What I did to prepare for Sebring 2017 ---today

[ratz]

Let'a see today was a rather busy day of items

• Second ride testing "darn tough" brand wool riding socks. Those are keepers. It's always 65F in the basement and my fee get cold to the point of numb with the fan blowing in the training room. Darn tough socks (Christmas present) all wool; problem solved; those will be keepers for Sebring in February. (Lifetime replacement warranty if you wear a hole in them too).
• Did more debug of riding in TrainerRoad power workouts in the Zwift virtual world took a bit but have it dialed in for people with the right gear
• Road Tunnabora - might have to raise my ftp back up; was surprisingly easy; might have recovered from missing the front of the month; tomorrows ride will tell the tail
• Finally broke down and ordered the Quaq Collector. This has been on my list for awhile as a great device for when PluckBlond or I take off for 5-7 hour solo rides. Garmin live connect and the similar offering just never work and are a PITA to debug. The idea of a device you just turn on and start riding and has a 24 hour battery life is very appealing. Decided to make the acquisition in time for Sebring so with luck we'll get the tech figured out and have some live telemetry from the race for people to follow. Although at this rate everyone will be there riding anyhow.

 

[LarryOz]

I'm deviating "just a little" from Ratz's training plan this week, but still trying to pack in the required intensity intervals, which are probably the most important followed closely by long endurance ride.
I'm doing this partly because I already messed it up riding that 2-hour killer hill climbing Zwift ride with Jason on Monday, plus I "may" have the opportunity to do a "test run" of Sebring 12-hr (albeit indoors) this weekend, as my wife and kids are heading down to Savannah from Thursday through Sunday. That means I can ride "all day" day if I want Friday and/or Saturday! Plus lots of College football bowls games to keep me distracted as well.

Anyway - Since I rode easy recovery yesterday I figured I would ride hard today again and basically tried to do the equivalent of Ebbetts and Kaweah workouts, but on Zwift, but not ERG, and trying to match the intervals using my Garmin head units' lap function showing average power. This was pretty fun and it still be able to chase the other Zwifter's around the roads and get in some sprint intervals too (which are kind of build into Ebbetts anyway).
So today I did ~130 mins of riding - 0.91 IF and 181 TSS (per TrainingPeaks) - which almost perfectly matches the TSS for Ebbetts and Kaweah, but a little shorter in time, but higher intensity made up for it.
I was kind if fun mixing it up with the other riders I ended up with on Swift, so I am pretty happy with the outcome.
Plan is to have easy recovery tomorrow, and Friday, and then ride a 12-hour session on Saturday, and shoot for average wattage in the 150-180 range.

 

[DavidCH]

One ride with Jason and you blow a gasket... But at least you don't fall off the bike

 

[ratz]

I'm deviating "just a little" from Ratz's training plan this week

Plans never survive first contact.

 

[CruzLike]

Last night I rode Ragged. Good hard effort.
Today my legs feel it. In a bad way. They are running on low energy. Looking forward to the active recovery tonight and rest day on Monday.
I feel like my fitness condition is getting better, though I feel like I grinding thought the workouts. Hopefully satisfaction will come in Florida.

 

[ratz]

Yesterday was starting to feel sick so I took an early break (wish I could train early more often; more productive training). Bumped FTP up 3 watts because I've been feeling stronger that last 2-3 rides as I get back into the swing. That was just about right. Tackled "Ragged" today which is 80 minutes of zero rest plateaus. Goal today was to stay in the 95-105rpm range; and see how long before HR popped out of aerobic. Made it about 48 minutes; then moved into the tempo zone.



Today I'm glad I went early; kids colds are hunting me as I hide in my office with my Lysol can.

 

[ratz]

Scheduled a Bike Sebring simulation. 148miles of bike sebring route derived from Larry's GPS data. Ride will be available to be ridden in BKOOL on both Saturday and Sunday. I will likely test on Sunday; but it's built and scheduled for anyone else that want's to try it. I have no clue what the quality level is. Larry has video if this sucks; then I will put the effort into building a video version that's like 4 hours work though so I'm trying simulation mode first.


http://www.bkool.com/profile/detail/2178502?durationType=DISTANCE&lapCount=1

 

[ratz]

Pounded out Ebbets on tired legs from last night. Reward was getting to bump my FTP another 3 watts post ride. This ride has 16 hey "Larry! get back here" sprints in it make it a different kid of awful. In honor of going to rogue1 tomorrow night this ride way all about what star wars quote came to mind for each interval..... You have to do something to distract yourself on hard days.

 

[LarryOz]

Yesterday I started the day at 6'sh with an easy 75 minute spin at 130watts or so. This was nice and relaxing after my 2-hour session yesterday at .91 IF.
My plan for this weekend was to ride a 12-hour "Sebring practice" session either Friday or Saturday, but with the wife going to visit her family from today through Sunday I just couldn't help myself and hoped on my V for an "easy" 5-hour ride.
I set up my KICKR, V and an extra monitor in the LR so I could watch TV and also monitor the ride and took off on Zwift at about 6:30pm.



I rode 5 hours at 157watts and averaged 134bpm - which is about my max MAF. Odd this is about 15 beats higher than I usually ride at this level. I have been sick now though for a week (upper respiratory/sinus thing - which has me coughing up nasty stuff all the time - yes I went to the Dr. - they said no anti-biotics needed unless I start getting a fever. Oh well, they make me really sick to my stomach anyway).
I ended up with 5-hrs at 0.6 IF and 178 TSS. (I also did this ride fasting - nothing since lunch, and nothing but water during the ride)
https://www.strava.com/activities/815379943/analysis

What is a little odd, is my 2:11 ride the day before at 0.90 IF - yielded 181 TSS. It's kind of odd that you can rack up the same training load in 2 hours at 0.90 intensity that you have to ride 5 hours at 0.6 intensity.
If all I was after was TSS I would do the 2 hour everytime, but I'm told my Ratz the LSD rides have some value above the SweetSpot rides, so I am doing them. Beside variety is the spice of life, right?
I think I actually felt tireder after the 5 hour ride than I did after the 2-hour ride too, but fatigue and being 1/2 sick might also have something to do with it. (I think I also "perform" better in the morning compared to the evening.)
I still plan on doing my 12-hour ride either Friday or Saturday - depending on what stuff is scheduled for the days - still up in the air.

 

[CruzLike]

.. You have to do something to distract yourself on hard days.

View attachment 3924

Lately my distraction has been to devise a machine that would simulate all the inputs Trainer Road is receiving. HR Cadence and watts. This would enable me to sit on the couch eating BonBons while getting a "workout". Can anyone help me out?

 

[ratz]

Lately my distraction has been to devise a machine that would simulate all the inputs Trainer Road is receiving. HR Cadence and watts. This would enable me to sit on the couch eating BonBons while getting a "workout". Can anyone help me out?

They have that for zwift and the software can now detect it and flag you with a warning alert and a badge of shame in the software.

 

[Tigerpaw]

Major milestone today. Reached my yearly mileage goal. This means I can now start Sebring training instead of doing touring mileage. Time to trash the legs now that I've seen the secret "Crazy Jason workout"! Oh my, this may kill me.

Yeah, only 15K miles of 'touring'.

 

[ratz]

I've learned something over these last couple days. I ride a bike for the enjoyment of riding the bike. Kinda like the weight lifter who picks things up and puts things down. I pedal my feet round and round. And really enjoy it. The catch is I don't do it for health and conditioning I simply like cruising. This zwift training has me in quite a quandary. It's fun in a lot of ways but it doesn't replace just riding around. It is weird in that I could have perhaps ridden only 3-4 thousand miles this year and be faster but it would have come at a high cost. This regimented riding at prescibed watts sucks. The soreness is even suckier! So what do I do? Simple when I'm bummed because I'm limping around with sore knees I do what I normally do when I'm bummed. Go cruising on my favorite Am Jack run.
(note: there is nothing wrong about loving to train for fitness and competition, undoubtedly, I would like it a whole lot more if my numbers weren't so pathetic . See you at Sebring!)

See that makes you a candidate for the old school long and slow stuff pair with something like FulGaz. Once you got into the 3-4 rides a week habit you'd be addicted.

Fear of being last gets me on the trainer; then after 2 weeks endorphin addiction takes care of the rest. I'll never be first I can't control that. But not being last yep that's easy to avoid.

 

[DavidCH]

There is no fear... there can only be one winner... that makes 99% of us a failure. Don't worry, be happy. For me, Just being there is an accomplishment. Racing is an added bonus. I am finishing off reading that audio book called "The Rider" ... its very good. Like all cook books ... its all in the preparation. First 50 miles I can do fast... second 50 not so fast. I went to the physio yesterday and he said it looks as though you have issues with sciatica ... well after the fall I had all sorts of aches and pains, the funny thing is the hamstring/calf strain feeling went away with all the other issues. That's until the physio started to prize my muscles apart. I am sore but today I feel better. I went for a ride and I am building myself up for the Sunday special. It should be really good this week as its New Years day and the roads will be totally empty, the seat has been tweaked and the headrest so I am positive... I am carb loading and try various nutrition ideas to see if that improves the averages.

 

[LarryOz]

Yesterday I do some LSDonZ (Long Slow Riding on Zwift) and also worked a little on seat cushion reduction and head-rest lowering.
1 set for 3 hours - IF 0.58 for 99 TSS points. HR avr 126 - max 141
1 set for 3 hours - IF 0.47 for 66 TSS poitns. HR avg 120 - max 143
That's 6 hours in the seat ofr 165 TSS points. HR avg 123 - max 143
Compare that to Monday's 2-hour workout at 0.92 IF for 168 TSS points. - HR avg-156 - max 182
..
I'll have to say that I felt a whole lot tireder after the 6 hours yesterday than I did after the 2 hours on Monday even though the TSS was basically equal.
I know it's not all about TSS, so Ratz can you explain to us why the LSD riding is so important over the super high intensity/short rides?
Because if given the choice, I would ride the hard 2-hour workout everyday instead of the 6-hour workout (bonus of having 4 extra hours of working on the V too!)

 

[RojoRacing]

Yesterday I do some LSDonZ (Long Slow Riding on Zwift) and also worked a little on seat cushion reduction and head-rest lowering.
1 set for 3 hours - IF 0.58 for 99 TSS points. HR avr 126 - max 141
1 set for 3 hours - IF 0.47 for 66 TSS poitns. HR avg 120 - max 143
That's 6 hours in the seat ofr 165 TSS points. HR avg 123 - max 143
Compare that to Monday's 2-hour workout at 0.92 IF for 168 TSS points. - HR avg-156 - max 182
..
I'll have to say that I felt a whole lot tireder after the 6 hours yesterday than I did after the 2 hours on Monday even though the TSS was basically equal.
I know it's not all about TSS, so Ratz can you explain to us why the LSD riding is so important over the super high intensity/short rides?
Because if given the choice, I would ride the hard 2-hour workout everyday instead of the 6-hour workout (bonus of having 4 extra hours of working on the V too!)

I also did a LSD ride yesterday in zwift but with the help of auto hotkeys and something entertaining to watch I managed to rack up 28,000 feet of climbing :lol

 

[RojoRacing]

Raised my 4 year Max HR from 189 to 193 in today's Zwift race and get this, my avg was 186 for 40 mins. I thought after last nights ride I would have been too exhausted to race well much less uncover new potential.

It's occurrences this that make me question absolute necessity some people place on sticking to a training schedule. That's not me knocking you guys who are following a schedule. Just again stating its not the only way out there and different methods for different people.

Have a excellent New Years and let's make 2017 great again

 

[ratz]

It's occurrences this that make me question absolute necessity some people place on sticking to a training schedule. That's not me knocking you guys who are following a schedule. Just again stating its not the only way out there and different methods for different people

Well there is one absolute ; a "Training Schedule" will work for 100% of the people IF they follow it ; but it's not about the schedule it's about workouts that push people into the place they aren't comfortable going. The best athletes are terrible at following a plan, they have enough nature skill that they get away with mistakes so they never learn to stop doing that. Many refuse to stop until they get sick or injured. Meanwhile the mortals only succeed on plan; but have limited upsides and might never reach the podium; genetics is the trump card. I have never yet meant a great athlete who just did the plan; that's why they hire coaches to yell at them. They are human. But if someone rides the prescribed workouts they will get stronger. If we put you on a tailored targeted plan you would be stronger; you just might not enjoy it and I'd wager you'd hate it. if you don't enjoy it; then you cheat; then you fail. So while it will physically work for everyone not everyone can mentally do it, you have to be wired to tolerate the repetitive boredom.

Now flip that on it's head and we get your p.o.v. You ride on the nut at the edge of pain all the time; 99% of the people can't do that and won't on a free riding plan; they just don't want to suffer that hard; they give up. Either racing make you feel the eye of the tiger or it doesn't.

Bike computers these days have auto routing functions to "minimize elevations change" they don't have functions that say "seek out painful climbs" for a reason. So for you the reverse is true. So I agree with you. in a sense; but what you are doing is subjecting yourself to structured repeated pain that stretches your boundaries; you just don't see it as structured. What is true is if I say sit on your butt for 14 days do nothing and then go ride; you will be substantially weaker; frequency matters; and overreaching and resting is what creates the fitness.

Hill climbing by mileage looks like riding


Hill climbing by time looks like sustained output training (same hill)


Sometime there are intervals hiding in those hill repeats.


Huge time commitment never hurts any thing over 15 hours a week is dedication.


Seeking out hills doesn't hurt either.



But I'm sure you'd never try to be structured; but I'd say you just can't help yourself.
All abuse and picking on intended out of respect for the the efforts you put in; and no way I'm letting you down play the that effort

Ride On; oh and lock up that tron bike; I'm going to steal it. you can keep the hat.

 

[RojoRacing]

I key for me is to "train" without ever going into it with the mindset to "train". I may lack a schedule but that doesn't mean my random choices don't follow a natural path of exertion and recovery.

What I love about racing efforts vs a structured training session interval effort is the trainer session has a ceiling your aiming for but a race is open ended. If your of a competitive mind you may find you can jump higher than you thought possible a week earlier. But your right in the fact that a most people can't jump without a ceiling to aim for.

My whole racing career has been based on aiming beyond my reach and failing at almost every turn. It keeps me hungry for more I guess.

 

[ratz]

I key for me is to "train" without ever going into it with the mindset to "train". I may lack a schedule but that doesn't mean my random choices don't follow a natural path of exertion and recovery.

What I love about racing efforts vs a structured training session interval effort is the trainer session has a ceiling your aiming for but a race is open ended. If your of a competitive mind you may find you can jump higher than you thought possible a week earlier. But your right in the fact that a most people can't jump without a ceiling to aim for.

My whole racing career has been based on aiming beyond my reach and failing at almost every turn. It keeps me hungry for more I guess.

Bottle that; you be rich.