You’re THE living legend, Sir, for riding 30+ times of Defender earlier this year!
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Today Defender came up in my plan again and this time I didn’t let it beat me. Completed at 100% and a third sign in 2 days of the progress I’m making over the course of my first programme.
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I know Defender is a divisive workout, but maybe having not read the description in a while or perhaps never reading it all the way to the end, this on-screen narration during my most recent attempt almost made me do a spit take.
Of all the Sufferfest workouts I’ve done, Defender is the only one I have never completed successfully, even when dialing down the percentages a bit. And that’s not even counting the laughable 100rpms throughout the entire third interval, which I’ve never had anywhere close to enough gas in the tank by that point to even attempt (closest I get is around 95rpm for the first two minutes over threshold, then 85-90 for the remaining eight minutes under threshold).
I have never experienced anything remotely similar to this repeated failure rate with any other Sufferfest workouts, and the closest I’ve ever come to completing it was this weekend, when I still needed to drop out for one minute of recovery in the fourth interval.
I guess you just need a very specific rider type or strengths to complete this successfully? Very curious what the internal Wahoo metrics show as to how often this is completed successfully or how commonly it’s dialed down to what percentages compared to other Sufferfest workouts.
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Every time I do Defender, I go to this thread to read people’s experience with it. It’s such an evil masterpiece.
That’s an interesting take - I’m a ‘time trialist’ with a ‘sustained weakness’ and it took me a good few times to get this workout right. The mental aspect should not be underestimated though. I now prep myself mentally from the day before: “It’s going to be hard and I can do it”. That sort of thing.
I’ve also figured that, once I make it through the first two minutes of the interval, I’m in the clear for the rest of it. Just ride it out. It’s pretty bizarre when you see the target just under FTP and you consider that a relief…
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That’s pretty much always been my take on it, too. I just have to make it thru the initial two minutes. If I can get past them then I can hold on to the next 2 minutes. Then I know the remaining 6 minutes will keep getting easier.
It can still be quite a struggle, but the mental component for this workout is hugely important.
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Barf mode, ON!
First 2 minutes: 
Next 2: 
Next 2: 
Next 2: 
Final 2: 
…and…repeat FOUR SUFffing times! FOUR!!! Not three. FOUR!!!
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Technically I guess it’s repeat 3 times after the first has already been done but whatevs. You get the point. 
Rated 4 Barfies
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At least the minions got the count right this time.
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