Ahh, what a treat.
No, not having now finished the Zwift Academy 2022, but rather not having to write two blog posts per day for a change.
Yep, workouts done, it was time to see if a week’s hard medium work had paid any dividends whatsoever.
Going into this one, I was not expecting to see much improvement.
But was that the case on the day?
OK, so let’s set the excuses out early, shall we?
I feel that’s the standard way with Zwift.
Last night I went on my first ‘date night’ with my wife in about 5 years (or is that 6?)… the joys of kids.
The thing is, prior to going out I decided I didn’t want to get drunk. Not simply because I’m a super keen Zwifter and knew I had to do this ride today. No. But more because I hate that feeling of waking up and feeling sick. What a waste of a day.
But I over indulged in the food last night. We had tapas. A first for me. And being a fat pig I ate whatever was left after we’d both shared 6 plates. So I woke up still full, but had two slices of toast and nutella, because that’s the breakfast of champions.
Anyway, I did have a single pint last night. The thing is, I felt it this morning. Not being a drinker, one pint is enough these days. I get all the benefits of a crap nights sleep but narrowly avoid the morning sickness.
Even so, when I woke up the first thing I thought of was… ahh jeez, not that damn Titan’s Grove Reverse KOM again.
Anyway, somehow between having breakfast, a good cup of coffee, and delaying my start time until 11am, by the time I got on the bike I was actually feeling physically decent.
My mental state was still a bit shaky though.
I figured well, I did all the work til now. I’ve done the Base Lin and all 6 workouts this last seven days. If I couldn’t see the final ride through, it would be a poor do.
Also I decided that I’d just have a go.
If I managed to best any of my times, all the better. But I took away that mental pressure from myself, which I think ultimately helped.
Also what helped today was both knowing the route, knowing the work (though bit of anxiety there), and having the on-screen previous PB’s to guide my efforts.
So, armed with that, and 145 other like minded souls, off we went.
Having people to chat with, share PBs, stuff like that. That’s what makes Zwift. I love that community aspect.
But on all three efforts today I went for it, and I couldn’t talk much after that first one. Or the second. And by the third I was glad to be done.
As the only important part of today’s ride was the three segments, I’d love to have easy screenshots of how I did today vs last time.
The problem was on the sprint / second segment my WiFi dropped out and whilst I logged the time just fine, I was not able to use the app to get a screenshot.
However, the sprint was also the only time I lost time on.
I actually don’t think it’s a coincidence the sprint crapped out. I’m getting a lot of data drop issues since moving the USB dongles about, so I hope all that resolves once my ethernet cable arrives and I can move off WiFi.
And so it was the third effort that totally surprised me today.
Somehow I managed to come in ~30 seconds ahead of last time.
Mind blowing.
I genuinely think where I gained today was better pacing at the bottom of the KOM, i.e. not going too hard, too early. Also, having people to chase – even though there was no benefit of a draft. And seeing my time to beat on screen and not wanting to lose that lead I’d created over myself were all big contributing factors.
The other thing today was just wanting the thing over with. I could have quite happily eased off within the second half of the climb, but that would have just made it last longer. Better to keep going as much as it hurt, and just get it over with faster.
Anyway, overall very glad to have ticked off the lot.
I have to say I’ve enjoyed the process, if not having found the workouts to be particularly beneficial. Having a target is always good and in this case that wasn’t just the targets of ZA itself, but on me in getting the whole thing done in a week.
But for now, rest.
