Week two of training was quite typical for a training week – the body got quite accustomed to the fact that it will have to suffer in the evenings a bit. The legs were not sore nearly at all anymore and the eyes were ready to stare at the screen for additional hours in the evening.
Because of my work schedule I’ve got two options of training on the bike – it is either early in the morning or late in the evening. Or both. The first option is not preferred not because I cannot get out of bet in the morning, but rather because of the noise the trainer makes. I do not want to wake everyone in 10 meter vicinity from me, regardless of walls or other obstructions, at 5 A.M.. And the weather on the outside in January in AUstrian mountains is also not cyclists best friend. This leaves me with late evenings sessions on the bike. Sometimes really late, but nothing to complain about, as long as your neightbour will not knock on the wall at midnight.
The sessions planned for this week were:
- easy foundation session
- strenght training with short 160% FTP intervals
- another foundation session
- longer tempo training session with harder intervals at the end
They all have went pretty well. No need to complain about the duration or the training load. For the foundation sessions I did actually increase the dificulty to 110%, to work a bit harder on the base strength. After the full 6 week plan will end I will have to finally force myself to make a proper FTP test to adjust the training plan to actual power output. In short intervals I do not see problems in generating large amounts of power, but keeping the power and cadence high for prelonged periods of time is still proves to be a challenge.
The last session was pretty difficult, as the legs were already a bit tired after the initial 86 and 89% FTP intervals. But that was pretty fun to get into them, as it gave new sensations to the ride finally. I can’t wait for the new week to come to try the harder sessions in practice.
The worst parts of the training are actually not the trainings themselves, but the technical difficulties. Which cause mental ones…
I encounter quire frequent speed meter communication drops with the computer, hence I stop getting the power readings. 99% of the time it does not happen when you are on your recovery interval, casually resting before the next push. It’s nearly always when you are just about to start a hard 10 second sprint, when you are on a 22% uphill in a big crowd or when you try to keep up after someone and close the gap between you. Always!
This is how you loose precious stars in ZWIFT trainings. And no stars mean less experience and slower gaining levels. This is a gamified training experience after all, so not getting what you actually earn makes you mad a bit.
Therefore I’m waiting now with much impatience for the arrival of my new ANT+ sensor, as the cable to put it close to the speed sensor is already here, and will report back on any advancements of signal strength.
Cover photo courtesy of Christian Fregnan on Unsplash
Caesar's Cycling 