Having spent the morning out at an interview, I missed all the interesting races / activities for the day by the time I got back.
On the way back, however, I decided I’d just continue on with the FTP Builder workouts. This would give me about an hour on the bike, hopefully killing the time waiting for interview feedback.
Opting for the next session in Zwift’s 10-12 Week FTP Builder training program, today I found myself riding 5 repeats of 125w for 8 minutes, with a 1 minute gap between at 100w.
Being completely honest, when I saw my schedule for today I figured it would be a walk cycle in the park. Quite literally as well, as it’s NYC map day on Zwift.
And yes, I didn’t find this one overly taxing.
That’s not to say I didn’t break a sweat, however.
These lower wattage rides mean much higher average cadences. My average cadence for this ride, according to Strava, was 98rpm, and at one point I saw my heart rate get above 150bpm. Kinda nuts.
I found, again, that the Wahoo Tickr dropped out numerous times on this ride. It’s not end of the world, by any means, but it is frustrating as I have no idea what’s causing it. Perhaps the battery needs replacing?
I’m honestly unsure how long the battery might last. And I have no idea how to check the remaining life in the battery either. Fun times.
Whilst the New York circuit is always popular, I found this particular workout to be somewhat tedious.
I do like these workouts where we focus on one zone throughout. I feel like these benefit me. But 8 minutes at 125w… I was bored. I switched to watching YouTube videos for most of this ride, and kept the Zwift companion app open along side so I could keep an eye on my progress.
One saving grace on this workout was the 5 minute cooldown. None of that 15 minute carry on like yesterday.
Still, I question the overall benefit of this workout. I’m guessing things get marginally harder each week, and with ~5 weeks left on the schedule (the first two weeks are for unfit riders, so I skipped them) there is still yet time for things to get harder.
I’m genuinely curious as to why Zwift is thinking I’m setting new PR’s on the sprint, or the Central Park loop. I noticed this yesterday on Fuego Flats.
Zwift drops my results after 30 days. I know this. But I didn’t think it would drop my personal bests as well. That is garbage.
One thing to note from the graph above: the most heart rate drop outs came when I completely alt+tabbed out of Zwift to watch YouTube in full screen.
Frankly the tech is feeling a bit lack lustre.
38 TSS. 119w average.
Move aside Egan Bernal.
