In what was probably a Bad Idea™, this morning’s session was my first attempt at Sweet Spot Training at my (fairly) recently improved FTP (206w).
The one difference between this and previous SST sessions would be that for this ride I opted for the Medium length session, whereas typically I would go for the short session.
Why?
Well, I had time to kill, and as I haven’t done a structured workout for a while, I figured… why the heck not? I’ve probably been over eating as of late – not unhealthy, but simply too large a-portion, yes. I figured a good hour and a half of the bike (give or take) would be a spiffy way to burn down my fat reserves.
If I’m being honest, I had kinda built this up in my head to be a bit worse than it turned out to be. Well, sort of.
For whatever reason, I envisaged a bump in FTP would result in a much harder session. Now I don’t know if it’s just a comparative thing, but this session felt easier than most of my recent rides.
Probably the hardest things about the first 30 minutes were:
- Accidentally thinking I’d done 30 minutes when it had only been 20 minutes (sad trombone)
- Having to really focus on holding ~95rpm
On the second point, keeping a steady, high cadence was much more challenging than I had anticipated. I think it’s because all recent rides have been outside ERG mode, so spinning at a consistent cadence is really hard work.
The differences between the medium length SST session, and the short SST session are:
- 3 “on” intervals, instead of 4 on intervals
- No workout overlay text
I think I would have been more consistent had I needed to keep on spinning for 4 repeated intervals, rather than taking a short break between as I had too today.
Heading into the second set of intervals I was feeling fairly decent. The workout itself wasn’t boring, as some of them can be, and the thought of another 30 minutes of work wasn’t filling me with dread. Always a bonus.
Now, I considered upping the intensity of the second block, as I wasn’t finding holding 195w that challenging after the first block. But I held back, as my cockiness has caught me out on many an occasion in the past.
Coming into the third and final “on” block I was glad I’d opted to remain at the specified intensity.
There were three issues I was facing:
- Finding it harder and harder to keep up a cadence above 90rpm – it really felt like a grind in the last two blocks;
- My left leg had an ache in it – right at the top, I have no idea of the medical terminology but it was as though I urgently needed to “crack” my leg at the hip;
- I am supposed to be racing tomorrow.
On this last point I have to say, I think that this longer session was probably the aforementioned Bad Idea.
After this one I’m feeling tired. Not so much overall physically, but my legs, in particular my thighs feel worked. I’m wondering how recovered they will be by ~5pm tomorrow.
As best I understand it, the Tour de Zwift Stage 6 race is a single lap of Richmond – both flats and hills. That’s about 30 minutes of hard, hard work. Have I killed my chances before I’ve even set off?
Well, of course, I was never in contention to win the race. I know this, and so do you. But even so, it may be worth delaying the race until Wednesday afternoon and giving myself an hour or so of light recovery riding tomorrow instead.
Whatever happens tomorrow, it always feels good to kick start the week with a solid session. Already having taken just shy of 50% of both my weekly riding goals I’m happy enough with the ride that I’ll forgive myself if the race turns out to be a total fail.
Heck, it can’t be any worse than the group ride, can it?
