Winter Training Schedules

I KNOW, RIGHT?

All fellow badge hunters are welcome to join me on New Years Eve for a KS group ride.

:smirk:

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Where do you find that on SYSTM ?

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Time?

If Iā€™m allowed around family commitments, Iā€™m in!

You have to just get the list from that Tour and plug it in yourself, @ozmadman.

Though as (un)official historian, I would point out that Rubber Glove being no more, as the original FTP test, you guys would have to do FF as stage 1. :smiling_imp::smiling_imp::smiling_imp:

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Oh, and Stages 5 and 7ā€¦

:man_cook:t3::kiss:

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Thanks, what about the up and coming one TOS 2023, where would this be posted in the app cheers

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They usually announce that in Jan/Feb timeframe. Believe me, youā€™ll see it. :wink:

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Stage 5 - easy peasy. Did that in ToS2012. Old news. :face_with_head_bandage: But starting with FF, Stage 7, and then finishing on Violater (which is the workout I find hardest of all) - oh help. Is it too late to pull out now?

And while I love the poster, is it only me thatā€™s disturbed by all the cyclists going DOWN Mt Sufferlandria? Surely that isnā€™t allowed?

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This will give everyone the perfect chance to run through FF as a 100% practice workout, rather than the 4DP test. Iā€™m sure thatā€™ll make it easier, right? :upside_down_face:

In their defense, I think Fluffy chased them down?

image

Iā€™ve been thinking about doing another FF or HM anway, as Iā€™m finding I need to bump things up by 5% or so to make them challenging (Damn ToS 2013!). I think Iā€™ll hold off until early Jan then - not doing two of them! But doing the rest of the ToS on fresh numbersā€¦ daunting! I suspect a bit of moderation may be called for.

In their defense, I think Fluffy chased them down?

Well, you can see why dinosaurs went extinct - chasing them up woudl be much more productive. They slow down as they go up, and by the time you catch them theyā€™re ready cooked.

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I have the HM tomorrow morning as part of the TT plan. First fitness test since July when I did FF but TBH I did the prep week exactly as prescribed and struggled with the 3 mins today just above FTP in the primer workout for some reason. I have been training diligently since my FF working on my MAP (did that plan twice)as that is my weakness and currently doing the TT plan but I donā€™t feel fitter TBH and deffo not so motivated at the mo. I will see tomorrow what the score is.

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I feel you, @ozmadman. I spent nearly the entire year addressing my MAP weakness and long steady distance for my centuries. Lo and behold MAP isā€¦still my weakness. FWIW, I did still manage to boost my MAP/FTP a bit on my FF this past weekend, so donā€™t sell yourself short before you try it!

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Thanks, I know fitness will only increase to a point and there is a limit, especially as you age, you are getting older and weaker yet trying to get fitter at the same time. Maybe I should be happy that at 69 my fitness is better than it was a year ago and hopefully my fitness test tomorrow will again show a small improvement. Hopefully this will continue for a few years yet but knowing you have to workout hard week in week out but still possibly see a decline as the years pass by is a bit depressing. I am looking at doing more short 10 - 25 mile TTā€™s next year and at least on the VTTA age related standards I can compare myself to younger riders to give me some motivation. Cheers

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Iā€™m hoping to have some races to look to next year other than just my indoor goals. But nothing concrete yet.

I worked up to my KOS on Nov 18 which was a success. I gave myself some recovery time over Thanksgiving and then got back into hitting my yearly mileage goal. Now Iā€™m mostly focusing on getting in miles before the end of the year. That means more Zone 2 and less intensity until Dec 18 when Iā€™ll start my winter break.

After this morningā€™s ride Iā€™m only 44 miles away from 6,000 miles. Iā€™ll likely get over that tomorrow on my long Saturday ride. But I really doubt Iā€™ll get all of the remaining 200 miles next week to get to 10,000km by Dec 18. And I really donā€™t want to push it, either. Donā€™t want to be laid up over the holidays. Iā€™m looking forward to my break with 2 weeks mostly off the bike. Probably will do a few short recovery rides if I have a handful of miles to get me to my goal. But only Zone 1 and never more than 30 minutes if I can help it.

If I manage to get to any races next year they wonā€™t be until the end of spring at the earliest, so I can likely do mostly Zone 2 miles in January and catch up on some sleep before using TOS to help jumpstart my fitness into the spring.

Hereā€™s how 2022 went:

Itā€™ll be nice to not have any more goals to try to hit for a while. And as long as I can ride consistently during the winter and spring I wonā€™t need to ride as many miles each week as I have been during the second half of this year. I had too my injury issues during the first half of the year and have been pushing a lot of miles and time on the bike since July. Usually 9-12 hours per week of cycling plus yoga and strength. I could use more sleep and less cycling for a while.

Iā€™ve usually followed the SUF/SYSTM training plans pretty religiously. But this year I did my own thing and subbed in a lot of Zone 2. That worked really well and my body seemed to respond to doing more hours of lower intensity instead of fewer hours of higher intensity. So, Iā€™ll probably do more of the same in 2023 and thru the winter. Just with less volume in the winter.

Maybe I can do some more yoga and strength work during the winter. Even get back on the rowing machine. :crossed_fingers: But mostly I need more sleep.

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Yep, thatā€™s my downfall. Staying up late, just canā€™t go to bed unless I am virtually falling asleep on the sofa first which means about 2am then a couple of toilet trips disturbs me even more. If I go to bed awake then I just wonā€™t sleep and will have to get up anyway then up again at 8am

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Sounds familiar, just different times.

Last night I was trying to get to bed by 10pm or shortly after. But I ended up on my phone following RitzManā€™s KOS attempt and waiting for the kids to fall asleep. Then when I went to go to bed my wife wanted to talk about gifts and our holiday budget. I ended up getting in bed around 11:15, but RitzManā€™s was about to finish his KOS. So I stayed up until after 11:30 so I could congratulate him. Fell asleep closer to 11:45pm. Woke up to use the bathroom around 1:45. Alarm went off at 4:35am to get up to ride. Got on the bike at 4:55am. Finished at 7:15am. Then immediately had to shower and get breakfast and start working.

Getting to sleep in until 7am will be glorious. Even if I sleep in until 6 or 6:30am and ride for 30 minutes over the holidays will be amazing.

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A lot of people report that they feel terrible during the primers workout. I know Iā€™ve done that session before a test and have felt as unfit as hell.

If youā€™ve had a few days of rest or recovery your muscles will be still sleeping. Primers wakes them up - thatā€™s what itā€™s there for - but they donā€™t like it. If youā€™re feeling sluggish, then the session is doing exactly its job. Better to feel sluggish now than during the test.

Donā€™t worry, youā€™ll crush it.

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Blimey! how do you motivate yourself to ride that time in the morning? do you eat anything in those 20 mins? and two hours! what kind of workouts are you doing in that time, presumably fasted?

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Thatā€™s basically the only time I have to ride. Way back before kids (so long ago!) we would go to the gym in the afternoons after work. But once we had kids, between family time and work the only time I had to exercise was in the mornings. So, Iā€™ve just gotten used to it. Sometimes getting up as early as 3:45am to get an open lane in the gym pool so I could be home to shower and leave for work by 6:30.

I usually eat right at the beginning and during my two hour rides, unless I somehow manage to wake up extra early in which case I might have something 20-30 minute before. Most rides 90 minutes or less I do fasted unless theyā€™re really high intensity. But if I swim or run I do those fasted unless itā€™s a run over an hour.

I used to primarily run before I started riding just a few years ago when I started doing triathlons. So I was used to doing almost all my workouts fasted. I had to actually practice to remember to eat and figure out what to eat.

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