Saturday was my first L5 or VO2max workout of the season, or rather... was supposed to be.
Disappointingly enough, it just didn't happen. The plan was to get on the bike, do 30 minutes of L1 cruising and start doing 5 minute VO2max workouts, separated by 30 minutes of L1 cruising for a total of 3 hours of riding. Intensity, 380-400 watts for 5 minutes.
The challenge? I think too much time on the bike. I got to the first one and was thwarted by a descent on my hill I was using. It was a route I am not used to - mistake number one - so when the road tipped downward it was impossible to keep 380-400 watts on the descent, so when it tipped back up I finished off the interval.
I cruised to the bottom, and pedaled down to the base of a hill I knew I could get a good stretch of time in. 30 minutes went by and off I went. This interval ended at 4 minutes 45 seconds instead of the prescribed 5 minutes. I cruise over the top of the hill and settled into the valley nearby to get ready for interval attempt number 3 of 5.
I only got about 2 minutes of interval number 3 done and I realized it just wasn't happening. FRUSTRATION!
I am pretty sure this is the first workout of the power training change that I haven't been able to complete at the prescribed intensity for the prescribed number of efforts.
I followed the rule of intervals and that's if it doesn't happen, don't wreck yourself. So I dropped out of the mountains to the coast and pedaled my way home for a miserable 117 TSS, 2 hr 45 minute day.
This week's stats:
19.3 hours on the bike
553 km
916.9 TSS
with a mere IF factor for the week of .689.
Since bumping my functional threshold, based on my testing data - my weekly IF has dropped through the floor, so likewise my weekly TSS has dropped. Even though my legs are downright beat up today, my TSS isn't as high as its been on weeks I felt much stronger. I think this points to me underestimating my FTP earlier on giving me a false view of what a given TSS amount should feel like. I really have to "reset" that paradigm on my new training zones. A 5 hour day on the bike in December, normalized power 257, TSS: 332. Today was just shy of 5 hours, normalized power 251, only 224 TSS.
This coming week will be a "lighter" week in the scheme of things. 2 hours less on the bike with a light spinning/recovery day on Friday. That will precede my next attempt at the VO2max work. I'm dying to make those intervals work. I want the time in zone so bad. I know that the next step in training is to start stretching that area of my ability range, and I need to make it work.
This week I'm abandoning my plan to do it on hills though. I have a "rough" 5 minute loop on the base here that is almost completely flat. This week's goal will be to do the 380-400w intervals on that loop. It will give me a better idea for a "finish line" on each lap and will allow me to just sit down and hammer.
The good news is the weather remains completely cooperative for February. This week has one day with forecasted highs under 10 degrees C. And when the week ends we're only 10 days out of March. Short sleeves are on the horizon!
VW
Disappointingly enough, it just didn't happen. The plan was to get on the bike, do 30 minutes of L1 cruising and start doing 5 minute VO2max workouts, separated by 30 minutes of L1 cruising for a total of 3 hours of riding. Intensity, 380-400 watts for 5 minutes.
The challenge? I think too much time on the bike. I got to the first one and was thwarted by a descent on my hill I was using. It was a route I am not used to - mistake number one - so when the road tipped downward it was impossible to keep 380-400 watts on the descent, so when it tipped back up I finished off the interval.
I cruised to the bottom, and pedaled down to the base of a hill I knew I could get a good stretch of time in. 30 minutes went by and off I went. This interval ended at 4 minutes 45 seconds instead of the prescribed 5 minutes. I cruise over the top of the hill and settled into the valley nearby to get ready for interval attempt number 3 of 5.
I only got about 2 minutes of interval number 3 done and I realized it just wasn't happening. FRUSTRATION!
I am pretty sure this is the first workout of the power training change that I haven't been able to complete at the prescribed intensity for the prescribed number of efforts.
I followed the rule of intervals and that's if it doesn't happen, don't wreck yourself. So I dropped out of the mountains to the coast and pedaled my way home for a miserable 117 TSS, 2 hr 45 minute day.
This week's stats:
19.3 hours on the bike
553 km
916.9 TSS
with a mere IF factor for the week of .689.
Since bumping my functional threshold, based on my testing data - my weekly IF has dropped through the floor, so likewise my weekly TSS has dropped. Even though my legs are downright beat up today, my TSS isn't as high as its been on weeks I felt much stronger. I think this points to me underestimating my FTP earlier on giving me a false view of what a given TSS amount should feel like. I really have to "reset" that paradigm on my new training zones. A 5 hour day on the bike in December, normalized power 257, TSS: 332. Today was just shy of 5 hours, normalized power 251, only 224 TSS.
This coming week will be a "lighter" week in the scheme of things. 2 hours less on the bike with a light spinning/recovery day on Friday. That will precede my next attempt at the VO2max work. I'm dying to make those intervals work. I want the time in zone so bad. I know that the next step in training is to start stretching that area of my ability range, and I need to make it work.
This week I'm abandoning my plan to do it on hills though. I have a "rough" 5 minute loop on the base here that is almost completely flat. This week's goal will be to do the 380-400w intervals on that loop. It will give me a better idea for a "finish line" on each lap and will allow me to just sit down and hammer.
The good news is the weather remains completely cooperative for February. This week has one day with forecasted highs under 10 degrees C. And when the week ends we're only 10 days out of March. Short sleeves are on the horizon!
VW