Slornow and Wannabefaster's mentor group...Closed (Page 29)

Interesting to see some of the discussion around testing and folks CP/FTP numbers.  Haven't tested for a while, but am feeling pretty good about where I am on the bike at the moment (swim/run need to catch up).  The other day had me doing the main set of 60' split into 20' intervals (took 1' in between to coast and let the PT recalibrate), started at what I believe to be about 80%, increased to 88%, and the final interval at 95%.  Certainly pushing me and these longer sessions are hopefully going to build some of the mental toughness that deserts me from time to time  - either in training or racing - along with upping that CP number.

Getting back to my question from over the weekend.

My first race is a sprint on April 9. The rest of the early season is: Super sprint April 23; ??Gulf Coast HIM May 7 ?????; Sprint May 14; Sprint June 4.

Not sure after that.  It is a long season down here and I don't race much in July and August.

So far where I am heading into th first race is a mixed bag.

Swim C-....minimal motivation and substantially fewer yards thus far in 2016.

Bike A or A-....been biking a lot with some good intensity. Still need to see where I am with some race specific workouts.

Run B....until about 2 weeks ago it would have been an A.  The Winter of easy running was going well. Then I felt a knot in my left calf.  Doesn't really bother me when I run but it is there and sore after a run.  I am trying to take it easy this week and getting a massage therapist to work on it and it is better.  Trying to be smart and take it easy but "smart" is not my strong suit.  I dealt with this same issue last Summer and it was hard to resolve.  Hopefully, getting in front of it this year.  Frustrating given my more gentle approach to Winter running this year..  Whether I do the HIM in early May depends in large part on how the calf does over the next few weeks. 

Marc-I saw you had posted on ST questioning the number of qualifying slots the late season and 2017 70.3 races would have for 2017 70.3 WC in Chattanooga.  Looks like starting with Muncie it is 50 as compared to the races qualifying for 2016 where there are 30 slots.  Didn't look at all of the races but both Muncie and Augusta offer 50.

I would love to try and qualify for 2017 with a late season 70.3 this year.  But, I would have to earn a slot in 50-54 this year and next year II bump up to 55-59. 

Not soon enough!!  My first tri, a sprint, is on June 11th and then a "long course" tri on June 26th.

I'll probably throw in a few 5K and 10K races before then just to see where my running is at. 

I was supposed to run a HM this weekend, but I missed two straight long run weekends and so didn't feel ready for it.

I'm pretty happy with the state of my bike and run, but swimming is basically starting from scratch after a long break from last season.

I was going to do some CP testing this week but caught a bit of a bug from my kids.  Feeling better today so I might do the 5 minute test tonight.

Marc, I think you once said that improving anaerobic capacity may be at the expense of your aerobic capacity.  Is that right?

I certainly understand doing all out sprints on occasion (testing, breaking up monotony of longer intervals, etc.) or if you're road racing and need actual sprint capabilities.  But as a triathlete, I don't look forward to it and am grateful that I don't do them often (full disclosure: pretty sure I was born with no fast twitch muscles ).

I just renewed my TriathlonLive subscription.  Anyone else sign up?

1st stop on the ITU circuit is Abu Dhabi this Saturday, but I see that the Brownlee brothers, Javier and Gwen are all not racing.

I think there is some truth to what Marc is saying.  It's not nearly an all or nothing, or black/white statement though.  I think any type of hard efforts improves your overall fitness, but it's always better to do the bulk of your work on the specific thing you will be doing on race day.  For triathletes, you'll never have to sprint or ride for 90 seconds at 150-200% of FTP during a race.  So while you don't need to spend much time there, but I don't think you can dismiss it all together either.

Another theory is that if you want to raise your ceiling (your FTP), it helps if you also make room by raising your roof (VO2).  By incorporating some anaerobic work into your training, your top end will improve.  That helps you with your VO2 efforts in the 110% range, which then helps with your threshold 95-100% range.  

Of course focusing too much on anaerobic efforts limits the amount of time you can spend working on threshold...especially due to some higher recovery costs.  So it's a balance.  For triathletes...it will still be heavily weighted on the non anaerobic side.

Haven't heard of that before.  Anything you can link me to for further reading?  

Might have to stop crushing dreams during group rides and play lead out.    None of my races in the next 4 months require a sprint...mostly TTs or uphill road races until June/July.

Good stuff Marc.  Makes sense.

Did a 5 minute test last night and, overall, hit higher numbers than I was expecting. It was a soul-sucking experience and so I think I got it right

I was worried about completely blowing up and so I started out at what I thought was a conservative wattage, but (in hindsight) it was too low considering what power I managed to hold for the last 3.5 minutes or so.

The ride itself looks like a bit of a wedge as power slowly increased over the first 90 seconds and then started to level off.

I tried to push it for an extra minute to get more accurate results, but could only hold on for another 10 seconds.

When calculating CP, I think I'll go with the 4 minute power instead.

Not looking forward to the 20 minute test!

I was also wondering that with Jason's knee issues, if this was also a way to develop some strength where doing speedwork or strides while running may not be as appropriate.