Exercising for 1 hour 25 minutes? Oof. Full on.
Particularly a day after doing my first FTP test that was itself the most full on workout I think I’ve ever done. In my entire life.
It seems like the only way I’m going to improve on my FTP – currently 195w – is to go through these dedicated training programs. In other words, I’m not going to get any fitter / better / stronger / faster if I don’t put in some serious effort.
Opting for Innsbruck, I decided to hit the UCI Worlds Short Lap, which is a 23.6km route taking in about 400m or so of climb per lap.
I opted for a climb as I’ve signed up for some Zwift challenge or other that requires about 4km of climb before July 29th. It’s something Tour De France related. Honestly, I didn’t pay that much attention to exactly what that was. I got prompted. I accepted. There we go.
The warm up segment on this ride was easily the longest warm up I’ve ever done.
20 minutes, ramping up from about 70w to ~140w give or take. I still remember when 20 minute rides on Zwift were a big deal to me.
This workout is split into two main parts.
The first is 4 repeated blocks of:
- 2 minutes at 175w
- 6 minutes at 160w
Each of these blocks has a 2 minute at 100w break between.
The second part shows up as 5x 1 minute at 200w blocks, and I didn’t pay enough attention when picking the workout to know what that really entailed.
For the first block I found my cadence was largely over 100rpm. Looking down, I realised I was in the little ring at the front.
As soon as I’d finished the first block and hit the 100w breather, I promptly switched to the big ring. No point spinning like billy-o.
I was a little concerned prior to this ride that the back of my left leg – the calf(?) – was feeling a little tender.
I chose this ride primarily as I expected it to be fairly light / easy going. No red blocks.
And whilst I didn’t truly feel the hills – ERG Mode is nice like that – I did sweat as much as normal. This wasn’t an easy ride by any means. At least, not for me.
By the third and fourth blocks I was really starting to feel it.
It’s truly surprising how fast those 2 minute breathers go by when you’re feeling taxed.
One nice thing was that I hit my weekly 3 hour riding goal with 30 minutes still left on the clock. I’ve not had the best two weeks with my riding due to a ton of mechanical issues (all now seemingly resolved, praise be!), so to hit 3 hours in 3 rides was good.
I’d tried to listen to some podcasts throughout this ride, but every single one I chose ended up annoying me no end.
I then resorted to a bunch of music podcasts, and that didn’t help much either. In the end I switched to a Sasha mix. Easy going, but pleasant listening.
With the first main block out of the way, I was pleasantly surprised :/ to find the second block of repeats was five blocks of:
- 1 minute at 200w
- 3 minutes at 140w
Lovely stuff.
By sheer coincidence, a lot of the arches on this ride hit at good points. So the 200w blocks saw me push through a climb, and a sprint. It always feels bad to have to go low intensity through these sections, today I got lucky.
That said, these won’t be any world beating times. But still. Fun.
By the third and fourth repeats I was ready to be getting off the bike. I really was feeling tired.
However, mentally nothing on this ride came close to how hard the FTP test was in terms of keeping the legs moving. That thought helped me push on a number of times, and likely will keep me “motivated” on future rides for the foreseeable future.
So long was this ride that I came round for a second pass at the KOM, even at my overall slow pace.
By the end of the two major blocks I was good and ready to be off the bike, in the shower, and maybe even treat myself to a beer.
Actually I did treat myself to a beer. And I regretted it. Nasty stuff.
Overall this ride was a good solid workout, but not particularly interesting. I think a group workout might be a good idea.
I’m unsure what lies ahead tomorrow. There’s talk of a family day out, so a long ride might be out of the picture.
I think I’ve only done about 50km or so this week. It’s possible I will miss my 100km riding goal for two weeks in a row. I don’t feel too bad about this, all things considered. But I would certainly hope to smash through it next week.
Should I have pushed on and finished off the 30km? Maybe. If the route had been flat. 900m further up a climb after an hour and a half on the bike, I just couldn’t really bring myself to see it through. No regrets.
I’m still feeling a bit miffed about yesterday. I guess it is what it is. These workouts are the right way forward I guess.
