TheKillerPenguin

Indeed, it is the first time in a while I've been able to do real work 3 days in a row.

burnthesheep

Fine, I’m a D. But I didn’t grow up thinking it OK to taunt or chase grown men out on rides.

As I have gotten older, and had my crashes, and interactions with cars…the last thing I want is a fred playing race on a ride.

I usually uturn if possible or immediately modify a route if it’s obviously not a chill n chat for a mile thing but an “I want to race you” junk. Not talking the friendly intro and chat a second deal. I mean the hold my blindspot so I can’t get over crap while huffing enough you can’t speak and the gravel road has oncoming riders. In that case yes, I will likely respond like a D if I do not or cannot uturn. I pass or get passed plenty where a nod, a few fingers, a kind word suffices. I am not your plaything.

Yup, getting older. Being more introverted again I guess.

procrit

Today marks five days in a row of riding, which is MASSIVE for me. The big key I think is simply being more fit, but also increasing my carbohydrate intake to match the demands. It's resulted in much better and more consistent legs, and simply less bad days. That said, tomorrow is a rest day, I can tell I'm just getting a bit tired and could use a mental refresher.

TMonk

Zwift TT yesterday, fun course too, Watopia's Waistband. Undulating profile with some "kicker" hills suits my style well, versus a pancake flat TT where I get steamrolled by larger, more powerful riders. Kept it a hair under what I thought I could average for the first flat part, so I could surge over some of the hills in the middle, then empty the tank at the end. Fun!


Does my avatar look like me?




Overall effort. Rode it somewhat conservatively, had maybe 5-10 more watts on a max effort (on a good day)

TMonk

Also RE: power, I'm about 10-12 or so watts lower indoors over these sorts of durations. But, I did this on a road bike (my TCR). My power is also about 10-12 watts lower in my TT bike vs road bike outside, so those effects sorts of cancel IMO and this would be representative of an actual TT effort

hubcyclist

a little over a year ago vs yesterday, I'll take it!

TMonk

for sure! nice progress. I'm about 10 and 15 units lower on weight and FTP, respectively. Outdoor FTP.

TMonk

power numbers seem to be holding..... for now. i'm on my 6th week of ~6 hrs/week on the trainer w the newborn in. 3 hard days/week 85+ TSS. I had been in chilll/offseason mode before that. My FTP is also 300-305 when I'm at my best

procrit

The 5 day block of training must’ve done something. Rode ~2 hours today and managed a 20’ test @ 340w! It’s starting to get interesting…

TheKillerPenguin

With all the news about taking in 80-120g/hr of carbs per hour lately I decided to try 80/hr on today's 4 hour ride. Basically, I kind of wanted to throw up for the last half hour... I will back off to less insane amounts and slowly work my way up.

procrit

What form are you eating the carbs? Also, what is your average power over these four hours?

TheKillerPenguin

Mini chocolate croissants, granola bars, 80g of sugar water in a bottle.

225W steady state.

Hermes

Beast mode.

TheKillerPenguin

I did the same yesterday off 60g/hr and felt way less throwuppy. However I suspect saturday's fueling was helpful for my legs feeling relatively fresh.

procrit

I suspect you’re right.

procrit

2 more hours today, and that makes 3 days in a row. Im finding I need way more carbs than I thought, but when I get them I seem to be able handle a lot more training load. I’m curious now how many carbs the pros are eating to handle those 20 hour plus weeks, it has to be huge.

hubcyclist

did the last workout of this current block, 2x45 sweet spot. Since I don't use erg anymore I've got more wiggle room, first was 284w second was 286w, nominally around 93% but I'm fairly certain I'm underestimating ftp at this point, so it's more like 90% maybe. next block we'll be getting up to 2x60

TheKillerPenguin

Screenshot from back when I was self employed. I've got bigger blocks than this recorded including 20+kj weeks, but this took 2 seconds to find digging into my data and I'm super lazy.

The BLUF: you're basically a calorie dumpster. Sandwiches/gels/chews while riding. Pasta and anything else not bolted to a wall when off the bike.Aimed for at least 200g/day of protein with the majority of the rest of my calories comprised of carbs. Fat naturally made its way into the macro balance.

procrit

Yea that’s essentially double what I’m doing at the moment. I’m somewhat confident that with enough food and sleep I could work up to quite a bit more though. I’d love to see a 5w/kg+ ftp next year, and if the higher volume can get me there then it may be worth figuring out how to fit it all in.

procrit

90’ z2 + 2x10’. Ended up breaking my 10’ record (since 2020 anyway) on the first one, then broke it by 5 more watts on my second one, both without digging too deep or even trying to break it, or even knowing what my 10’ record was. Carbz 4 Lyfe. 😆

TMonk

Those are big watts. You're a larger rider too right? That would be huge.

My best ever 20' is 5.0 w/kg. Not at that level right now, with off season and then the little one in the picture. I'm around 4.6 w/kg when I'm really good. Not sure about right now, for sure less but probably not by a ton. 65 kg

TMonk

Zwift interval ride today. Competition wasn't as deep on the segments I frequent, so I grabbed both jerseys, instead of my seemingly constant 2nd. Had somewhat low RPE and HR on the longer one; I think I could do 15-20 watts more if I went all-in. My PB on it is 30 watts higher (5.0 w/kg for 9:15). I don't think I could do that in my current condition, but maybe no so far off.

Capped it off with 16' with the A bot for a half hour in zone. Felt good so I attacked it 6' in and solo'd ahead of the group for another 10'.


297w, 4.6 w/kg



332w, 5.1 w/kg

procrit

Yea, it's big for sure. 360w... Assuming I lose the last few KG's by spring and can increase my power by 20w, I'll hit the magic 5.0w/kg for 20'. I can do that power for 10' already, just need to double the time I can hold it.

TMonk

Nice man, good luck! It's motivating to see all the progress you've had lately. What's changed? More rest and listening to your body? That seems to have played a big part in your posts. Diet as well (carbs)?

procrit

Probably increasing carbs has had the biggest effect on consistency. I'm also heavily prioritizing rest and recovery, not that I didn't before, but just being as consistent as possible. I am always leaving some gas in the tank with my workouts now too, always finishing them with a feeling that I could've done more time, more sets, or more power. Not that I'm taking it easy, but I'm not obliterating myself like I would before.