TMonk

30 w is a lot! But you're a bigger guy, right? So maybe not as much as it would be for me as a %??? (145 lbs here)

TMonk

More rest week stuff, screwing around on the TT bike for 75 min by feel. Will try to get 2-3 hours of unstructured road (or MTB) riding in tomorrow, off Sunday.

Monday opener for a new block, FTP test on Tuesday, PTO day Wednesday when I will hit 6+ hours of continuous z2 and then laze all day before cooking dinner.

caloso

I am convinced that bringing my shoes and kit to work all but guarantees that I'll be swamped so I can't even eat my lunch, much less have time for a lunch ride.

Hermes

My wife and I get up early to beat the rain and plan on hill climbs up Mount Soledad. All was good until it was time to go and the rain started. I set up the indoor peloton and asked my wife what workout she wanted to do. She picked one and I said, you have got to be kidding that is too hard for inside. Noooooh that is the one she wanted to do. 3x( 2'on 3'off 1'on 2'off 2'on).

I am on a Kurt Kinetic stupid trainer. The first set felt awful and 200 watts felt like 300. I usually derate the power 7% for the trainer but this was ridiculous. Of course the queen of the road and track was burying one effort after another. The second set is stupid but I get through it. I make a command decision to go out into the rain and do the last set climbing up Soledad (do that on your Peloton bike). Conservatively, there was a 50 watt differential (maybe more) of perceived effort between indoors and out. I killed the last set carrying the fatigue of the first two.

The only thing that ever makes any sense is muscle recruitment is different on the trainer and since I have not been on the trainer and my wife has, it was gonzo hard. Or I am just a panty waste which is totally possible.

We then went to the gym for strength training.

Doge

I'm right about there, looking south.

burnthesheep

Been just maintaining fitness for a couple weeks with the wnw ride and some workouts. Finally finished the hallway bathroom that has been eating up discretionary time.

I'll get back to it now. Cross race coming Sunday, I'm in it just for the fun with low expectations.

I'm thinking about doing a 3x per week lactate clearing workouts for a bit. The mid-range engine is better. Top end is still about the same from the summer gains for 2019. So, time to optimize.

I got a great response over on ST about my workout zones and frequency for that style. I was either doing too hard or too easy and not often enough or long enough.

It apparently really matters to hit the right energy system for what you want to happen. So, it may not feel super hard. But give it time (per rep) or give it # reps, and it'll hurt.

Saturday's TT bike ride was a PR for nominal power for a mixed terrain ride. Was going to steal a KOM then realized in the last minute the road was closed with construction and a huge ditch. Dangit. I was rolling good too. At probably similar CdA I'm up a solid 20 to 30w from earlier this year on the TT bike. And it hasn't taken much other than a fit adjustment and some more seat time.

Cypress

Botched the weekend workouts.

Saturday was supposed to be sweetspot (SS) freeride stuff on Zwift, but ended up doing a smattering of SS 5-10 min hits with a 25-minute interval slightly above SS because I was "feeling good". Ended up with more TSS than was planned, but whatever. I'd make up for it on Sunday, yeah?

Sunday was supposed to be a steady Z2 ride, but I opted to go down south to do a gravel ride with the old crew. There were intentions of doing an "easy" 45 miles, but as soon as I saw everyone arriving with single-bottles, knee warmers, glorified road tires, and no fenders (ass-saver at most), I knew this wasn't going to be an easy day. Foolish me had my 18.5-pound cross bike bike kitted with front/rear full-wrap fenders with a huge mudflap on the front (clean chain, yo), frame pump, full saddle bag, two full bottles, Vittoria Cross XL Pro mud tires at 35 psi, enough nutrition for 4-5 hours, and me in all winter gear...probably 8-10 pounds of extra "stuff".

The plan was modified into a 32-mile muddy stabfest. It's been raining quite a bit so the gravel roads were pretty soft with occasional stretches of mud, which requires consistent high-power chugging. A mile-long steep climb brought out the knives, then a 3-mile long pitchy climb really twisted the screws. Given my "not gonna be stranded in the woods" setup, I couldn't catch a break on the paved sections, and found myself putting in legit power just to stay in the group. The only time I had the right setup was during the sloppy descents. At least I was warm going downhill and well fed?

Sunday was supposed to see a TSS of 90, but I'm guessing it was closer to 135 (no power on the cross bike).

TheKillerPenguin

I'm ending base 1 today after I slog through a 4hr ride. Overall I feel pretty good though I'm pretty down with the chill week that is coming up. The worst part has been it's all indoors due to weather and busyness.

14.5/12.75 (final exams, made up for it with some intensity...) /16.5

School's done after this week so I'll step it up to 16/18/20 for the next block.

hubcyclist

I finished base 1 (sweet spot base HV with trainerroad) yesterday, unofficially, since I do have an easy endurance week this week. It all came together this weekend with some really solid long intervals at 90% (that's 260ish for me, 290 FTP) at a lower HR/RPE than past rides. I don't do any testing, but will likely bump up 10w and see how things go for SSB2.

caloso

This thing of having to do Zwift after dinner is going to take some adjustment.

Cypress

As a bonus, you may eat less to avoid unpleasantries. More weight loss (if that's a goal).

caloso

Great point. That’s a good way to look at it. Otherwise, it makes doing any intensity difficult.

Hermes

Training and racing in the evening is an interesting discussion. When I lived in NorCal, I would go to my coaches cycling gym and get destroyed by a workout. Then go home and eat dinner and try to sleep. I found that I was so jacked up from the workout that sleep was not very good. The same was true for track workouts and racing in the evening.

caloso

That was an issue for me too. Taking a super hot shower, getting into PJ's, and doing a crossword puzzle helps me get the sleepies. (And it makes me realize I'm turning into my Dad.)

Hermes

Check out the book "Why We Sleep" by Mathew Walker. https://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Sleep-...eepopolis0f-20

My sleep disruption is more than simply falling asleep. I get up more during the night, pee more and etc.

Reading Walker's book will put one to sleep. He even talks about that and says he is happy to help and pleased if reading his book puts his readers to sleep.

caloso

Hah. I actually have this on my Kindle right now.

Hermes

Fiesta yesterday for some S&A on the road bike. I did a warmup lap and the 2 laps of low cadence SS in the drops and then one more lap at normal cadence. The road was okay but not great with some dirt and a little mud due to the recent rain but not a problem.

I went to gym later for upper body work.

I may never leave S&A. I feel great, very strong on the bike and in the gym.

Cypress

I'm about a week and a half into a training plan and I'm already reminded what structured training is like. I moved to a new city in October of 2018, so I spent the spring/summer/fall KOM'ing literally everything I could, which plateau'd me pretty hard and I was tired a lot. With the plan, I can feel myself getting faster, and I barely feel like I've been riding.

Amazing what happens when you obey science.

caloso

Pulled out an old custom workout and got a jersey on Zwift. And chatted with a real life teammate who was on at the same time. It's silly but it's fun.

burnthesheep

Zwift can be funny too when folks don't realize at first what's going on. I see some people just cruising for a group ride, or picked up folks to cruise with. They'll be doing like 22mph or something at a decent tempo. Then I'm trying to do some under/overs and wind up flying past folks. Then during the rest periods the groups catch up and fly by.

I did two under over workouts this week. My "third" will be the cross race on Sunday. I plan to repeat the plan of 3 under/over or threshold workouts per week till year end in hopes to hit a new 20min number for 2019. I'm already 5w better than last year, but that was just as part of a workout or a team time trial on Zwift. I'm gunning for 15w total. I'll take it being 10w shy of my goal because my mid-range and top end at the end of this year have gotten ludicrously better. Last year this time I could hold my own on the in-town WNW ride in summer, and challenge a segment or two. But never ever "get away". This year, despite the group constantly setting new avg speeds records for the route.....I'm getting away a lot.

Hope I have fun Sunday. Off after work to get some tires for that bike. The super dry tires won't work so well if it rains like they say it will.

I'm also one level up on Zwift from finally getting some decent wheels. I want the 808's to run on the TT bike on there. My CdA seems worse on Zwift than real life by a long shot given the power and speeds I see on there.

I've also adopted a new strategy on the TT bike training. I'm not a long course triathlete. So, it isn't anything but annoying to ride for a few hours in a really aero non-triathlon friendly position. Just go out and do some pursuits, 3x8min, or a virtual TT and be done. Have fun. Make the TT bike rides a max of the length event I'd ever do, a 40k. So, an hour.

TMonk

PTO day yesterday, rode 95 miles, did some chores and prepped everything for steak and wine night so we were ready to get grilling (+salad) when the lady got home. If only every day was like that...

Hermes

Leg strength training at the gym last night. New records except for deads across the board plus box jumps with a solid 18 inches of vertical. Today, I went climbing on Soledad. My tits were more useful than my legs. One tempo climb and down for coffee and limped home.

Cypress

Looked forward a few months and one of my weeks has a TSS of 1070. I'm going to hit summer looking like one giant blood vein.

Hermes

20k team time trial at Fiesta this AM. I configure my TT bike with fast wheels (zipp disc/trispoke), fast rubber (Vittoria Corsa EVO CS tires) a skin suit that it took 2 minutes and talcum powder to get into and Giro Evade helmet. My wife was on her TT bike with good deep section wheels, GP4000s, very light weight butyl tubes, skin suit and Evade helmet. She did not notice my wheels until we were rolling and she heard the whooshing. She gave me a WTF.

How did it workout? We did typical speed for the wind conditions but she had to work her ass off even in my draft. She thought I had at least a 20 watt advantage. I think it is closer to 30 but the main point is her measured power was a lot higher sitting in and she looked forward to taking pulls while I was just putting in power as I usually do when OTF.

TMonk

Nice, I will be heading out there myself tomorrow for some TT bike work, regular kit and wheels though, Here's how my weekend is looking:

Today: 90 min extended MTB commute into work
Tomorrow: 2 hrs TT bike with 2x25' on Fiesta at low SST
Sunday: 4.5 hrs team ride

Will put me at 16.5 hrs for the week