Our presence here confirms we ALL are!
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I just completed Defender this morning, off fresh Half Monty numbers from yesterday (MAP +6% 
, FTP +1W 
- my HR was a bit off yesterday, and I did not properly recover after the ramp test before the constrained effort). Ironically, the last time I did Defender was 1 year ago, right after a Half Monty adjustment during the 12 week all purpose road plan.
Last year, Defender destroyed me, and I had to dial down the power for the last two intervals. Today, I was able to complete all 4 intervals in ERG mode at the prescribed cadence, and my HR was in a good range for all intervals.
It’s my best Defender ever, and the first time I complete it with confidence, as I was able to complete each of 2 minute MAP segments in good shape.
A recent surgery in November to remove two malfunctioning parathyroid glands, which were causing severe hypercalcemia (this hard on the heart, and can cause very high heart rates when exercising) seems to have give me a super boost in my SYSTM workouts, after a steady declined over the past three years (declined certainly due to the previously undiagnosed hypercalcemia). I’m sooooooo motivated now to work on my 4DP VO2 weakness! 
I’ve managed to complete Nine Hammers, AVDP and others in the past few weeks…. I wonder if my next FF will change my weakness and rider type.
Rob
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Nice!!
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If I can manage to get some recovery in, I promise myself to do Defender at my first opportunity. 
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My workout for today (and tomorrow). I call it “A Different Shovel” 
We’ve been out twice and a couple more to go!
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A “different shovel,” lol so funny 
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That’s a shovel I live in the Desert Southwest of the U.S. to avoid!
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After this storm, the southwest seems like a better option. 
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Unfortunately, every part of the world has its weather challenges.
Maui, Hawaii had a Kona storm where on parts of the island people lost electricity for days, roads become impassable (isolating people in their houses), and had boil water advisories for weeks.
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That’s not the recommended type of Suffering! Glad you survived the storm and are prepared for the next one.
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We have our fun. We get hit by Pacific cyclones and high winds. Was over 30 on Friday and close to it on Saturday.
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One advantage of a Tacx Neo over a Kickr Bike is that it can run on your power. It does not need to be plugged in.
Have to say my memory of Defender was off, wasn’t so evil, well, except for that third stage of chewing stem big time. I threw in an Attacker to add to the pain…Nine Hammers on tap today. 
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Defender was my favorite dumb trainer workout, so I guess I know what I’ll be doing this week.
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The third interval is what slays me. 100 rpm the whole 10 minutes is pure evil.
Does it make me a bad person if I tend to ignore the cadence targets and just focus on delivering the power? 100rpm at/near near threshold for 10-minutes would destroy me!
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Something to work towards, then?
Try lasting 2 minutes, then 4, then 6, etc.
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Normally, I would agree with you about cadence targets, but in this case there is a reason for the higher cadence. It would be something to work towards. Some of the cadence drills might help.
In the end, it depends on what your fitness goals are. Personally, I try to hit those targets (I do not always succeed) where they are important. Neuromuscular fitness is important for your muscle recruitment.
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I had my first go at this on Wednesday, thought about bailing after the 3rd set. If the last one had been high RPM i probably would have!
I did Defender on Tuesday. Set one was around 92rpm. Set two was around 87rpm. Set three was around 97rpm. Set 4 was around 85rpm. I didn’t stick exactly to the cadence, but did try to do higher rpm on the third set. Due to fatigue I just couldn’t get my legs moving at 100rpm for the initial 2-4 minutes of the third set. But as the power dropped I was able to increase my cadence, so I was actually at 100rpm by the end of the 3rd set.
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