Jshort’s bike thread
- Thread starter jShort
- Start date
you might need special moose mitts if you run this
This was a fun one. 2x25 with the first minute around 365. That first peak really changes the entire workout. The next 5 minutes is spent trying to recover while still working at 260ish. I think a 1x50 without the peaks would be much easier.
Even after I recovered from the anaerobic start, the rest of 25 minutes was a grind for sure. That’s a long ass interval. Probably the longest I’ve ever done.
Even after I recovered from the anaerobic start, the rest of 25 minutes was a grind for sure. That’s a long ass interval. Probably the longest I’ve ever done.
Recovery week
After some pretty challenging workouts, I made it to a recovery week. I’m trying to change some habits (good and bad) with hopes of seeing long term improvement. So one of the bad habits I’m trying to break is feeling like I didn’t work hard enough to need a “real” recovery week. I’d do the prescribed recovery week workouts….but I’d end up adding a bunch more work on top because I felt good or I just wanted to ride. This wouldn’t have immediate negative impacts but I’m sure it contributed to some of the ups and downs I’d see in training. So this week I’m sticking to the 4 rides on the calendar.
Having said that, I will end up doing 1 ride on Friday because I took the day off. I’ll have to force myself to keep it super chill and less than 90 minutes. Probably Stephen’s and lower stuff only.
Next week starts with a ramp/ftp test which will hopefully show an improvement, and then the following workouts will be based off that higher ftp. If I’m lucky Trainerroad will release that ftp estimator and I can just accept whatever they suggest.
I’m not really obsessed with my ftp so there is a chance I just give myself a 15 watt or so bump and skip the test all together.
And I got new rollers. I’d like to use my MTB on them to get my fit dialed on each XC bike. I need a cheapo wheel set that I can throw some slicks on though.
I'll leave with this. I had to use a drive through power washer to get the goose shit out of my tires after this idiot move.
EDIT: Not sure why my gifs aren't working.
After some pretty challenging workouts, I made it to a recovery week. I’m trying to change some habits (good and bad) with hopes of seeing long term improvement. So one of the bad habits I’m trying to break is feeling like I didn’t work hard enough to need a “real” recovery week. I’d do the prescribed recovery week workouts….but I’d end up adding a bunch more work on top because I felt good or I just wanted to ride. This wouldn’t have immediate negative impacts but I’m sure it contributed to some of the ups and downs I’d see in training. So this week I’m sticking to the 4 rides on the calendar.
Having said that, I will end up doing 1 ride on Friday because I took the day off. I’ll have to force myself to keep it super chill and less than 90 minutes. Probably Stephen’s and lower stuff only.
Next week starts with a ramp/ftp test which will hopefully show an improvement, and then the following workouts will be based off that higher ftp. If I’m lucky Trainerroad will release that ftp estimator and I can just accept whatever they suggest.
I’m not really obsessed with my ftp so there is a chance I just give myself a 15 watt or so bump and skip the test all together.
And I got new rollers. I’d like to use my MTB on them to get my fit dialed on each XC bike. I need a cheapo wheel set that I can throw some slicks on though.
I'll leave with this. I had to use a drive through power washer to get the goose shit out of my tires after this idiot move.
EDIT: Not sure why my gifs aren't working.
They’re all on the lower end of Z2 so they’re super easy.
Out of curiosity how much does HR Zones play into your training/recovery? Does low Z2 PZ = Z1 or Z2 for HR? I've been debating if I'm spending too much time in that "grey area" which for me is Zone 3 for both HR and PZ and if I should be going easier more often with 1 day/week of harder efforts (PZ 5 intervals). Might be opening a can of worms and I get there's no one size fits all approach.
I don’t really ever go off of HR. Everything is power based. Too many things have an impact on HR and it’s not consistent enough. YMMV.
The only thing I do with my HR is to see how low I can get it during a workout. I do that by trying to get my form dialed, everything relaxed that should be relaxed, and just focus on putting out smooth power. This is in an attempt to build good efficiency and also to just pass the time.
Pearl
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
I use it this way as well, but also good to have a range so I know when shit is hitting the fan. When it is way higher than it should be based on the power i'm putting out versus the perceived effort. If the effort I'm putting how typically puts me in the 160s, and my heart rate is at 180, I know something isn't working right.
If you track your HR enough.....you can see trends or as a guide...Like supplemental information...For me, I can tell...."its 90 degrees out here, my HR is running 10-15 BPM higher than it should be for this effort" or if im doing intervals....Yes, I can do the power number that im supposed to....however, today it it didnt feel as hard and my HR only got this high....or I was a little tired and by the end of the set, my HR was doing xyz....I like to think of it as...The power is the workout, its the real work that is being measured...you HR data gives you some idea of how hard it was.
Got it. I know from lurking on here long enough that you 3 all race/raced. Would you approach training differently if you just wanted to be fit. For me I "train" because I like to be fast but find myself crushed by the time the weekend comes if I'm doing a lot of intervals during the week.
I think you could train the same way. Build up, recover, build up, recover, etc. Not training for events just means you have less stress.
. If you’re crushed on the weekends, dial it down during the week. Pretty simple, no tricks. But interval training is definitely the way to build fitness and get faster. Maybe do less or lower intensity intervals and save some for the weekend.
I’m probably thought of as a trainer road fanboy at this point but after using it for a couple years I can confirm that it works. Looking at the plans and how they are laid out gives you an idea of what to do. You don’t need a power meter to use it, they have an option to do workouts based on perceived effort. And they have a one month free trial. I think that for someone looking to be in good shape, it’s a great program.
New week new work
I skipped the FTP test. I was holding out hope they would release the FTP estimator before my next block started, but no luck. I bumped up manually 15 watts which I thought was conservative. I’d rather go small and safe and make sure I can complete the workouts without being thrashed afterwards. After today, so far good. It was a V02 workout and this is the first V02 I have done since I restarted so the progression level is super low, which resulted in a pretty easy workout. After the workout was done I tacked on 20 minutes of endurance work just add a hair of volume.
Thursdays workout is back to sweet spot which will be 2 x 24 @ 270 -277. This’ll pick up right there I left off and be a little harder than the last SS which was similar but slightly lower power. I think these workouts are good at building endurance without riding for a long time. Kinda like what @Pearl was getting at with the idea of having to do long workouts to prepare for longer races. If you ask the TR people, they would say you don’t “need” to do long training workouts.
When people are training for a race like Leadville which can take over 10 hours, there is no way most people are doing 8-12 hours rides to prepare for that. If I had to guess most people are doing 4-6 hour rides at a higher intensity than they would use at a 10 hour race.
So an hour of sweet spot will still help with 3-4 hour races.
With all that said, I still want to do some 3-4 hour outside rides. The only problem is right now I hate riding with all the snow and ice on the sides of the road and MTB trails are just not available. It’s only Feb 1 so I’m not going to worry.
With all the indoor work, I’ve been spending a lot of time on the foam roller. When knee pain starts to creep in, I can always get it fixed with 15 minutes of rolling a night. This threragun roller vibrates which is so awesome. I recommend this to anyone who is spending time stretching.
I got some replacement studs for my tires. Putting these in without the proper tool is a PITA. I had to oder 50 more studs cause I drastically underestimated how many were missing. The one ride I did on them this year at Nassau was super icy and although I didn’t go down, I didn’t have the same grip I remember having on sheets of ice.
And I also got some new grips for my Turner, but these are the wrong ones… these are huge. So I re-ordered the Karve’s which are thinner. The Wolftooth grips are much gripp-ier and softer than the ESI chunkys. I’ve been riding them on my hardtail and I’ll try them out on all my MTBs this year.
I skipped the FTP test. I was holding out hope they would release the FTP estimator before my next block started, but no luck. I bumped up manually 15 watts which I thought was conservative. I’d rather go small and safe and make sure I can complete the workouts without being thrashed afterwards. After today, so far good. It was a V02 workout and this is the first V02 I have done since I restarted so the progression level is super low, which resulted in a pretty easy workout. After the workout was done I tacked on 20 minutes of endurance work just add a hair of volume.
Thursdays workout is back to sweet spot which will be 2 x 24 @ 270 -277. This’ll pick up right there I left off and be a little harder than the last SS which was similar but slightly lower power. I think these workouts are good at building endurance without riding for a long time. Kinda like what @Pearl was getting at with the idea of having to do long workouts to prepare for longer races. If you ask the TR people, they would say you don’t “need” to do long training workouts.
When people are training for a race like Leadville which can take over 10 hours, there is no way most people are doing 8-12 hours rides to prepare for that. If I had to guess most people are doing 4-6 hour rides at a higher intensity than they would use at a 10 hour race.
So an hour of sweet spot will still help with 3-4 hour races.
With all that said, I still want to do some 3-4 hour outside rides. The only problem is right now I hate riding with all the snow and ice on the sides of the road and MTB trails are just not available. It’s only Feb 1 so I’m not going to worry.
With all the indoor work, I’ve been spending a lot of time on the foam roller. When knee pain starts to creep in, I can always get it fixed with 15 minutes of rolling a night. This threragun roller vibrates which is so awesome. I recommend this to anyone who is spending time stretching.
I got some replacement studs for my tires. Putting these in without the proper tool is a PITA. I had to oder 50 more studs cause I drastically underestimated how many were missing. The one ride I did on them this year at Nassau was super icy and although I didn’t go down, I didn’t have the same grip I remember having on sheets of ice.
And I also got some new grips for my Turner, but these are the wrong ones… these are huge. So I re-ordered the Karve’s which are thinner. The Wolftooth grips are much gripp-ier and softer than the ESI chunkys. I’ve been riding them on my hardtail and I’ll try them out on all my MTBs this year.
Just add them to the calendar and it’ll build a plan around them
Did the same W/O today, albiet at a much lower power. Reminds me of the days with Ken, having the same schedules. Had a similar feeling of it not being as hard as it should have been. Might throw in another ramp, even though the last one was only 2 weeks ago.
If you keep marking them as easy, adaptive training should do it’s thing and they should get harder.