Ed Laverack’s “Comeback from the Virus” Diaries: #2 – Pedaling with Force

January 23, 2021

LAST UPDATED January 22, 2021

In the first diary entry, I touched on the symptoms and initial recovery from the virus, ending with details of the two functional threshold power tests I undertook in the first week of January.

The day after the tests, I completed a group ride with the Wahoo LeCol team on one of the London circuits, and we tackled one of the most notorious climbs on the circuit (Leith Hill). This allowed me to test my shorter-term power and to my surprise and delight, I managed to squeeze out a considerably better-than-average 6 W/kg for just under five minutes.

My goal for the following week was to gradually increase the time I spent on the bike. I had no specific training in mind – I felt it was more important to get the mind and muscle connection back and focus on remembering how to pedal with force, rather than just plodding along. On Friday I completed the Flanders Endurance Series and tried not to get carried away with the front group. In doing so, I managed to get a good session under my belt, totaling three hours, with a training stress score of 126. That number matched my heart rate average too, signaling small but important gains in my fitness.

On Saturday I included another endurance ride. This was a rather long and flat Evo CC 160 km base ride at 3 W/kg – obviously indoor distances are higher than outdoor distances, nonetheless it was a good four-hour session with my heart rate sitting below 130 bpm.

In the evening I lead my first group ride, an official Zwift event in collaboration with the Bolt Racing Team. For the event, I created workouts using my knowledge of the courses and knowledge of efforts to simulate the WTRL and Zwift Racing League events. These training sessions are usually between 30-60 minutes in duration, and I am delighted to say that we’re seeing over 300 participants. They are free to join and open to anyone who is looking for a good training session that stands up as an alternative to a race (see upcoming events).

This ended a really productive Saturday and the biggest training load I had achieved in several months, with a TSS of 225.

As you can see from my training zones and time in the saddle below, I had achieved a good solid block of time working on my base endurance. However, now it was time to start ramping things up and pushing myself a little harder.

The first round of the Zwift Racing League took place in Richmond on the reverse course, which is a particularly hard circuit with climbs coming early on into the race. During season one of the Zwift Racing League a few months ago, I won the opening race and enjoyed a successful run in the subsequent weeks before being brought down by illness.

It will be a fascinating period of racing for me over the next eight weeks because there will be an obvious improvement in my fitness and this increase in fitness will hopefully impact my finishing positions. Whilst some of the courses will suit me more than others, I hope I will be able to fight for a top 20 or a top 15 placing at some point later in the series.

The second week of training had less volume but slightly more intensity. I found myself spending more time in zone one because I was completing intervals, and more time in Sweetspot and zones four and five, because of the nature of the racing. I had my first really good day on the bike on Tuesday morning. My power was slightly higher than it had been recently for a general endurance ride and my heart rate was slightly lower. This is a good sign that things are moving in the right direction.

I know so many of us have life commitments and incidents of illnesses and stress that can cause a lack of consistency and drop-offs in overall fitness. There are things we can control and things that we can’t, but I want to draw attention to the fact that consistent, flexible training works, and you can come back quicker and safer than you think.

I am working in a 2:1 week block ratio at the moment, which is my favourite periodisation technique because I can overload much more effectively in two-week than three-week blocks. Speaking of which, I had really good days on the bike on Friday and Saturday, totaling almost 400 TSS.

On Saturday I did the arduous Four Horsemen route which includes the Alp. I used this event and race to give myself extra motivation to carry out some natural zone three tempo surges on the long climbs and some threshold/sweetspot efforts on the shorter climbs. I managed to stay with a front group for longer than I expected, and got tailed off at the bottom of the epic. Eventually, I was joined by four other riders at the bottom of the Alp, and used the opportunity to really test my fitness and race strategy by picking off riders one by one as we raced to the top.

I finished the event in around 40th position having had a very, very good day on the bike which concluded a great two-week foundation without any hiccups.

Overall, I am feeling good – my body is sending signals that it is happy with what I’m doing and I get the impression that I will have to retest very soon to make sure that my power numbers are accurate. The aim for these tests is to achieve accurate numbers, not better numbers, as you may get to a point where your numbers may plateau and only increase in very small increments (one to two watts at a time). This reflects a more accurate power increment. So, stay tuned!