4.0 by 40

[weeksy]

I'm not sure working that hard when clearly poorly is a great plan for anything other than increasing fatigue... but you know your body and results better than anyone else. Commitment is clearly off the scale though, top stuff.

[Crosshair]

I’m keeping an eye on other symptoms. My resting heart rate is up a little but otherwise, exercising doesn’t cause me any ill effects. I doubt it gives the same result but it feels like being at altitude- everything works, there’s just a cap on performance/oxygen.

[Crosshair]

1h25 last night. Tried to do some Vo2 max intervals on fresh legs to see whether I was ruined on Tuesday because of the long ride to the chaingang or the hayfever and heat.
It’s definitely the hayfever.
I was intending to do 4x4 min intervals. After managing my 4 mins at 400w the other week, I now make that my target watts for the first effort. The idea is then you can adjust up or down for the remaining three (likely down) and make that your target for the next one.

Anyhow- I tried the first and only managed 2 minutes at 367w. Which is depressing I kept trying and did 3 more similar ones but that was basically all I could do. Less than 10minutes total work at not much higher than threshold.

Ah well, at least I know now. I think I’ll stick to z2 until conditions improve. Want to aim for 14+ hours this week so will probably try a century over the weekend and maybe a couple of hours this evening.

[weeksy]

https://www.uptonogood.org.uk/


Come do this instead

[Crosshair]

Is it all ruts and nettles?

[weeksy]

Is it all ruts and nettles?

nah, it's mostly Ridgeway... one section may get a bit prickly.... but other than that, it's pretty much golden from what i can tell of the route.

Couple of kickers from lower back to Ridegway, i reckon 5-6 decent climbs before Compton and then back up to Ridgeway on a more gentle one from there. I've only entered as my race is canned due to the lad being poorly.

I'd riding over from mine, it's about 20 mins over. You can park here if you don't fancy all the way from yours.

[Crosshair]

What time are you leaving yours?

[weeksy]

What time are you leaving yours?

I guess 8.15 latest

[Crosshair]

Thought I’d better ride the mtb this evening if I’m going to play tomorrow

Feels so weird. Hoping I get used to it by the start.

[Crosshair]

Chat and chill with Rich this evening. Needed it after yesterday’s effort
Ended up doing 2h which was 20mins too many as I got soaked

14h20 for the week which was a nice 50min increment over last week.

In theory- it’s recovery week this week but the last one was far too damaging for my fitness I think I might use it more like a taper and keep the intensity but just cut some volume. Eg still do the chaingang, just not the 2h to get there.

[weeksy]

Chat and chill with Rich this evening. Needed it after yesterday’s effort
Ended up doing 2h which was 20mins too many as I got soaked

14h20 for the week which was a nice 50min increment over last week.

In theory- it’s recovery week this week but the last one was far too damaging for my fitness I think I might use it more like a taper and keep the intensity but just cut some volume. Eg still do the chaingang, just not the 2h to get there.

YOu did an hour more than me that's for sure.. i did a very gentle hour on Zwift and that's it yesterday.

[Crosshair]

The science on recovery rides isn’t that great I don’t think but I know for sure that I feel better after them than not these days. A walk or anything would have done the same job but a I hadn’t seen Rich this week so it was nice to have a cruise and a chat.

We have noticed though that few of the other ‘club level’ riders from the local scene bother with anything that’s not basically ‘flat out’ as a group for whatever distance they happen to be riding (ie 24mph for a chaingang, 20mph for a 50 or 18-19 for a 75+)
They certainly don’t post any 12mph pootles to Strava

We also notice that they never seem to ‘break through’ the ceiling to a higher level but that doesn’t stop them keeping up on the fast group rides. So I guess there’s lots of ways to get to the same result.


Assuming the heat/hay fever doesn’t ramp back up this week, I may have a crack at my ‘300w for 2h’ goal. I’m half tempted by the British Gravel Championships in Suffolk as it is a pan flat course. But it also basically looked like a full on road race on a mix of sand, gravel and grass basically so anything other than full gas would see me off the back for sure
Alastair Brownlee won last year with lots of hitters in the top 20.
Alex from GCN got 8th I think.

I could do the Sunday Fondo instead but racing the British championship would be a bit more motivating.

[weeksy]

Assuming the heat/hay fever doesn’t ramp back up this week, I may have a crack at my ‘300w for 2h’ goal. I’m half tempted by the British Gravel Championships in Norfolk as it is a pan flat course. But it also basically looked like a full on road race on a mix of sand, gravel and grass basically so anything other than full gas would see me off the back for sure
Alastair Brownlee won last year with lots of hitters in the top 20.
Alex from GCN got 8th I think.

I could do the Sunday Fondo instead but racing the British championship would be a bit more motivating.

Life is about experiences.

[Crosshair]

Driving to King Lynn to get spat out the back in two minute and then solo round for the next 49 lonely miles may not be the best of experiences

[weeksy]

Driving to King Lynn to get spat out the back in two minute and then solo round for the next 49 lonely miles may not be the best of experiences

Yeah but just imagine if you can hold a group.... not the lead group i admit.... but you know a decent one.

[Crosshair]

Recovery week this week but did the chaingang to avoid losing too much fitness. Hayfever was bad after a morning cutting grass and the heat was back up a bit too so my power was awful. It was only a small group (me + 3) so they kindly eased off on the last hill to Baydon. I then just kept the power the same and dropped them all on the descent Which nicely illustrates why I find that stretch so hard- I’m a whole zone higher for the first 30 minutes in order to match their w/kg.

42 miles v 84 last week is such a big difference- it should mean I can recover nicely form it.

Day off tomorrow and then Thursday I may do some sweetspot just to keep ticking over.

[Crosshair]

Interestingly looking on Garmin Connect at some of their stats- I’m in the top 1% for weekly Distance and Duration ridden But only top 23% for power ridden at. Which could be a sign I’m over training or be a good sign that I structure my training properly
Vo2 Max is showing as 50 (down a bit from 55 when Zwifting more). And my fitness age as 20

They’ve also got a wicked plan-builder now that looks as good as Trainerroad and of course it will push workouts direct to my 830 head unit.

I may loosely pencil in the Kings Cup as a goal next week and try and follow the plan for a month.

[Crosshair]

On the same subject and related a bit to the Garmin rankings- the chaingang was a little light today because half a dozen guys did a ‘ton before ten’ summer solstice ride this morning.

It was very similar in terms of loop to my solo century the other week. Just a little bit hillier but basically riding the same roads in the same direction. And they did it at 21mph!! 4h50. Okay so they could work as a group but the guy closest in weight to me (only -10kg ) had to do 260w to get round!
And he doesn’t race. And nor do any of the others. They’re just hobby, club level cyclists- although they are on modern, fast, aero road bikes.

It’s kind of why I don’t feel the mojo for racing anything. If I’m well down the league of ‘slightly above average club riders’, it doesn’t exactly inspire confidence to go and pit your wits against well honed and even fitter racers

Ironically- in the past, I was able to hurt these guys on a chaingang. Not always win the sprint but drop them on the flat in a 30s attack and hang with almost all of them on the hills.
I do wonder if the switch from 7hrs of high intensity back in the day, to 10+ hours of more endurance focus since I started riding after breaking my legs, has switched some of my type 2A muscle fibres towards muscular endurance rather than helping the 2B’s go ballistic at 5-700w. Of course- that was kind of the point for Dirty Reiver.
It will be interesting to see what happens this Autumn and winter now as I transition back to Zwift racing- if I can rebuild some of my old anaerobic engine on top of a much better aerobic base then it would make next year very exciting indeed.

(Although age isn’t exactly on my side these days )

But for now, it seems my inkling that rebuilding fitness was going to be a two year project was correct.

[weeksy]

Age does seem to hurt... i can still match and beat my segments from 10 years ago... but far from all of them and far from all day. That could be an indication i'm less fit and more fat too, but i do think age catches up... Hence why sportsmen are 20-30 not 50-60 lol.

THe mid pack medicority though i don't understand... you were never going to win A races even at your best.. but you still enjoyed the tactics, the battles and the positions.... Nothing wrong with battling lower down the order.

[Crosshair]

I don’t know- I just don’t have the appetite for risk these days. I think trying to improve V the chaingang regulars and then winter zwift racing is going to have to be enough for this year.

Unless the weather changes 🌧 and some power reappears

Although racing pro, elite and cat 1 roadies at the British gravel championships is seeming very pointless until I can hang with the chaingang to the sprint at least.