Sweet spot riding?

Thanks for the info.

I've done Jorge's winter plan a few times, and I followed my coach's plan last winter.  I guess I'm just looking for info on whether, for example, the 2 x 15' @ zone 3 with 5' rest in Jorge's plan would be a better workout than an hour steady at zone 3.  Is it going to negatively affect my riding if I do too long of workouts in zone 3, without enough zone 2 thrown in?

It'll be a harder workout, but it's not anything outrageous. You can try it to see. You'll be more tired, may need to rework some things around it. Or you may not. I don't mean to be vague, but this is getting into a more individual area where it depends on how hard one wants to push and how well they can rest/recover. I do get that much Zone 3 into some rides, but would break it up into more like 3-4 x 15' instead of 1 x 60'. Unless I had more of a reason to go for 60' straight.

Sweet Spot is rather vague on how you do it because it's more that you do just get it in as opposed to how you do it. So no, there is nothing wrong with getting in 60 min in a workout. Watch how it effects your training in general to see if you can handle it ok, or if you should back off some.

Sweet Spot Training is defined as lower level 4 (88-94% FTP). The idea behind SST is that you can train here for longer periods of time without needing too much recovery. When you train at a higher intensity, the training adaptations are quicker, but the cost in recovery is also greater.

Training in this area should help push up FTP and VO2max. It will also help with endurance, although sustained efforts in a lower zone (Z2/3) will be more useful for endurance (base).

A lot of training depends on how much time you have and are willing to dedicate. The more time you have, the less time you spend at the higher zones as a percentage. This is because recovery is still required between harder efforts. If you are looking at increasing your base, your best bet is to have one or two longer (2-3 hrs) rides per week in Z2/Z3 plus one or two 1-1:30 hr SST rides with 30-45 minutes of SST (e.g. 2-3 x 15m w/ 5m recovery). If you want to do more than this, add in another 1:30 Z1/Z2 ride. If you feel like you are getting burned out after a few weeks, cut back on the SST rides for a week and replace them with Z1/Z2 (a recovery week). Over the course of a  few weeks, you'll find that you can maintain a faster pace with a lower HR. Keep this up and you will be a stronger cyclist next year. As the race season approaches, increase the intensity (add in Z5 and some higher Z4) and replace some other intensity with recovery. If you have a riding group it makes this all a lot more fun.

Do you have a power meter? Something I've found very useful is checking my watts versus HR. Next year you'll be looking at a 2:30 bike split for a HIM.

Thanks again everyone, and thanks MonkeyClaw for the details.  I do have time, but I also have 3 years of base training (year round) at near IM time/distance (I train with 2 IM racers), so I feel ready to put more work and less base riding in.

I'll give it a try and see what happens!