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Race The Training Thread

Five days off the bike due to being busy with work. I was hoping to do a double session since the last two sessions in my current workout program were very short, but Zwift blocks you. So I rode around a bit and ended up setting a new maximum power record: 1,700 watts!

I still need to get a power meter to verify the numbers, since my smart trainer number's are known to be a bit iffy during maximal sprints. I'm curious how high I can get them!

I started a new zwift training plan this week, "build me up". The first two workouts have been quite challenging. 2 x 20 mins at 290W today.

Inbetween waiting for zwift to free up the next workout, I've been hitting the gym.

3 sessions so far. Focusing on volume.

200 leg presses, 100 leg extensions and 100 leg curls tonight = feeling the burn!

Andy
 
I started a new zwift training plan this week, "build me up". The first two workouts have been quite challenging. 2 x 20 mins at 290W today.

Inbetween waiting for zwift to free up the next workout, I've been hitting the gym.

3 sessions so far. Focusing on volume.

200 leg presses, 100 leg extensions and 100 leg curls tonight = feeling the burn!

Andy

I did that one! It had a lot of sweet spot training, I think. I will probably do the TT one next.

200?!
 
I did that one! It had a lot of sweet spot training, I think. I will probably do the TT one next.

200?!

Yeah, lots of sweetspot! Just doing 30 mins sweetspot as I type this!

200 is 5 sets of 40.

☆no.3 thursday nov 29

bench press 20kg x 15 x 3
barbell row 20kg x 15 x 3
leg press 86kg x 40 x 5
leg extension 59kg x 20 x 5
back extension 30 x 3
sit ups L2 x 50 x 3
leg curl 54kg x 20 x 5
leg massage x 10 mins

Gradually increasing the load and reducing the sets and reps.

Andy
 
My weekly training blog below.

A real mixed bag as winter approaches.

Hopefully variety is the spice of good training this winter...

Andy

 
I should probably start swimming and running again, at least when I have saddle sores and need to take off.

Yesterday my heart rate was something like 45 beats faster in Z1 and 12+ beats faster in Z4 than normal. Maybe due to ketosis?...
 
I should probably start swimming and running again, at least when I have saddle sores and need to take off.

Yesterday my heart rate was something like 45 beats faster in Z1 and 12+ beats faster in Z4 than normal. Maybe due to ketosis?...

The keto diet, that's a high fat, pretty high protein, low carbohydrate diet right?

What kind of meals do you eat on a daily basis? Is the fat mostly meat derived?

As a vegetarian, I'm probably opposite to that, ie. high carbohydrate, medium protein (if I actively seek it) and relatively low fat.

As I focus on weights this winter, I'm consciously upping my protein, but I wonder if I could tweak my diet, ie. less carbs / more fat, to stimulate my body to burn more fat and avoid the usual (once I thought inevitable) winter weight gain...

Andy
 
You're actually supposed to aim at normal protein, since too much can knock you out of ketosis.

I would definitely recommend it for losing weight, but I seem to put out much more power when carbed up. So maybe stick to endurance and SST.

I probably eat too much meat in general, but a good bit of my calories come from canned fish, eggs, cheese, nuts (mostly almonds), and Greek yogurt (homemade). Occasionally avocado. Tofu, too, although that's more protein than fat.

I do make a point to eat things like salad, broccoli, avocado, and greens, usually spinach for the electrolytes. Often cooked in butter and olive oil, as is the meat.

During the week I also try intermittent fasting, which in my case basically just means skip breakfast. I am probably not strict enough about eating/drinking at night for the full benefits, though.

I haven't done what you could call strict keto in quite a while, and I wasn't really even when I was (too much booze). Although I think if I ate as many carbs as I used to, I'd probably rebound. Of course, it's possible that simply weighing everything is what really helped, but I didn't start doing that until I had already lost a good 15 or 20 pounds, if memory serves.

Had I not got a girlfriend I'd probably have already hit my target weight. Hahaha.
 
Just did the second workout in the TT Tuneup! I like how they're just under an hour, but have short warmups and cooldowns, so you can get in a lot of high quality training in a reasonably short amount of time.

I also like how they're hard, but not too painful.
 
Just did the second workout in the TT Tuneup! I like how they're just under an hour, but have short warmups and cooldowns, so you can get in a lot of high quality training in a reasonably short amount of time.

I also like how they're hard, but not too painful.

I did the first eight or so of those but as I got into a few weeks of racing, I skipped several of them, so I cancelled the plan and started the "build me up" plan.

The workouts are a bit slow in unlocking this week. A 30 min "benchmarking" yesterday and a 30 minute "pedal efficiency today".

I topped those up with swimming and the gym yesterday.

Today I topped up with a "TT tune up" workout and another 30 mins of sweetspot this evening.

Next workout won't unlock till Thursday. So I'll do another "TT tune up" and gym session tomorrow.

Rode with a friend in the UK tonight (early afternoon his time) which livened things up...

Andy
 
AFAIK you can adjust the length/intensity of each plan. Build Me Up, I think, is a beginner plan, wheras TT Tuneup is for advanced people. That probably explains why I have so many more workouts available right now, which I like.

You can also make workouts harder by increasing the percentage of FTP of each interval with your arrow keys. You can also skip intervals in some cases.
 
AFAIK you can adjust the length/intensity of each plan. Build Me Up, I think, is a beginner plan, wheras TT Tuneup is for advanced people. That probably explains why I have so many more workouts available right now, which I like.

You can also make workouts harder by increasing the percentage of FTP of each interval with your arrow keys. You can also skip intervals in some cases.

Do you know if / how you can adjust the duration of the training plan once you have started it? Sorry to ask so many questions!

I think the intensity, a lot of sweetspo in this plan, is good for this time of the year. So the FTP percentage seems pretty good at this stage.

I skip the odd interval, mainly rest intervals, if they come after a warm up for example.

Cheers for the help.

Andy
 
You probably have to start the plan over. Maybe take a look at the PC version of Zwift? Just for the purposes of managing workout plans.

You might want to try designing your own workouts, too! There's a simple workout editor in the program.
 
You probably have to start the plan over. Maybe take a look at the PC version of Zwift? Just for the purposes of managing workout plans.

You might want to try designing your own workouts, too! There's a simple workout editor in the program.

Cheers, I'll check the PC version, and fire a question off to zwift if I can't do it there.

My own workouts? That sounds cool. There are a few workouts I could put up. Also, it would be good for race simulation purposes.

Thanks again!

Andy
 
Edit: I decided to restart the plan and set it to the shortest time frame.

Ride On!

Andy
 
I am slightly annoyed because I just hit 1800 watts (ok, 1798) at the end of my workout today and now Zwift's companion app is saying I hit 1250 while Strava is saying I hit 1500 or so. Which means I don't have bragging rights. Time to file a complaint...
 
Just missed you in zwift by about two minutes. Hehe.

On another note, damn my quads are big now.
 
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I'm very jealous of the snowshoeing!

For me, as cross training goes, it's almost as fun as riding the bike and is a great workout to boot.

These days, lots of ski resorts rent them out, so if you get into the mountains for skiing this winter...

Andy
 
Just missed you in zwift by about two minutes. Hehe.

On another note, damn my quads are big now.

Around 5? I just did 20 minutes of sweetspot before taking the kids to football. That's the beauty of having a bike locked on to the trainer - you can just jump on anytime.

I got back on again after the kids fell asleep tonight. But unfortunately the iphone battery had died. So no zwift.

So I unhooked the bike and set up the rollers.

I'm loving zwift, but there's something great about the speed of rollers, listening to music, working through the gears, and building it up slowly. Like an orchestra in full swing!

Good news about the thighs! I'm hitting the gym regularly, but I'm more concious of my belly getting bigger as anything!

Andy
 
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