Slornow and Wannabefaster's mentor group...Closed (Page 30)

I did 4x5' @ FTP on 1.5' easy this morning, and while I don't classify anything at threshold as "easy", this was not an overly taxing ride.  I haven't done a ride exactly like what you described (4' @ 100% followed by 11' @ 75% and repeated with no recovery period), but it sound pretty manageable. 

On the other hand, a similarly paced run would probably kill me (and, of course, would be stupid-slow compared to what you would do).  It always surprises me how some people take to running and others to biking (swimmers are a whole different breed ).  To me, it seems like it should be way easier for people to make gains on the bike because you can do so much without a huge risk of injury....but then I also "get" the argument that, as humans, we have basically evolved to run and have been doing it from quite a young age.  And still, I struggle so much with running...

Really enjoying all of the talk about power, aerobic versus anaerobic etc.  Always interested in what works and what the purpose of specific workouts is.

I am doing a bike ride/race on Saturday.  It is a "ride" but there is always a group that goes hard from the start.  21.9 miles out and back and totally flat.  Should be alot of fun if I can hang with the fast guys till the end.  Could be a good indication of where I am looking ahead to some of the early season sprints.

Jason-I am going to give the 4/11 workout a try next week....I suspect we will learn that we are both adverse to pain on the bike.

Oh, for sure....that would be a much more taxing ride with an overstated FTP -- the threshold intervals would be up in VO2 effort, and the recovery at 75% would be closer to sweet spot.  To do that for a full hour would be rough (at best). 

I expect that my FTP is on the low side as I don't test very often and probably should adjust more as workouts progress.

Despite this, I also feel that FTP effort workouts are a mental drain.  I know you are supposed to hold FTP wattage for an hour, but after 4 or 5 minutes I'm ready to take a break.

BUT this does seem to be limited to indoor trainer rides.  On race day, I don't know if its the adrenaline or just the mental distraction of the race itself, but I tend to be able to hold a much higher wattage for longer periods.

I'm finishing up my FTP testing on the weekend.  Assuming that my FTP does indeed increase, I am not too excited about training at the harder efforts. 

Could just be an off day.  Yesterday I was supposed to do 4x8' @ 95% with 2' rest.  It wasn't supposed to be a hard workout at all...in fact, even though the main set was only supposed to be 40 total minutes, if I had extended it out for a full hour (6x8') it would have only been 76 TSS.  I quit after the third rep because my legs felt like trash...so in reality my legs were toast after 38 TSS in 30 minutes.

Two weeks ago Thursday I did 4x12.5' with 2.5' rest @ 97%...so I wouldn't put too much stock in one workout.  If over time it proves that you can almost never perform these type of workouts that generate 70-80 TSS per hour...either you aren't managing recovery properly or your FTP is overstated.

How was your FTP determined anyway?  When was the last time it was adjusted?  How have your workouts been going since then?

Well...I think your answer is right there.  That many work hours, mixed in with family life and training is not usually going to produce good results.  But priorities are priorities.  Family time and work certainly comes before training for us who don't depend on our race results to survive.

Fun morning with the bike ride/race.  Mass start but stayed with the front group the whole way.  Sometimes fast and sometimes just spinning.  Last half mile was just whatever you had left.  Probably 20 of us coming across the line within a second of each other.  Looking back I probably spent too much time on the front but I don't think it made a difference in the long run.  The race finished right after a sweeping turn and things were a little hairy but everyone stayed upright.  Fun morning.  

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend.

Stuart-the race was 21.5 miles or somewhere thereabouts.  I did not worry too much about nutrition.  Coffee, water, bagel and greek yogurt 2 hours before the ride.  Sipped on a bottle with some nutrition in it during the hour pre race. A gel about 15 minutes before race and a few sips of nutrition during the race when the situation allowed.  For the century I suspect it will depend on how you are doing the ride.  With a couple of stops at rest stops or basically pushing through with minimum breaks?  I am no expert on long races but most folks try to shoot for a certain number of calories per hour through a combination of fluid intake, gels and other foods that the stomach can digest easily.  Fluid intake will likely depend on heat, wind and effort level.  I will defer to someone will more experience to hopefully provide more specifics.  How is the calf doing? 

First outdoor ride of the season yesterday - full winter kit, but by the middle of this coming week I could have probably been in a light long sleeved jersey.  Bit of a humbling experience, the legs were feeling fatigued from the get go and although it was only just over 2 hours riding I was tierd later in the evening.  Definitely different getting outside again with varying terrain and a decent wind vs riding the trainer at steady even tempos.

Well done Kevin!  It must be my thick Canadian blood but I prefer cooler weather for road races and really don't perform well in the heat.  For me, around 5 C/41 F is the ideal running temperature.

I had a bit of an "aha" moment swimming last night.  I'm bound and determined to get faster this year and so am trying to focus on just one or two aspects of my stroke at a time.  

I usually start out with decent form (for me) for the first few hundred meters of a swim session, but then everything starts to fall apart and I end up losing about 5-7 seconds per 50 meters by the end of the workout.

Last night I focused on engaging my core to keep my lower back and legs elevated.  Also, I'm not a big kicker and so don't really pay attention to what my feet and ankles are doing, but last night I focused on lowering drag and keeping my toes pointed. 

Just addressing these two areas seemed to help.  I did lose some speed but, on average, I was probably 4 or 5 seconds faster than I usually am by the end of a swim. 

I still have a long way to go, but its a start.

Good morning everyone!  Hope everyone is getting in some quality training.  I have got to be on the road for a few days and will try to get in a run each day.   I think everyone has read about my disdain of swimming. So, if you could only do one....swimming, biking or running which would it be?

I share your disdain for swimming and so my ranking would be: 1. running, 2. biking and 3. swimming (a distance 3rd).

Running and biking are very close, but there's not a lot of bike races in my area and you pretty much can find a 5K, 10K or HM every month of the year.

I finally did my 20 minute test the other night.  The good news is that my CP went up 15 watts, the bad news is that I have to now train 15 watts higher.