Over the last 2 weeks I have been working some short intervals into my training to work on variable
pacing - more on this in a post in the next week. Last week I focused on running intervals and then this week on riding ones. Also, this past Friday and Saturday I did a Mini Gravel Worlds Trial with a long run on Friday and a Century on Saturday - so here is a review of the last two weeks.
Week April 10-16 - Run Focused
For this week I rode a little less and thus upped my running miles with the goal to get in 2 short interval sessions and then a long run on the weekend. In this I also rode three times for a total of 129 miles. For the runs I started the week running on Tuesday with a 10 miler that after an easy 6 miles ran 16 X 20/60’s with the 20 seconds sections at 5K race pace of around 6:00-6:15/mile with then an easy 60 seconds rest. While it is a hard workout it easily doable and no real after effects from it.
My second run was an easy 4 miler on Wednesday afternoon after a morning ride on the trainer so the next harder run was on Thursday. For this run I did an 8 miler with a 40 minute easy warmup then did 12 X 20/60’s with the 20 second parts at 6:00 - 6:15/mile pace and again 60 seconds easy. Run felt good but did know I was working.
For the last run of the week I wanted to do a 20 miler then decided to add in 5 X 1 mile intervals with 1 mile rest from mile 7 - 17. Ran easy 3 miles followed by a relaxed 4 miles so started longer intervals at 7 miles. Faster mile intervals were from 6:53 to 7:15 (one was at 7:46 but had more uphill to it) then the rest miles were at 8:12 - 8:31 with last 3 miles to finish the run at a steady 8:15 down to 8:08/mie. Was a good run since although tired at end and a little sore from the miles felt good.
So with basically 3 hard running workouts for the week it ended well and felt good to go into the next week with my intervals being on the bike.
Week 17-23 - Ride Focused
As this was more a ride focused week I cut back my run milage and plan was to run easy - which I sorta did but more on that in a moment. First run of the week was a relaxed one but after the initial 3-4 miles lowered the pace for last two as felt good. Not sure why I did this as plan was to run easier but truth is just felt good.
For my interval ride it consisted of 2 warmup rides ( Ride 1 & Ride 2 ) followed by an hour ride where I did 10 X 60/180s. For these the 60 second intervals were done at 120% of my FTP (about 290w) which comes out to around 348w and then the rest was to ride easy for 3 minutes then repeat. Hard to track the watts but seemed to be about right but I think the 60 second efforts may be a little long as the goal is not to be totally trashed but that end the interval before you begin to slow down. Will try this on the next round at 45 seconds. That said it was a good workout.
After another run Wednesday where I again ran at a good pace but was comfortable. Thursday I had planned to do a Team Time Trial (TTT) on Zwfit as my intervals for the week. Since the team was to have 8 people figured I could do 1 minute pulls but would then get 5-7 minutes rest since in a TTT the rest is not as easy as when just doing intervals. The problem was that when race day came due to some misunderstandings on registering we only ended up with 4 people for this TTT which I did after a 27 mile warmup. As there were only 4 of us the plan was for us to see how long we could go with 1 minute pulls which then gave a 3 minute rest. We did a get a ways at this timing but at about 1/2 way we figured we would go to 30 second pulls so we could pull harder. The problem is shortly after that my internet went out so the way Zwift works you can still ride but do not see anyone or get a draft. Thus I had to just ride hard and hope that when the internet came on I would be close so rode at around 250-300 watts for a couple minutes. When the internet came on I was a little ways behind but as we needed 4 to finish the race they had throttled back some so I soon caught up. After a brief rest I went back to 30 second pulls till the end. This was much harder than the intervals intended.
As I had a century planned for Saturday I wanted to do a long run Friday morning so as to do a mini Gravel Worlds Double trial. Thus, I ran a 15 miler on Friday morning with my initial plans being to run easy. I did this for the first 4 miles but then felt good so just ran at a pace that was comfortable which ended up being sub 8:00 for the last 11 miles. In the midst of this - and this was unplanned and not sure if wise but oh well - I did 15 X 30/30s as are talked about in the book I am ready called The Science of Marathon and the Art of Variable Paced Running. These are very much like what we at Vespa OFM do with out 20/60s but with less rest and a longer interval. The length is actually a guide - as it is with ours - as you are to run at pace and time by feel but is good to start with a the time till you get the feel for the length and speed. Ran these by feel but for the 2 miles covered during running these the miles were at 7:18 and 7:15. When done after mile 10 I kept pace at sub 8:00/mile and gradually got faster with last mile in 7:23. This was much faster than planned but was a good test with a century to ride 24 hours later. Also, after the TTT on Thursday I was happy with being able to run this pace
This past Saturday I did the Redbud Century and was a beautiful day if not initially cold and was windy for the entire ride - sure felt like it was a headwind for the whole ride. While not the fastest I have done this ride I only stopped for maybe 5 minutes total for the ride and rode the hills at a comfortable pace and did not ride the first 10 miles or so as hard as usual. Also, as has happened the last few years I have done this it ended up mostly being an Individual Time Trial so makes it harder physically and mentally. That said felt good and when not climbing pace was pretty well at around 20mph. Considering the weeks workouts which were pretty good for me I felt great after the ride - tired but feeling good.
Fueling for the Redbud Ride:
Was cool out so did not drink enough as just did not "feel" thirsty and was not hungry. Also, while did ride a good pace did not really push it so did not need as much extra as I might have if rode harder.
Pre-Ride
3/4 of Modified BP Coffee
1 - Packet of Oatmeal
1 - Vespa CV25
Totals:
Cals - 617
Carbs - 42g
Protein - 26g
Fat - 38g
During Ride:
1.5 bottles of water
1 Scoop of Tailwind
1 Scoop Keto Salts
2 - Vespa Ultra Concentrate (@ 2hrs and 4hrs)
1 SIS Gel (1/2 at 50 miles & 1/2 at 4.5 Hours)
Totals:
Cals - 228
Carbs - 57g
Protein - 0g
Fat - 0g
Here is the Redbud Ride:
I finished the week with a 3.25 mile run in the morning at 8:20 that felt easy and no real soreness from Saturday’s ride or the week’s hard efforts.
So that was the last two weeks and between being fat adapted and using Vespa my recovery has been great. No way I could have done the workouts I did - whether I should have done them is another conversation:) - with my past fueling regimen that was more focused on carbs. The lack of damage done by my fueling makes all the difference.
The plan for the coming weeks with the Yamacraw 50K in about a month is to do a few more variable paced workouts and to make sure I am well rested for Yamacraw before going back to getting ready for the Gravel Worlds Double and then Gravel Loco in Pueblo CO. For the next few weeks will be more focused on running but will still get in some good rides and at least one or two more long ones. As I often get some foot issues, been holding up well so far, if I over do it I want to be careful with my long runs before Yamacraw.
Stay tuned for a post on Variable Paced running and our Disruptive Periodized Training
