Each week Zwift sends me an email summarising my activity for the week. For previous weekly reviews click here.
This week consisted of fives days of riding, and was, I believe, the highest Training Stress Score (532 TSS), and highest distance (187km) I have done in a single week.
Given that it was the week of New Years Eve / Day, I was at home so able to get in some more riding than usual. This was useful in so much as I’ve definitely over indulged (primarily in chocolate) over the Christmas break. Having skipped last Sunday’s climb, I resolved to hit the hill on Monday instead, tackling Tacx Software’s Col de Romme video climb. This turned out to be my last ride, for the short term, on Tacx Software. I’ve really enjoyed these video rides, and exploring the large variety of routes. A full review of Tacx Software will follow once I have more time.
I set out to climb the Col de Romme with the intention of a solid workout, rather than setting any new records or pushing myself to new limits. This would be a factor in the rest of the rides for the week, too.
Since completing my second FTP test I’ve felt equal parts tired and lacking in motivation to push myself harder. I thought this might just be a Christmas week thing, but the feeling hasn’t subsided. Yet.
I took a rest day after the climb, given that Tuesday was New Years Eve anyway, I felt that was a sensible pacing to the week.
Wednesday, New Years Day, resumed the week’s riding with the first of the week’s Fondo rides. Taking part in Zwift’s New Years Day Bambino Fondo was both a decent workout and a enjoyable group ride. The route itself – 4 laps of Watopia Flat – was a little uninspired, however.
As both of these rides were in 2019 they did not count towards the new challenge I’ve undertaken, which is to complete Zwift’s 10,000 calories in January challenge.
Riding continued on Thursday with an hours FTP Builder session. This wasn’t quite the typical blue zone active recovery I would typically go for, but was a slight variation on this theme just to keep things interesting. It wasn’t overly exerting, and was just about the limit of what I was in the mood for.
Friday was the second rest day of the week, followed by Emily’s Short Mix on Saturday. This was partially undertaken as I had very little time on Saturday due to some real world commitments resuming now that the new year is upon us. And also partially because given the new FTP, I didn’t want to jump right into a Sweet Spot Training / harder session without first trying a shorter session at the new intensity.
I feel the strategy of taking a shorter ride to test the new intensity was a good idea. As usual with Emily’s Short Mix I found the workout solid enough, but a little too short to feel like I’d done a proper session. At this point if I don’t get an hour on the bike, I don’t feel like I’ve done enough. But it was useful in terms of understanding the new levels, and being somewhat reassured that they are sustainable.
With the Friday rest day, and a shorter ride on Saturday, it felt like Sunday would be all set for a stronger performance. I had intended for Sunday to be the final ride on Tacs Software before my trial period expired. However, the trial expiration email was delivered on Saturday, so that put paid to any plans I did have.
What this did do, however, was free me up to ride on Zwift on Sunday. This means I should be able to complete the Zwift 10,000 calorie challenge. I had expected to do 10k calories in January, but as 4 of the rides would be harder climbs (where most of the calories would be burned) on different software, this put the Zwift goal in the “highly unlikely to be achieved” category.
Looking at what was available on Sunday, I had a choice between either the race up the Alpe du Zwift, or the Zwift Fondo series. I opted for the Bambino Fondo, my second of the week. This one was a touch longer at 52km with 580m of climb.
I really enjoyed the Sunday Fondo as the route covered several parts of Watopia, including the Jungle Circuit, something I haven’t done since the new patch. This ride had several bugs, however, which detracted from the overall experience. Even so, at over 1100 calories burned, it was a solid workout even if my performance was not so great.
For the week ahead I’m not expecting to cover quite as many kilometers! What I am planning on doing is aiming for 5 rides with an average of 500 calories, or greater, per ride. This should be achievable, as even an hour’s FTP Builder / active recovery covers 500 calories from previous experience. If I can get in my 5 rides a week at those averages, I should be well on track to hit the 10k calorie challenge goal.
Starting next weekend we have the Tour de Zwift 2020 so that should be another fairly intense Sunday ride in the books. That said, the Tour of Watopia rides were typically 30km, so maybe I will need to add to these rides with a bit of an initial warm up. No harm there.
I’ve been setting some goals for myself for the forthcoming year ahead. There’s the FTP of 220w or greater, complete a metric century, and taking on the Manchester to Blackpool ride. Other goals may come up over the course of the year, but for now, these are what I have.
There are also some new additions to RGT Cycling that I’d like to check out, and of course, get my subscription resumed to Tacx Software. Both of these are likely going to push in to February.
I also need to get a better chart / graph solution for my metrics over time. As I’ve said a few times now, the average watts chart above is no longer meeting my needs. But it’s the best I have for the moment.
Lastly, I also need to update some of the stats and figures on this site. There are the climbing difficulty tables that need to add in the new Zwift climbs. Also my own stats are now quite out of date. I forgot how to update these, so haven’t done so in a very long while.
OK, enough ramble from me. Happy as heck with the previous week’s riding. If anything I think I need to be a little less harsh on myself for not performing at my very best each ride. Maybe a prolonged few days rest would be a good idea.