It's killing me but..........

Sillyoldtwit

NS, you make it sound like a vasectomy!

RapDaddyo

Go for it, dude. Have a good ride and I'll be anxiously awaiting your results.

netscriber

Im laughing my ass off!

Sillyoldtwit

Well, it's all over, I've opened all my presents.

So what was the result? Absolutely ridiculous!

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10 minutes? NO!
















15 minutes? NO!
















20 minutes. NO!
















Then what about 25 minutes? NO! A clue - I burnt 566 calories.
















30 minutes? NO!
















35 minutes and 20 seconds!!!!

That's thrown you I bet RD. I'ts certainly thrown me. What happens now?

RapDaddyo

You're an animal! Actually, I privately predicted 20 minutes, only because of the ease with which you were handling the 200W intervals last week. But, by any definition, Tyson, that's awesome! There are two possible explanations. One is that your FT is significantly higher than 200W, say, 220-230W. The other is that your anaerobic work capacity is very high compared with your FT. But, the duration of 35mins should have isolated your aerobic capacity for the most part.

Now, where do you go from here, after you go out and celebrate your new power numbers? Well, there's still this matter of finding the right power target for your VO2MAX intervals. Obviously, it's not 240W. Maybe 260-265W? Let me work on a VO2MAX workout at 260W. I'll post it later tonight. I want to work out the NP, IF and TSS for you.

Again, congrats! You've made huge progress and you are an example of what's possible.

Sillyoldtwit

Let me help you out here RD. Today was the first time ever I went straight on the bike. Usually I do an hour or so on the weights to get the maxium benefit before going on the bike. I think now that my priorities have changed, I shall start with the bike first. I think in the past I was possibly getting on the bike already tired.
Today the first 20 minutes or so were so easy I felt I should be doing 260W.
So I guess you might not be far out with 260-265W. Only the last 3 mins were difficult when my cadence dropped. And to be very honest, at 35 mins I was still moving the pedals around albeit very very slowly. Not quite sure how much more I could have squeezed out. If the new bike and PM were at stake - maybe another 2 or 3 mins.

Now, who was it who said it will be over in a few minutes? I'll kill him!

RapDaddyo

Well, here are my thoughts on how you might change your workouts beginning this week. I think you should put in VO2MAX intervals twice a week. You'll have to experiment with the intensity (power), because the test didn't really reveal your 4-7min power as planned. The 5min VO2MAX intervals below shouldn't leave you wasted. Rather, they should feel like ~90% efforts. So, give this a try and see how it goes.
4x5min @ 260W L5s w/5min recovery @ 100W after each
+5min @ 100W
1x20min @ 210W L4
On the other day(s), just do your usual 20min L4 intervals at 210W. FYI, the VO2MAX days have AP~167W, NP~198W, IF~.88, TSS~100pts. If you can't finish all of the 260W intervals, then back off to 250W for the set.

In case you're wondering why I waited until now to suggest VO2MAX intervals, it is because VO2MAX responds quickly to training but maxes out quickly as well. So, you'll get most of the potential benefit from this training between now and your important rides in a few weeks. The L4 work you have been doing since January is slower to respond so that's why I suggested that you get started with them asap. The VO2MAX work will add a nice bit of icing to the cake you're baking. As to mixing L4 and L5, I do it all the time, although I suppose there are some who believe in focusing exclusively on one adaptation per workout. What do you think?

netscriber

haha... Ok, now for those of us that just tuned in, what was this episode about? Did you ride 120%FT for whatever amount of time it took?
I thought you were going to do a 5min MP test and thats why I said few minutes.

Edit: And I need to congratulate ya. Good job dude!

Sillyoldtwit

Lol NS This is what it was about.

Posted by RapDaddyo:

Sillyoldtwit

What do I think? I'm in new territory here, and entirely in your hands.
It all sounds OK to me. So tomorrow I'll just do 2x20 @210W or 2x30 if I feel up to it. Then on Thursday the 5 minute VO2MAX intervals etc.

Wow, can you smell that cake!

PS AP etc??

PPS Does this mean 10 minutes @ 100W after the last VO2MAX interval ?

RapDaddyo

Measures of intensity and stress. The most important number is NP (Normalized Power), which is the ride's physiological stress if you had ridden at a constant power. IOW, the ride is equivalent to riding at a constant power of 198W for the entire duration. AP is Average Power, just a straight arithmetic average of the workout segments. Note how much this understates the ride's physiological stress. You'll see what I mean when you do the workout. After you finish, ask yourself if it felt like a ride at a constant power of 167W.

Yes, just to give you a little extra rest before the L4 interval. If you don't need the full recovery segments, then cut them short. As usual, what matters is the minutes at power, not the recovery durations.

RapDaddyo

Hey Tyson, I forgot to tell you what to do if you're unable to maintain power for the full duration of the VO2MAX intervals. Unlike the test you did on Tuesday, the purpose of these intervals is not to ride to your max duration. Only the last one of the set should even approach your max duration and even that one should not be all that hard to complete. If you find that you can't sustain the target power for the full duration for any of the 260W intervals, just back off and begin your recovery duration early. If I have guessed wrong and the target power is too high, you can reduce it for the next session. As I have said before, only performance tests are to max duration. Routine intervals are not intended to be exercises in survival. They should actually be sort of fun.

Sillyoldtwit

Thanks RD, that's nice to know. IOW, after 30 seconds @ 260W I can back off and do my recovery. Sounds good to me. Might do 20 of those tomorrow.
PS Today like every Wed was hard - legs were like lead again. If last week is anything to go on, should be fine tomorrow. I'm beginning to think I was running on adrenalin yesterday though.

RapDaddyo

I realize you're kidding, but there are actually entire threads devoted to discussing 30s intervals and they will indeed produce increases in VO2MAX and FT (if ridden at a higher power such as 175%MAP). As will lots of other interval protocols, each of which has its devotees. They are just not an efficient use of training time IMO. My main point was to remind you that, even though you are beginning to include intervals at a higher intensity than the L4s you have been doing, the L5 intervals are not "ride hard until you're ready to fall off the bike" efforts. I think too many people make high-intensity efforts harder than necessary and consequently they don't look forward to the workouts.