I have my target event set for middle of March, currently in Build phase. I’m a little behind as far as structured workouts due to the time it took me to learn Xert. March is still early in the season out here in California, our road racing season starts first week of January and goes through September. I’ll be doing a gravel race this Saturday, just training through it as I don’t really care about a result just wanted something on the schedule to motivate me.
Not sure how to use Xert once I hit this mid march target event? I certainly don’t want that to be my peak fitness for the year. Do I pick another event 3 months out and drop back to base phase? Maybe 1-2 weeks of base then start building to a 2nd higher peak? I plan to be road racing 3-4x a month plus whatever gravel/fondo type events look interesting.
2nd question, what’s the highest training load that can be achieved? It’s not something I’ve set as a goal, just wondering what’s actually possible? I’m currently at 136.6 and nearly 5 stars extreme 2 setting. I’ve been averaging 6 TP watts gained a week for 8-9 weeks, I’d like to see that pace continue for the next 8-9 weeks though I assume It will slow down as I’ve already picked the low hanging fruit. Thoughts? What’s the longest period of time anyone has seen consistent gains in their numbers? I’ve never done a prolonged training period, always got myself into “good enough” shape and did the races I had planned/met my goals to upgrade on the road and then put the bike in the garage few a few months before starting over from zero the next season. I’d prefer not to do that anymore.