Week Two recap
I made some changes to my original plan based on feedback from @kurt.braeckel and @empiricalcycling. Namely around my nutrition plan and session types.
See below for the week 2 recap:
Training Week: Mon rest. Tue: VO2 Mount Alyeska (amended to 5/4 and not 6/4). Wed: Easy IF.55 Thu: VO2 Mount Alyeska amended Fri: Easy IF.55 Sat: VO2 Mount Deborah 7x3s Sun: Long End easy.
Notes: All VO2 done on the training in standard mode. All at 110rpm +/- 2-3rpm. Pushed ag gear harder than I thought I could hold for the interval then dropped as necessary to allow for 110rpm goal. Initially I had back to back sessions planned and 2 x 6/4s. I switched the 6/4s to 5/4s and put a rest/recovery ride in between VO2 sessions. Overall volume stayed the same.
Learnings. Improved execution from week 1. Was able to hold power more consistently per interval as a result. What I changed was rather than going out the gates like a psycho I hit the initial burst and as soon as I got to the 110 rpm I steadied rather than going above and trying to prevent dropping below 110. I hit 110 as quick as I could and held it. The result was I could hold that higher gear around another 10-15 secs or so from week 1. Changing from doing back to backs as per Kurt’s advice helped me feel much better during the VO2 sessions then week 1. The CNS fatigue I felt last week wasn’t as present this week. Although the ‘flu like symptoms’ Kollie mentions in the VO2 podcast series were alive and present.
The added recovery from not doing back to backs helped a bunch towards my improved execution.
All sessions I was able to hit 95% Max HR for extended periods all over 16mins per session. Above 90% I went 20 mins per session.
Mental: Continue to focus on the interval you’re in. Don’t let your mind wander to the next 4 or 5 left. I used a mantra of again after each 10 pedal strokes and that kept me focused on my execution and helped me stay in the moment. Choose your music wisely as well. Before each interval I would say aloud ‘next set best set’ as a way of focusing and using positive self talk. Really helped at the back end of each session.
Recovery
I felt pretty good this week albeit a little leg tired Monday morning. I stopped the caloric deficit and ate maintenance calories as per week 1. My supplements stayed the same and my sleep was the same - except for 1 night when I watched the tour. The next day was an easy endurance day so I felt ok. Was able to execute each session well and never felt like my energy was waning or that I wasn’t recovered. My garmin BB agreed.
Other stuff: I forgot to mention last week about strength training. Before starting this block I was doing 2 x strength per week at a moderate to hard level of about 50 mins per session.
For this VO2 block I went back to 1 session a week and am doing what I would call a light to moderate effort of about 50 mins. I won’t add any particulars but needless to say I am being careful to not add to much system fatigue. Mainly working through the full ROM and keeping the load light to moderate. Resting more between sets and basically going through the motion.
Overall: Another solid week of VO2. My power numbers are actually getting better (I think that is due to me understanding the efforts rather than any real gains) I’ve managed a 4w improvement on the intervals for the week but as I said I think that is due to me learning how to do the efforts properly rather than any real gains. I’m still feeling good and strong, however, I’d be lying If I didn’t say I’m thankful this is the last week of the block as this is some of the hardest training I’ve done in some time. Mentally I am looking forward to the next block where I hope to use any gains made and settle into to some threshold and sweet spot work to truly bed in any fitness I have made.
Next week. 3 x VO2 session. 1 x 7x3s. 1 x 5x4s and 1 x 4x5s to end the block. All the same TR workouts as in previous posts executed in the same way. Everything else is the same as well from a training, nutrition and recovery aspect.
Thanks for reading if you did and I’ll be back next week with the wash up of my first block of Kollie’s VO2 protocol.