Zone 2 training with Iñigo San Millán, part 2

[Dexvd]

Thanks, still going through everything and there seems to be a lot of debate on the idea but I think this is the way I am approaching it and thinking, not trying to increase fat metabolism but looking to increase my capacity over time but don’t want to add the extra intensity of moving from LV to MV.

Whereas my goal is around increasing my base and achieving that 6 hours or more of volume per week perhaps it doesn’t really matter if I am doing it in 2x 45 min Z2 rides vs 1x 90 min Z2 rides. As my goal is to increase my capacity for weekly TSS and build my base aerobic fitness. Despite having done the first 2 blocks of Trad Base LV now I can still see the effect of fatigue at my current level as I can generally see my cadence begin to fall in Z2 rides from high 90s at the start to mid 80s by the 60 or 90 min mark depending on intensity of the Z2 work. I started TR late April 2022 and hadn’t done structured training previously so this is my first attempt at trying to build a ‘Base’.

@tshortt

To your point (kind of), I have used a short Z2 workout to introduce more volume. The idea being that a few weeks down the road that’s not going to be a 1hr long ride. I mean, if you want to get from 8hr to 10hrs (for example), the best way to introduce that is a bit more Z2, but it corresponds to a adjustment in intensity elsewhere in the week (often).

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@wake

So from a practical, real-world perspective, I think most people would agree it’s better to get 2-3 extra hours of Z2 in every week, then an extra 3 hours of Z2 every few weeks.

Yeah I think this is how I’m kind of thinking, I’m overthinking it if my overarching goal is to increase weekly average ride time, 6 week avg ride time, yearly average ride time, to increase my base fitness and capacity for TSS in a month, week or ride/race it doesn’t matter if I do it in extra 15 mins at the end of workouts, with 2x 45 min Z2 workouts or 1x 90 min Z2 workout, etc.