I have hammer chase 1 coming up in my mountain fondo plan. I did the same plan last year but in that ocasion hammer chase was replaced by team scream. Team scream was one of the two workouts that I failed that cycle. For those of you who have done both, which one is harder? Just looking at the power profiles it looks like hammer chase is more on/off than team scream. I am even tempted of switching hammer chase with team scream to see if I can go through all the way this cycle
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They are almost literally identical - down to the minute and TSS/IF. I doubt you could find two rides more interchangeable than HC1 and TS. So put it down to aesthetics - you get a little more dialogue with the DS in TS, with the Sufferfest storyline and music (actually can’t remember if there’s a soundtrack for TS…time to go again, maybe?). But then the ProRides have their own “magic” going.
So FWIW, if you wanted to take a shot at besting TS, by all means swap them out this go-around!
#betteryouthanme
#morethanme
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I ended up doing Team Scream and crushed it! A few things I did differently this time:
-Nutrition: I do my workouts first thing in the morning. Most of the time fasting. I had a banana and half a bagel today before the workout.
-Warm up: 20-min z1 to z2 ride before starting the workout
-Cadence: the target cadence is 90 rpm throughout. I kept the cadence for the pulls but dropped it to 80-85 for the sub-threshold parts, increasing it as the power target increased towards the pulls.
-Drink: It’s hard for me to drink even at the 80% of FTP segments. However, I tried my best to keep drinking.
-Breathe: made a conscious effort to breathe deeply after the pulls and always be in control of my breathing
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EXC! Glad to hear you dialed it in. Still one of my favorite ways to suffer, TS.
Yup, same for me on my weekend rides - have had to do better on the pre-ride fueling.
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I wouldn’t do any workout/ride fasted apart from a Zone 1 or 2 and even then keeping it under 90 mins.
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But unless I want to get up 2 hours earlier to give something time to digest eating beforehand is pointless because its going to end up coming out the way it went in. I’ve found I’m perfectly fine to do hard interval workouts upto an hour or so in a fasted state but go heavy on the carbs during the workout, 2x550ml bottles 40g of sugar per bottle, drinking every 10minutes. from the start of the workout. This way I can literally roll out of bed and be on the trainer almost immediately. I don’t even bother with a caffeinated drink anymore because a large mug of tea make me feel uncomfortably hot.
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Yeah same. I carb up out of the gates and keep a steady flow throughout and have similarly been able to manage longer (2-3 hour) Z2/3 rides or harder hour efforts.
Generally my in-week training rides are in the afternoon, though, with only weekend efforts being oh-dark-thirty, but all of that could change shortly with retirement looming.
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ooh… Congratulations!
To get back on topic, coffee and toast with jam or cinnamon sugar for an early workout. I also always have two bottles at the ready, one with carbs, one with just electrolytes plus a spare water only bottle if it’s a long one, just in case. I also just keep some gels, stroopwaffels and Clif bars on hand, but generally they’re there to make me feel better. The food is usually never used but occasionally I’ll grab a gel.
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To my understanding, the insulin response is switched off during exercise. So if you eat while riding, the glucose stays in the blood stream, and is available for immediate use.
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@ozmadman I ride in the morning and do all of my workouts fasted and never have issues. If I go over 1 hour I usually drink something like Scratch hydration mix or maybe have a bar 45 minutes into the workout. I believe there is a podcast or article in the blog on this subject which I will try to find.
@alopezor Warmups are key for these sorts of efforts. I did the ProRide Giro TT twice last week (had an issue with the workout saving on the 1st one) and went with a 25 minute warmup for both workouts and it really helped. Ignitor is also a really good session prior to more intense workouts.
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This doesn’t change what happens if you have insulin resistance. You have to train your body to accept it again. I’m working on that. I don’t bonk, but more like fizzle out. This happened on my last Mount Lemmon ride.
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I decided to do Hammer Chase today to see how it compares to TS. For me the IF of HC is 0.86 and 0.88 for TS. I don’t know if I was having a bad day or I’m about to get sick or something but HC felt much worse than TS. I completed the workout at 100% but barely made it. I remember screaming during the last 5 seconds of a pull because I wanted it to end so badly. I was lucky I didn’t wake up my kids. My heart rate was on average 10 bpm higher during HC than during TS. I found that the pulls were much harder (>400 W in HC compared to ~380 for TS) and the fact that at the end of the pull you don’t go to 50% FTP but rather to 70%. The latching at the back is done above FTP while it is at FTP in TS. Staying in line has a lower power targeT in TS and the freewheeling periods may contribute to the lower IF but I feel that the brutality of the pulls and the latching back make HC much much harder than TS
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@alopezor Personally I think Hammer Chase is one of the toughest workouts in the library. I really need to be on my A game to finish it strong. The fact that you finished is awesome.- now make sure you get your recovery.
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