The other thing I always struggle with on "intensity" weeks is the off time or easy ride time. I'm already a lower volume racer/rider. I don't get 10hrs a week like a lot of these guys. To them, going down to 5 in a week to do intensity a couple days and ride easy a couple days is great. Works fine.
For me, it would mean going from 7hrs per week to a pretty low TSS. IMHO.
So, I have a bad habit of chasing a KOM or two on those non-structured rides on intensity weeks. I know you need the ability built up to do the work on the structured workouts, just trying to gauge my body as what I can do.
Also, it's not quite as fun knowing I'm not supposed to "give it the gas" on a ride. Is giving it the gas just a "little" bit on those intensity week free rides OK? Like, don't go all out for a 3 or 5min KOM twice. But, like hit it hard like 30 seconds once? Ride tempo for an hour?
A normal week for me is around 400 to 450 TSS. By definition, an intensity week might only be 250 TSS. That's a pretty solid drop in TSS and will bring down CTL a bit.
Is that the point of "periodizing"? Build up some solid CTL (for you), then back off so you can hit new numbers (or just different numbers) during the lower volume? Then raise the CTL back again?
Arghhhhh. It's hard to decide what to do with no races and so many local KOM's I could go out tomorrow and steal. It's hard to keep some discipline/focus.
It doesn't help though that I live in a really hilly part of town. The greenway is crowded AF, so no go there. Meaning, with a 53/39 I'm going to have to put out some power on my free rides.