a stretch, but pretty sure I could pull off something a lot bigger, I just didnāt want to compromise the following workouts.
Tuesday was Bear -1 (75 minute, PL 7.2 productive VO2 via O/U) I waffled and even looked for something closer to the 6.8 I was sitting at, but after taking a look at the Wolfjaw +1 (6.8) that I completed last Tuesday, I decided why not give it a go? I gave it a go, and it gave me a flogging. You see I had a couple of true rest intervals and went āOver-offā rather than Over-Under, but one of them was actually prompted by my spouse trying to start a mid-over discussion about parentingā¦. Sheās usually really respectful of my time on the trainer, but Tuesday during my last setā¦. Well, I was looking for a reason to ease off anyway so I didnāt argue or snap. Wasnāt perfect, didnāt exceed on many overs and often underperformed the targetā¦. Anyway, added two minutes of cooldown, got credit as a pass, and marked it very hard. If the algorithm calls it a W, Iāll take it. (77 minutes, 100 TSS, 1109 kJ).
Wednesday was a crummy work day, even though it was a TW day, I didnāt get a lunch ride in, obviously no commute, and instead of riding I just dragged #1 (10yr) outside to kick a soccer ball around. No ride, summer parenting success anyway. Also, had to clean up and clear out the garage because Iām getting new windows and doors, slowly, and the contractor needs space to work. 0 Saddle time, 0 TSS.
Today, Thursday, had Merced (VO2, 7.3, 40/20s, productive) on the calendar. I looked at it, looked at the interval wattages, lost confidence, browsed my recent workouts, decided these 40/20s canāt be much harder than O/U Bear -1, (7.2) from Tuesday, and decided to give it a go. It wasnāt pretty, but TR gave me credit for the pass, even after my contractor called me out to the garage mid-setā¦. I needed that late-set break, got back in there and finished it off. Spun for a while in low Z2 while finishing an episode of Ted Lasso⦠I marked it very hard, took the 7.2->7.3 VO2 bump and started thinking about tomorrow. (75 minutes, 98 TSS, 1065 kJ).
I have to go to the office tomorrow (Friday) so Iāll probably commute in early and try to duck out for ālong-way-home.ā Family coming to town this weekend for a baptism so weāll see what happens with Saturdayās Gould +3 (thresh 4.6, 90 minute, productive, with hard starts).
Leconte
Good ole Leconte. The 30-second āoversā every 2 minutes made the intervals fly by. Early start (for a weekend) to make it to a kiddo swim meet.
Summer heat is in full force in Houston and that means early early rides outside for me. Really hard to do long intervals like this outside in the city with some very long stoplights, but I do my best.
I have Keith next week. I would much rather do this workout!
I thought this would be harder, but wasnāt too bad at all! I shortened the rest intervals, so I could get off a few minutes early and get to work by 645a instead of 7.
Iām looking forward to seeing a new increased FTP in another week or so
@runriderandi to shorten the rests, do you still have to pause/drag/resume or is there a shorter way to skip ahead?
I set the cursor where I want to resume, then I pause and double click the start of the next interval. Itās faster than having to drag, but Iām on computer. I donāt know about mobikeā¦
Takes less than 3 seconds for me. Space bar, double click, space bar, suffer
Eclipse
I did a long outside ride on Monday so decided to stay inside today for one last high quality workout before recovery week. I used @runriderandiās tip to shorten the recovery intervals and get enough time back to add one more at the end. Still feeling great but will take the advice for a more ātraditionalā recovery week of (mostly) Z2.
Got 15 minutes into the ride when I took my first sip and realized I forgot to put the sugar water in my bottles! Luckily there was a shortcut back to the house. Thankful to my wife for being at the back door with sugar water in hand as I rolled up!
Iāve got a cycling/hiking vacation starting late next week, so Iāve been rejecting adaptations after every workout in order to keep effort lower. This one felt pretty easy, so I threw in a short push at the beginning of each interval in the first 2 sets.
Thank goodness you checked then! Iāll often not take the first sip for an hour or so if I am only carrying a bottle or two (admittedly not if going hard). Would have been a bummer.
Three cheers for supportive spouses!