Maybe I just don’t fully understand the scale of the XSS tiers, but I spent 37 minutes above threshold which is 41.6% of the workout, yet the XSS is only 2.7% mid. Surely a threshold workout like this isn’t determined to be just low endurance does it?
Also, how can workouts get harder than this?! It absolutely crushed me. Then I read the description “This simple hard endurance workout with smart, dynamic intervals gets you ready for the harder ones to come.”
High XSS isn’t a measure of time above threshold but strain (or conceptually work) above threshold. You spent a lot of time above threshold but didn’t accumulate a lot of work above it. Hence the high intensity energy system wasn’t taxed as much as a workout with bigger intervals above threshold.
Somebody Told Me’s intervals are at your 20 minute power which is just above your Threshold so don’t accumulate a lot of high strain. Nice workout to build your TP but not really great to build your power above your TP.
Don’t confuse how hard a workout feels vs. how much strain it applies. These two generally correlate but aren’t necessarily tied. One thing that we do see often is that the more anaerobic an athlete is (bigger HIE relative to TP), the harder the intensities around TP feel.
Personally, I also give myself a bit of a pep talk when preparing for threshold workouts since I know they are going to feel harder than they should.
Huh, that bit about feeling harder around TP is interesting. I think I’ve tended to skew higher HIE, and that tracks with how TP-ish workouts feel for me, very hard.
@quasifit , if you take a look at Difficulty, at 86, this workout ain’t gonna be easy. Even when my Training Status has been pushing 4 stars, a workout like this one (3 stars) still feels hard.
If you reduced the intensity during the rest periods to active recovery instead of zone 2 you could probably fit in more high XSS without increasing the difficulty or workout duration.
It was the first suggested workout for me that day so I didn’t think much when selecting it.