I’ve been following Scott Steele as his journey seems similar to mine and wanted to just post a few comments/questions.
I’ve been cycling since July of 2021. I’m coming back from COVID 3 months ago and a big drop in training load 91-50’s, now back up to 63. I’ve noticed my heart rate has recovered and is back to what I was this time last year with the same training load. My TP is almost exactly the same as it was, with this training load as well at this time last year. 291, My peak TP was 330 at a race last July and 320 was pretty repeatable throughout the summer. I weight 78 kg. My HEI is 25.9 which is up from last year around this time at 22.6 and peak power is up to 1126 from 1039.
I know zone 2 is the way to go and base training period, but man, I’m so tired of those workouts.
What would be the pro’s and con’s of doing moderate 1 or 2 improvement rate up until my race date of April 30th rather than doing the target event training program. I just find I’m wallowing away in endurance rides and want something harder here and there. I changed my program today just so it would suggest something hard, and I loved it. It felt like a breakthrough ride, but it wasn’t and I think that’s just because its been ages since I’ve done some proper intervals.
You don’t have to change your program to get a different/harder ride.
Select a ride you fancy, that is marked as achievable and go for it. Xert will probably give you an easier ride the next day.
Repeat this once a week or even more frequently and monitor both progress and freshness
I often break off the monotony of longer, pure endurance rides by watching a show, listening to a podcast, etc. Helps the time go a bit faster while patiently growing my training load.
As @johnnybike mentioned, there’s nothing stopping you from manually selecting a harder ride once or twice a week in the base period (I do that myself). Helps break up the base period.
That’s helpful Scott. I’m a rule follower and that’s what I love about Xert. Being told what to do to achieve optimal results, but I think lets not loose sight of things here! I watch TV too, good movie or series and I can put the time on the bike. For me, I find stress levels and my overall competitive nature don’t really love those rides, so I crave those more intense leg burners! I guess I was just looking for permission to do them. You guys are top notch.
Hi @adamwilson_12 ! To progress you need training, (fuel) and rest for your body to adapt. Your body is not able to absorb daily “leg burners” training. Maybe 1 or 2 consecutive weeks, but then you will end up in place difficult to recover from. In the system you should trust. If you are not blue, then don’t go with high intensity pick, especially as you are new to Xert and cycling and need to learn about yourself still. On the other hands, it is also good to try such “mistakes” far away from any target events, so that you could learn from your own and understand your/these limits
