I have a query on how to account for outdoor riding in a training program. I’m still a relative newbie - joined Sufferfest in late November, did the All-Purpose Road program and ToS.
To prepare for the coming outdoor season, I’ve just started the 6-week Power Builder plan. Compared to All-Purpose Road, this makes more use of no-vid interval workouts (usually just one “narrative” workout per week) and allows for a less structured outdoor group ride on the weekend. I still have about a half metre of snow on my lawn, so outdoor rides are a bit premature. I have instead started to experiment with the virtual rides on Fulgaz for this element of the program.
The plan prescribes a “Mellow” group ride on the weekends, 2 to 4 hours below threshold, around zone 2. Well, I guess I was naughty. I did two great rides that totaled the required duration, but pretty much trashed the below threshold part. Both rides involved some modest climbs and I estimate that about a third of the ride was above threshold.
My question is how scrupulous should I be about trying to adjust for this? If I’m honest, I will probably succumb to the temptation to do this on the subsequent “weekend” rides because, well, it feels so great!
Is there a rule of thumb that would say knock off so much above-threshold effort from the coming week’s structured workout to avoid excessive training if an intended endurance ride turns out to be a more strenuous effort? Or is it sufficient to go with your gut, i.e, RPE, and just dial back intensity if you’re struggling to hit the power and cadence targets (à la the training guidelines)?