Cycling program v4.0 2011-2012 (Page 15)

I'm having trouble understanding "as 1-4 set" on Week 4 Day 22.  I just can't seem to make sense of it.

MS:
5x1' (1' Rest@ 65-70% FT) as 1-4 set @ 150-120% and last one try pushing 3-5w higher -- the last set will be your baseline for next week-- + 15' @ 78-80%

IT's a typo.  It was clarified earlier in the thread.  It should be 105-120% instead of 150-120%.

Intervals 1-4 should be at 105-120%.  Interval 5 should be 3 to 5 watts higher than you did 1-4. 

It is just a matter of doing a bit of planning and finding what food works best for you.

Thanks.  I saw the 105 typo before and understood that.  What I still don't get is the intervals.  Is the "first" interval one minute at 105-120% and then one minute at 65-75% with the second through the fourth being the same.  Then the last interval one minute at 3 to 5 watts over 105-120% with a final one minute at 56-75%.  This would be ten minutes in total.

Sorry for being so dense...but I am having fun!

Correct.  10 minutes total.  Maybe go through the guide again as it walks through a couple workouts.  Here is that workouts spelled out.

Interval 1:  1 minute Interval at 105-120%

Rest 1:       1 minute rest at 65-75%

Interval 3:  1 minute Interval at 105-120%

Rest 3:       1 minute rest at 65-75%

Interval 3:  1 minute Interval at 105-120%

Rest 3:       1 minute rest at 65-75%

Interval 4:  1 minute Interval at 105-120%

Rest 4:       1 minute rest at 65-75%

Interval 5:  1 minute @ 3-5 Watts Higher than Interval 1-4

Rest 5:       1 minute rest at 65-75%

in on this madness!

day one done!

I am curious to how difficult should should some of these workouts feel.

After finishing day 29 I felt like I did a reasonable workout but not something that help me make progress. I would say on a scale of 1-10 my perceived effort was around 7 for this workout. Is that about right or should it feel more difficult?

Some days I add extra intervals just to make the workout feel more accomplished.

For the record, my 5 min. test was 241 & and the 20 was 201

Do you feel that your 20 min and 5 min tests were all out?  If not, then your CP may be set too low.  I am usually thanking the Lord when I'm finished with the last interval.  Looking forward to what others think.  

I find that particular workout quite challenging.  By the 5th interval, I'm usually struggling and having to really focus on keeping the power up.

On both tests close to the end I felt like my legs were going to buckle trying to keep up the pace, especially on the 5 min.

If you did those tests correctly...and it sounds like you did, you can rest assured that the workouts will be adding benefit.  When I finish the 5 x 1 min at 115%, I am sweating like a pig, but I could definitely do more.  The idea is to do enough so that you recover and your muscles grow and adapt between workouts.  I would stick to the plan if I were you.  Stick it out until the next test and evaluate from there.  Because everyone is different you may need to adjust the plan accordingly.  But I would stay the course for now.

Each time you repeat this workout the interval increases.  The intent is to ride the last interval at 3-5 watts harder.  This level of effort becomes your next base.  If you rode the first 4 of last weeks 5x1 at 275w, maybe you start this week at 280 and finish at 285, adjusting your base each week until you retest.  Perhaps I simplify this to much.  

You might have not pushed as hard as you could during the tests and your CP might be too low. Also, using the RPE table from 1 to 10, a 7 should be a pretty intense effort so your RPE might also be a bit off

Wait...I'm confused.  This is how I'm doing it.  Or is this for the previous poster's benefit??

How does the 80% effort feel after the 5x1min?  For me, my HR is more elevated for the 15min @ 80% following the intervals + it feels like the 80% is a bit of a chore - that's a good indication that the effort is at a good level.

The other thing to consider - which Jorge already mentioned - is that your tests may have been low.  I don't know what your ride volume looked like going into the program, but if it was lower than normal following race season, then you would have lost a bit of power.  So even though you tested to the best of your current ability, you can actually ride stronger - and over the past few weeks you've started to get back some of that power.

For me, I ignored my test results because I knew what my CP was during the season.  So I went with the higher numbers instead knowing my power will improve over the first few weeks, and not wanting to make the workouts too easy at the beginning of the program.  Following the second test I'll closely follow what the numbers tell me to do.

Oriondriver02 - 2011-12-02 9:55 AM Week 4 in the books... call me crazy but I look forward to each ride... they kick my butt but I feel like I am doing something to improve my cycling and for that I am thankful that Jorge put this together! Have a great weekend...

Like!

Episodes of Iron Chef has been working for me.  Other than that, be sure to keep all sharp objects out of reach while on the trainer.

Netflix!