Power Mentor Group with Shane & Marc - Closed. (Page 24)

First workout of the week is done, VO2-1. I'll do THR-1 on Wed.





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cdkayak-WK2-VO2-1.csv (116KB - 2 downloads)

Got Threshold workout 1 done this evening and that was a tough little workout. It looks benign but once you get into 3rd plus set of holding close to threshold power, the legs get to burning. Probably will do Wed. and Fri. for the remaining 2 workouts this week. Have a great night everyone.

Ron



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2014-01-13-bt-power-week-2-thr-1-621843.tcx (1866KB - 5 downloads)

Thanks

Sharing how the workouts felt is really useful. I am going to try and do Threshold 1 this morning.

Couple of thoughts. Basically what Jason #1 said. First is I did not race as much as I would have liked to last year. The way the races fell and where they were made it difficult for me to make them. Was very busy with the kids this year. I did do a decent amount of group rides with some strong guys and I did do the CT State and New England Road Race Championship for Cat 5. You are stuck in Cat 5 until you do 10 races and those races are generally shorter. We did one 22 mile loop where Cat 4 did two and Cat 3 did three. It was pretty tough and in the second half has two pretty punchy climbs and it finished on a 2 mile climb around 6% or so grade.

I'm usually at the front of every group ride I end up doing and was at the front of the race (too much in the front and too early) until a big attack on the first punchy climb where it gets pretty steep for awhile and wasn't ready for it. 6 guys got off the front. I led the first chase group of 5 but was doing all the work so attacked them twice and the second one stuck. Then I rode about 330 watts for 10 minutes or so until I bridged the gap to the leaders, got a 2-3 minute reprieve I think and then the 7 of us came to the bottom of the 2 mile finish climb where they attacked hard. I had burnt my matches and was happy to have been in the front on a hilly race. I didn't have the w/kg to go with them. I averaged another 336 watts for 10-11 minutes or so to the top and finished just off the leaders in 7th.

I guess I wrote the longish version of the story to illustrate that the race could have unfolded a number of ways, so it really depends on the race and your strengths and your strategy and the course and you need to react the best you can to what others are doing. It isn't easy like a triathlon where you just go ride 80% steady for a couple hours. You generally have to be able ride at 200% for minute here and a minute there and then back to tempo and then again and again or you do what I did where I was in a very different zone than the chase group who were taking turns vs me just soloing to the front in time trial mode all out.

In a crit (which is what I'm trying this year) it is very different because it is about a mile loop that you hammer through and there are no serious climbs and you are going 25mph. The little climbers would have had a very different experience getting to the front at a race like that. Better suited to all rounders, bigger guys with bigger numbers who can punch through the wind and then launch a sprint when they need to. I won the Cat 4/5 state time trial against some of the guys who did better than me at the Cat 4 and the Cat 5 road race. So it is just different. A flatter race would suit me very well I think (from what my friends tell me). I have a high enough ftp to be in the group for the most part without killing myself and then I can do 1000+ watts for 30 seconds or so in a sprint. So I want to try that out. I THINK my biggest issue will be going from 200% for 1' back to 90% for 4' back to 200% for awhile like that...I haven't trained quite like that and it is shell shock on the legs. It is easy to do 200% and then do 50% :)

I just like the challenge, the strategy, constantly thinking and reacting. It is very different than triathlon or running where unless you are a pro you are basically just executing your pace (which I also like, but it is just a different sport).

On your last question, basically I was too fat to win on a hilly race last year. If I was 10lbs less I would have probably won. I ate a ton of cheeseburgers and drank a lot of beer this summer. I have a lot to lose and it is doable so that I guess is the bright side vs being already very lean and only having the option of making my power go up. I can do both.

Ok. Probably way too much info.

Edit to add: On the road race my AW was 277 and my NP was 335 for 1 hour.

Edited by JAYCT 2014-01-14 9:12 AM

Not too much at all. It's interesting to hear what others are doing and how your past races relate to what we're doing in this group. I came to tris and running races from a very recreational background, casual biking and swimming & rarely running. The strategy of bike racing is new to me. The only thing I really got competitive at prior to this was rifle competition.(a whole different animal)

Edited by cdkayak 2014-01-14 9:01 AM

Marq/Shane,

My cold put me behind some and I still have workout #3 of the original set to do. Should I do that one or just jump into the new post-test workout series? I have to travel out of town next week and won't be able to bike or swim Tuesday through Friday so I will be a little more behind.

I will be doing a workout tomorrow morning followed by workouts on Friday then Sunday or Monday morning so I can get in 3 workouts before my trip. Is it safe to say that there should be at least one day of rest between each of these workouts? I can do back to back days but I'm guessing that's not ideal with these types of workouts.

I would skip #3 from the first week and jump in with this week's workouts. The third one from last week was not critical but rather a third somewhat focused ride to finish the week of testing where as the rides this week are significantly more focused on building fitness.

Shane

Did Week 2 Threshold Workout #1 this morning.

Still having spikes with power, but now GC has my speed jumping all over the place without the Garmin speed/cadence sensor. GC had me riding 60+ miles for the workout with a max speed of over 16000 MPH :P

Garmin seems to handle the data much better: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/429913226

The CP chart is very cool. I both love it and hate it at the same time. For now I love it as I can train with virtual power. I will hate it when I ride outdoors "naked" because I don't own a power meter. I have a whole development and engineering team in this building working on centrifugal pumps and controls. I'm wondering if they can make me one. Garmin HQ is also 10 minutes away but I don't have a buddy over there.

I'm going to be on our sales guys butts so we can hit our sales target and get some bonus money, daddy needs a power meter!

I suspect my CP is set a little high. I found that Threshold 1 tough. I never found it particularly hard during the workout, but 1 hour after I feel sleepy

It will be interesting to see how I run a little later.

I got Week 2 Threshold 1 done this morning and also found it fairly challenging. And now I can't stop eating!

I really let my power fall between the intervals. I felt like I wouldn't be able to finish the intervals if I stayed at the prescribed power during the rest period. I WAS able to complete the work intervals, so maybe next time I just need to HTFU on the rest portion. I also had to work the night shift over the weekend and I usually find that affects my HR for a few days, so maybe it affects my power as well.

Did anyone else using Trainer Road start to cry a little bit when they realized that last interval wasn't actually over at 5 minutes?

I'm having the same problem also with the power spikes and speed variances even after removing my GSC10. I can't seem to figure it out. I'll just continue to use Trainerroad and my Joule during workouts. I can at least download the correct data into GC with the Joule after the fact.

Would anyone like to comment on the choice of doing the Threshold 2 workout vs. Sweetspot for the all-rounders group? I was wondering which would be better for me. Would anyone like to define what those terms mean? I'm finding some conflicting info on the internet.

I had already noticed that it was a 10 min segment so when it started and I saw 5 min, I knew they split the segment. Even knowing this it wasn't any easier. I started that last 10 min right at prescribed power ~187 and built through the end to about 198ish. That is 3 of us that felt the threshold 1 was a nice little effort. I did not find it too taxing on the cardio as my max heart rate was only 151. It just hurt in the muscle/gas tank.

Ron

ooooh. The last 10min at 85% gets displayed as 2x5min at 85% ?. That one ?
The gizmo I use to generate the mrc files does that.

Those definitions Jason gave are correct although we are currently at the low end of threshold at 92%.
The sweet spot workout is harder in my opinion. If you found that last 10min of "threshold 1" long, wait until the last 12min of sweet spot.
That being said, I think it's a great endurance builder workout, which is why I will do that one.
(He says bravely 3 days ahead of time....then he wimps out....)

If Nicole is reading....I would do SweatSpot....good for that upcoming race :-)

I reviewed it as well and am planning on the sweetspot. I could use the 1:30 vs the :50 session for a little added endurance. TSS is a bit higher although I know it isn't all created equal. I'm a little low on endurance right now though is what my gut tells me and hitting a couple of efforts after the 1hr mark will be good for the soul.

Au contraire. Very interesting stuff ! Thank you

I searched the GC groups and did not find anything....yet.

I'm doing a similar thing by just directly loading the FIT file from my Garmin in GC on my main PC.

Hi Marc

Did work out #1 see numbers felt good just some discomfort sitting down to long,, trying to get up during work to relieve some pressure.. What numbers would you like me to post for you to see?
Thanks
P