Thanks. Its this sort of analysis that i dont get and dont yet understand so thank you so much for that.
I didnt realise the TTS would ramp up that high so appreciate the call out.
I’m in the UK so outside isnt an option. Plus, with the kids its indoors or nothing for now too.
Even in summer, all but Sunday mornings are inside/garden.
I though about swapping out 1 of those days for some vo2 or anaerobic work a few weeks/months down the line as i get better at endurance type work.
Im still very open but my main thoughts/goals were:
Can i do Z2 every day - it seems i can (if im feeling particularly tired i’d skip it or go lower z2 and shorter.
When would i say, thats enough z2 given my time constraints - seems like 5x 2hrs is plenty far off in the distance so no immediate concerns, BUT it may be better to sprinkle in some vo2/anaerobic vor variety, top end work.
I’m in the UK and this was today. It averaged -2C and min -4C. I was out for 2 hours 15 mins, and this was one of my Z2 rides.
Try and find your county primary routes gritting map and create a route based on sticking to gritted roads. The grit is good down to about -10C. Our county is quite good and grit at least one route into every village and thus you can still put nice routes together in this weather.
I am impressed. I think i’ll stick to the rollers for a little while longer lol. Plus, im not sure my wife would be happy with me leaving the kids alone while i go for a ride lol
Being a new cyclist i only have bib shorts, shoes and jersey (and a light jacket). Not sure i’d survive.
Fair play though, youre a tougher man than me haha.
In other news, i’ve just seen the Rapha festive 500. Might give it a go while i have a little more time over the christmas period.
It’s not about being tough, just having the right clothing and footwear, and choosing appropriate routes for conditions. . I find riding outside is good for my mental fitness not just physical. Gritted roads is the important bit riding in this weather / temps. I also run winter tyres on the bike when it’s this cold and snow about. I swap them back to summer rubber when it warms up again.
I hear you.
A couple years ago i got out a few times (other than riding to the gym and back (20 mins each way) and i agree, it was nice. Hands and toes froze however so year, agree on the clothing too.
I guess its something i will need to build up over time.
I bought some winter cycling boots in 2003 for my daily cycle commute. I was trying to justify the cost, but 19 years on I’ve got my moneys worth. As for hands I wear mitts on them for the current sub zero temps. Keeps hands toasty where gloves wouldn’t be warm enough.
Thanks everyone by the way. I really appreciate the help and advice.
I’ll keep on with the z2 and probably do a short vo2 session a week to work on cadence (i used to do cadence work as part of my track cycling and enjoy it). I found Tumbe as a starter which is 50 secs on 2mins off.
I’ll see how i feel after i attempt the Rapha 500
My coach is on the latest FasCat podcast and has a lot of tips on staying warm
Some of the endurance gains you seek only require minimal effort above baseline. Some of the adaptations in the muscle are mostly driven by the number of contractions, independent of force. And similar in the heart. Its why you can get really fast simply by riding 20 hours/week for months and months. On the flip side, some adaptations require high intensity. Ride a lot, mix in some intensity. This is not weightlifting, you can make a lot of progress over months and years just by accumulating a lot of time at relatively low intensity.
My recomendation… take your time increasing volume (not too long though… like a few weeks). for example
M - Weights
T - 1:30 @ 70% FTP
W - 2:00 @ 55-60% FTP
Th - 1:30 @ 70% FTP
F Weights
S - 1:30
S - 2:00
Then add 10-15 minutes to the 90 min rides the next week and see how you feel. Add intensity to the longest rides by 5% and see how you feel.
Once you get to your 2 hour @ 70% goal (10 hours for the week), back off the week and and when you come back give it a go for a few more weeks. If it is sustainable and you have adapted well you can add in an introductory sweet spot or tempo ride once a a week. It goes well, add another.
You build up endurance not so much from intensity but duration and consistency. Once you built up to your 2 hour max the next thing to work on is consistency. How long can you do that for before you plateau is determined by lots of factors. If you are new to endurance it could be years. If you have a big training background less.
Mate, this is sooo helpful too. This is the type of thing i was thinking/trying to understand.
Lookslike what i had in mind is workable. I still need to drill into my mind that i dont need to do more each week, like is more common in weightlifting etc. Although the progression is still neceasary.
The week of 24th-31st is going to be big if i try and do the 500km (on the rollers) for the Rapha 500 so an easy week will certainly be needed after but i like the slow progression up to 4/5 sessions of 120mins up to 70%.
Adding in SS or tempo or even a vo2 once i get accustomed to that much z2 was exactly what i had in mind so again, its good to know i wasnt making up something that didnt have any meritt at all lol,
Off to do Brasstown and watch Netflix now.
Thanks again.
FWIW I would focus more of your progression mindset on the high intensity stuff. After you reach a certain level of fitness on the endurance rides, treat the 2 hour endurance rides as conditioning rides and keep doing them. More conditioning rides will support pushing higher on the high intensity workouts. The highly motivated young guys around here, the ones with time and ability to easily recover, are doing 2-5 hour endurance rides day after day, and adding in some high intensity work.
One dude I ride with turned 40 and during the season he is putting down 20 hour weeks mostly late evenings on Zwift. He has a 350+ watt useable ftp out to 50 minutes. Right now he has dialed back the hours, although last night was typical and he was on Zwift for 2+ hours spinning at average power of 114watts. Even if his ftp has dropped to say 300W, that is only 38% ftp which is way way down in the active recovery zone. But again in season he is out 2 or 3 times a week hammering away at 350W for 40+ minutes. I briefly tried riding that slow, for a couple months, and it made me feel flat. Personally at sixty yrs old and only seven years on the bike, I need to throw in a little bit of intensity on at least 3 rides a week to prevent feeling flat. And putting down mid-to-upper zone2 power for 2+ hours. Consistently putting down 2+ hours in the upper third of zone2 (finishing ride with .69 to .72 IF) has worked better for me, on a budget of 8-11 hours/week. You need to find what works for you.
IME when my ATL no longer pushes CTL up and it works for whatever upcoming goal I add more % of time doing more intense rides. 90-100 CTL and it gets hard to keep pushing it up given my schedule. With unlimited time I think I might be able to handle about 110-115ish but, I don’t think I’ll ever know. For you it’s going to be something different obviously…
This article about using the kettlebell for conditioning
might help you reconcile the notion it is good idea to put down a strong base of zone2 conditioning rides and avoid the urge to progress once you build up to all the time you have.
Fast talk happened to cover a fairly similar topic the other day. My recollection is that they landed on z2 being broken up into smaller rides is fine and total volume was more important.
I think you can get many months of just z2 if you ride 1.5-2hr on 5days per week coming from limited endurance training. Just don’t read into the percent ftp too much and retest your ftp once every months or so. A HR monitor may be better.
I plan to do more of the higher intensity stuff but i figured a little time and focus on just being able to ride upper z2 for 90-120mins is a decent starting point given i have never done any endurance work in my life.
I do appreciate i cant sit in z2 for ever but i had to start somewhere lol. I was just trying to find out just how much z2 can be done when you only have 2 hrs a day max.
Thanks for the input.
Thats really helpful and a measurable criteria i can use.
What you have said was another though i had. Once i can no longer do more z2, i.e more intensity wont be z2 anymore, and more time is not possible. I can sub in a SS, Threshold, VO2 for a z2 session and carry on.
What you have said gives me a way (im sure there are other ways too) to measure when that point might be.
thank you, i’ll have a read.
The strong z2 base is what i am trying to figure out. And when its enough to progress to higher intensity stuff.
Im actually enjoying the challenge of longer rides
