Watopia’s “11.1 Ocean Blvd” run route was named with a nod to Zwift headquarters, which is located on Ocean Blvd in Long Beach, California. Introduced in the September 30, 2018 update, this is the second-longest run route on Zwift at the time of its release.
Unlike the other run routes, this one begins with you running southward through the start/finish. You’ll find yourself on mixed-use roads quickly, progressing over the 360 bridge and onto the docks and dirt roads of the fishing village. Continue on through the underwater tunnels of Ocean Blvd, then you can finally hop onto the dedicated running path which takes you along the beachfront, over the water, and eventually into Run Valley to finish off your lap.
About gradient/elevation in Zwift Run: while gradient changes are visually apparent on Zwift roads, runners don’t feel any resistance or gradient changes when hitting inclines in game. This lets you set your treadmill to whatever gradient you prefer. The elevation numbers sent to Strava are then recorded from your treadmill, so if you run at 0% your run will show no elevation gain, while running at 3% will show a steady 3% gain throughout your effort.
After a couple of weeks of relatively easy training due to injury, I am back in the game. I wouldn’t classify my fitness as 100 percent yet, but it is coming back. I really think that my “meat-eating” sessions during my commute to work have helped. My forced recovery time did do some good for the brain, though, and I feel that I’m ready to jump into the next part of my season…Cyclocross! Look, there just aren’t winter triathlons here in the DC area, so I’ve got to do something. Besides, the mounting and dismounting for the obstacles and hill climbs plays to my strengths. The cold… not so much.
What I am Training?
Now that I am back to training, I have a dual focus. I am racing cyclocross this year and I have a 5K on 12 October. So, in addition to getting my running form back, I also have to concentrate on speed. Adding in the threshold work to prep for cyclocross, and it looks like I have a multiple personality disorder going on in my training. Actually, it’s not that bad. I have been following, for the most part, the Endurance Lab Ability Lab to get my legs back in to shape, but my inability to swim or run hard has really been the limiting factor.
As I mentioned earlier, I play a game during my morning commute. I call it “meat-eating,” but it would be better understood as “predator-prey.” You see, I ride on a bike path to work, and there is one section that runs for about 7 miles that is full of commuters. In the early morning hours, I can see their tail lights and headlights flashing away in front of me. All it takes is for me to sense that I might be closing in on a rider in front of me, and my primordial urges take over. I view that rider as food or prey. Depending on whether I ate enough the night prior, I sometimes tell myself that overtaking the rider ahead of me will satiate my hunger. I know. I get it. I’m a bit off, but it helps motivate me. The other day, I was able to roll at 165 beats per minute on my single-speed bike and cover the 15K in about 32 minutes, including stopping at traffic lights and for an ID inspection at the entry gate to work. I had a good time that day, so I guess I can’t complain.
Besides my daily VO2 sessions, I am really focused on developing my aerobic engine again, spending much of my running time in a lower heart rate zone. Being that I do have a 5K race coming up, though, I have started doing some speed work in preparation. It hasn’t gone all that well, but it’s not horrible. I was able to do 6 400-meter efforts in under 80 seconds pretty easily, so I’m not too far off. I’m not anywhere near where I would like to be, but I’m not at a pedestrian pace. So, I’m at least starting from an ok place. Due to the vegetation and the buildings along my favorite run routes, I continue to rely on the power data from my Stryd footpod. Over the winter, I plan to play with it quite a bit more, so I plan to deliver more data testing to you on the efficacy of training with power on the run.
SkillZ and DrillZ Ride
Now that I have settle in to my new place, we got the SkillZ and DrillZ Ride rolling. On week one, we focused on just staying together as a group. Zwift, and IRL rides, can be very tough if you struggle to hold the wheel in front of you. During week 1, we practiced working on simply holding the wheel in front of you and how to pull through. During week 2, we covered how to use the draft to recover and benefit. One of the things I have seen both on Zwift and in real life riding is the under-utilization of the draft to allow the legs to recover. For example, when returning to the group after being dropped or bridging from one group to the other, riders should take advantage of the draft to get their legs back under them unless they plan to immediately go over the top to attack the recently caught group. Too often, riders in Zwift accidentally put themselves on the front of the group that they caught because they do not understand how to use the draft to their advantage.
In week 3 we built on the the concepts of the previous two weeks and focused on attacking the bunch. In this instance, the goal was to show the difficulty in breaking away from the group and how the effects of group aerodynamics on Zwift can play into the chase. During the class we had riders launch individual attacks and then settle into a pace that was at or slightly less than that of the chase group. As the riders settled in after the short attack, the group was easily able to pull the rider back due to sheer number. Now, in a real life situation, the riders would have to take turns to pull the group back, but the concept remains the same. A group can move faster on Zwift than an individual if it bunches up fairly tightly. During the first iteration, rides were capped during their attack to show how quickly a five to eight-second gap can be pulled back by a large bunch. During the second iteration, riders were not capped during their ten-second attack, and some were able to gain a significant advantage over the bunch.
The goal of the drills was to show two things. First, the draft effect of the group is very powerful. One rider cannot stay away without a significant power advantage. Second, it is very difficult to break the grasp of the bunch, and it is even more so if the rider attacks from a position in the back of the bunch instead of the front. We had a great showing, and the group size really helped show how the group dynamics play into the decision of how and when a rider should attack. For those who didn’t get to participate in the ride, you can check out the replay below:
The key takeaways were that an attack has to be done at a significantly harder effort than that of the group, and an attacker has to be in a good position to attack. Otherwise the rider will have to expend a significant amount of energy moving through the group and creating a gap.
What am I Racing?
Now that I am back to training a bit harder, I decided to get into some racing on Zwift. The cool thing is that I have a weird schedule right now. Some days, I am done by noon. Other days, I am done by 5:30 PM. Actually, none of that is correct. I am currently in an accelerated graduate degree program, so I am basically doing a Master’s degree in 12 months vice 2 years. That means my day often officially ends at about noon. Now, I am not done with “work,” as I have at least 100 pages of reading per night. But, it does allow me to jump into races that I would not normally be able to do. This last week, I did just that by entering the Team Italy Gladiator Race.
Since I have not been racing much, and I am coming off of injury, I decided to race in the B category. As much grief as one of my ODZ teammates has given me, I am glad that I raced in the B category. This was only my second return race on Zwift, and I wasn’t sure how much my injured hip flexor could take. My abrasive teammate, we’ll leave him anonymous and call him ShmAndy, had told me that I should just join the A category during the previous week’s Cat & Mouse. Oh boy, was he wrong (like usual). From the gun, the pace was hot. Four laps of Watopia hilly was definitely going to be a good test. On lap one, I gave everything I had to stay with the two strong A riders. Fortunately, there were only two A riders, and I think they may have made the strategic decision to only push hard enough to distance most of the B riders. They could have attacked me and the other few B riders who hung with them throughout lap 1, but they didn’t. On the climb up the hilly KOM on lap two, they let loose a little bit but held it around 6 watts per kg. I barely held the wheel and let them drag me around for the rest of the lap. On lap three, the two A riders dropped me like a bad habit, leaving me to survive the remainder of the race by myself. Personally, I thought that the attacks on the KOM of lap 3 were wildly selfish, but nobody asked me. Anyway, I was able to hold on for the B win and set a new baseline for FTP. It’s not anywhere near where it was eight weeks ago, but I’m happy to find a new starting point. As for the race itself, it was pretty straightforward. There was no ride leader, and the race started from the gun. There’s not much else to say about it, but the competition was pretty good. Watch the race recording below:
Well, that’s it for me the week. Next week, I’ll put up some video from my cyclocross race, so you can share in my misery. If you feel like joining us for the SkillZ and DrillZ Ride, join us at Wednesday at 6:30 PM EDT (east coast US). Until next time Ride On!
Editor’s note: Jordan Cheyne’s “The Open Pro” series details his experiences with high-level Zwift training as a rider in the pro Continental ranks. You can read his past posts here.
Looking Forward to a Change
It seems like every year I start thinking about the off-season a little later than the last. I never thought about it at all when I was a junior because cycling was so fresh and new that I wanted to keep training, racing and improving forever. When I started to race a more diverse, international and bicoastal schedule as a U23 things changed. I would start to grow weary sometime in June after the crescendo of Nationals and start counting down the training blocks and race days in front of me. As I became stronger and more at ease with the unpredictable ebbs and flows of a cycling season I would reserve that feeling for the last few weeks of training before the season finale and eventually for the last few days before the event itself.
I don’t desperately yearn for the end of the season. It is more an anticipation and a kind of curiosity for what lies beyond the season’s last finish line. I am almost always still motivated to do the training and excited to hunt results in the closing races but I naturally look forward to a change. The satisfaction of hard work, risk and reward in the season will be replaced by the contentment of relaxation and the freedom to live a nearly normal life full of rich food and outings not taking place on two skinny tires.
The final efforts of 2018 (photo credit Elevate/KHS)
The Ending is Different Every Time
Every Off Season is different and some years require a lot more rest than others. In 2016, I remember pulling out of my final event at the Tour of Alberta completely wrecked and depleted. It had been my first pro season with Jelly Belly and many hard yards in our winning effort at the Tour of Utah combined with a stomach virus brought me down with a thud. I don’t think I got off the couch for two weeks after that and my biggest autumn training efforts were at the driving range. I think I finally started to feel like an athlete again in November and training like one a full three months post season in December.
Completely wrecked I needed a complete break in 2016
In 2017, I had a particularly cumbersome end of season. I raced Tour of Alberta through Labour Day, took a couple weeks of downtime and got married. After the festivities, I trained up for the 9-stage Tour of Hainan in China ending in early November. It was almost ski season here at home and I was still training for a race in a tropical climate. I ended up dosing the recovery and efforts correctly, taking good form into Asia and racing well there. Finally, I took a full month off as the ski lifts started moving here at Big White. My principle mode of training turned out to be high speed tobogganing down the slopes because I can’t trust myself on a pair of skis.
Racing into November in China 2017 (photo credit Jelly Belly)Serious training with Knox
This year was a bit different. With the season ending somewhat prematurely in late August at the Colorado Classic, I barely thought about the Off Season at all. In fact, I found myself dwelling on the prospects of more racing in far away lands to get my fill for the year. Once those prospects faded and the reality of a six-month break from racing settled in, I felt more agitated than relieved. Still, I set about resting like it was a job and took a week off of any activity and about four weeks off of any purposeful riding. I hiked with Knox, our new Australian Labradoodle, mountain biked very poorly through the Okanagan’s expansive forests and ate and drank whatever I wanted. After those four weeks though, I was completely ready to go, topped up on both motivation and energy. This time it didn’t take long to fill up the tank at the pump even after many months of running the throttle wide open.
With my body and mind ready to go, I am starting to work with a new coach and starting early on my preparations for 2019. It is a moderate start with room for fun and experimentation with new training approaches. I am definitely ready to put some work in and it feels right to get going.
Pros and Amateurs Alike
This variation in end of season planning is restricted to my career as a professional. It is just as important to recognize the unique needs of the athletes I coach when their season’s goals are done and dusted. Usually the need for pure rest is less, with a lower training load and less racing-related stress accumulated. The muscles and nervous system usually bounce back in a couple weeks. The need for a mental break is often greater though. Finding time and willpower for structured training with a full time job and a family can be really depleting over the months. It can be harder to recognize the need for a mental break and harder to commit to some time away from the full-on Type-A athletic identity. To varying degrees, amateur athletes face the same irrational Off Season fears as professionals. We all want to do our best in this sport and it is an unnerving but necessary proposition to let specific fitness fade and let our edge grow dull.
Balance and Flexibility
I think the most important part to a happy Off Season, especially for my coaching clients is flexibility. Training can be fairly strenuous but doesn’t need to be strict. Racing in the form of cyclocross or a late season fondo can be a satisfying sufferfest but if they aren’t big goals we don’t need to dwell on the outcome of those events. We can continue to eat well for health and well being but if a pint of ice cream and a bottle of wine cry out, we should probably answer the call.
It is a learning process to listen to your body and mind in this period and truly do what refreshes you. Some days an extra hour of worry-free riding is the perfect off-season reward. Other days, when the legs are sore before you get out of bed and the Seahawks are playing, the couch is the ideal place to improve your performance in 2019. It is all a balance just like every other part of endurance training. If we are mindful and do it right we will ease back into serious training at the right time with the reserves we need to push to a new level when it counts.
Can’t wait to get to work with these gents again in 2019 (photo credit Elevate-KHS)
The Triumphant Return to Watopia… or Something Like That
“It’s been a while, I know. It’s not that I don’t love you anymore. It’s just that you’ve been so distant. Really, there has been something missing over the last few months that have prevented us from being together. I promise that things are different now. We won’t be apart again for a while.”
No, that is not a conversation that I had with my wife due to high training volume and work requirements. That was the conversation I had with Zwift a few weeks ago. Yes folks, I’m back connected to the real world of riding in a virtual world again. For those that followed my journey through the International Triathlon Union Long Course World Championships, I didn’t hang it up after the race. I simply had to finish my move, which meant waiting for my stuff to arrive. Anyway, we’ll get there in a moment.
Life After ITU Worlds
About two months ago, I finished the nearly eight-month slog of training for ITU LC Worlds and took some time to enjoy being in Denmark after the race. Returning back to the US, though, wasn’t like returning home. You see, the wife and I packed up our things on 30 May in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and shipped them back to the US. In early June we flew to the Washington, DC, area to find a house and drop our huge amount of luggage before heading off to Quebec City, Canada, for a couple of weeks for language training. A week after we returned to DC, we took off for Denmark, finally getting back to our “home” in late July. Fortunately, I will be attending school for a year, so the work demands will be less, in theory, as I only have to concentrate on my studies. Class started about a week after we returned, and I had planned our shipment so that it would arrive before I started class. Actually, I had a very elaborate plan to finish off my season.
The Best-Laid Plans
My ambitious plan had me racing a sprint tri in late August, the Nations Escape Olympic distance tri in early September, the Army Ten Miler in early October, and a cyclocross series from mid-September through November. Additionally, school has some intramural sports, so I planned to run the 5K, play soccer, and play softball this fall. Oh yeah, I also had to do my course work. A packed schedule? Yes, but doable.
Like all good plans, it did not survive first contact. Our household goods did not arrive in early to mid-July as planned. The shipment did not arrive in early August, either. Nope. It got here in late August, so my poor wife had to deal with putting everything away while I was in class. Our car, which was originally scheduled to arrive in late July showed up in early September, which meant that I had no way to get to the first race on my list, the sprint tri. Had the car arrived on time, though, it wouldn’t have mattered. No, I learned a lesson about aging… the hard way.
A Lesson on Aging
On day one of soccer practice, we went through a little warm-up routine. Nothing big. Just some light stretching and movement. I felt pretty warm already, as I had just biked in the nine miles from home. Apparently, riding a bicycle, even at a moderate effort, doesn’t get the legs ready for kicking a ball. Five minutes into passing the ball back and forth, I tried to return a pass on a volley, rotating my hip up to the right to contact the bouncing ball. Right away, I felt a pop, and pain radiated down my right leg. I valiantly tried to jog it off, but it was to no avail. Race number two was now off of the calendar. That afternoon, I limped home on my bike. It was the most painful and torturous nine miles I have ever ridden. The wife immediately put me on the couch for the weekend, alternating between ice and stints in my Air Relax recovery boots. Every time I got off the couch, I got scolded.
Three weeks later, I am finally back to running after being diagnosed with a strained right hip flexor. Grr! Not what I wanted. I had to take some time off from hard efforts on the bike, but I had to keep riding to and from work, as our car had still not arrived. Ok, I could have taken the metro or bummed a ride, but I’m stubborn. I’m now getting back to training, except for swimming. It turns out that kicking and doing flip turns really draws on the hip flexor. Who knew?! Apparently, I did not, but I learned that lesson… a couple of times now. So, I’m giving it through the end of the month before picking that back up in preparation for next season.
What’s Next?
So, now that I have droned on about my last few weeks, where does that leave us? Well, my pain cave/Zwift station is fully set up now, which means the ODZ SkillZ and DrillZ Rides are back on the calendar. Woo hoo! I know that everyone has been jonesing for those. I will do a wrap-up Zwift Insider post each week summarizing what we cover, not unlike a CliffsNotes version of the class. Now that I am back to training, I’ll also review some of the different races out there in the Zwift community. The good thing about being in class is that my schedule has a fair amount of flexibility for when I can be on Zwift. Thus, I will get to try out some of the races that I normally wouldn’t be able to do because they fall in the middle of the day. And, of course, I will cover some aspects of my tri training and how I go about it using platforms like Zwift. Of note, this year will be a little different. We had to get rid of our treadmill because it wouldn’t fit in our tiny little townhouse, so most of my running will be outside. However, my gym does have wifi, so I will bring my iPad and get some Zwift running in once the weather starts to turn cold.
That’s going to be it from me for this post. Look for more to follow in the coming weeks. You can also always find me on Instagram @evil_elf_racing and the SkillZ and DrillZ Ride is on Facebook on the Zwift Live by TeamODZ channel as well as the Evil Elf Racing, TeamODZ, and Endurance Lab YouTube channels.
ZwiftHQ supplied the background image for the map, giving me much more colorful and accurate terrain to layer map elements onto. The result is a map that is both visually pleasing and informative. Here are a few artwork samples:
New running paths included
Map legend
Alpe du Zwift
As always, you can dowload the map PDF for free. I do appreciate you purchasing the map, though, since it helps to fund this website and further map updates by myself. Enjoy!
Episode 55 of Zwiftcast has been released, with topics including trainer talk, the new baby named for Zwift, essential Zwift extras and Eight Days of Innsbruck.
Simon, Shane and Nathan chew the fat on the latest happenings in Zwift… with some speculation on where the platform may be heading this indoor season in terms of numbers of riders and runners.
Shane reports back on his trip to HQ and to the other big bike show of the year, Interbike.
The Zwiftcasters spend a few minutes discussing trainers – as it’s that time of year again, when many Zwifters may be considering a purchase or an upgrade. Simon talks to the CEO of Stac, a Canadian company launching an innovative “no contact” resistance mechanism.
Would you name your new baby around a Zwift theme, working on suggestions made by the community? One Zwifter is doing just that – Simon chats to him.
As the indoor season really starts to get going Simon revisits a well-worn subject – just what little extras do you need the most to complete the Zwift experience. Simon has one of his own (which he’s very pleased with) and he asks Shane and Nathan for theirs.
The Zwiftcasters do a little live detective work as they chat – trying to get to the bottom of Simon’s observation of a regular-as-clockwork micro-glitch around 35 minutes into every session. The chaps think they they’ve found the answer.
After a roundup of the latest drama and histrionics in the racing community, the Zwiftcasters consider whether the Eight Straight Days of Innsbruck has been a success.
Zwift released a major game update tonight, bringing dedicated running paths and custom ride routes to our favorite virtual fitness paradise.
Both of these features are major news for Zwifters, so let’s dig into them further…
Welcome to Run Valley!
Dedicating Running Paths
Five new run paths are now available in game. This is the first time we’ve ever had dedicated paths just for runners, so that’s a pretty big deal and shows Zwift’s commitment to the running crowd.
Each of these paths begin near the same spawn point, a new one just for runners located in newly-christened “Run Valley”. Here are the new paths (click the path name for a more detailed writeup):
11.1 Ocean Blvd (11.1km): In honor of Zwift HQ’s address, this 11.1km route takes you over the 360 bridge, into the underwater tunnel, and then brings you back home via Run Valley
5k Loop (5km): Take a twisting and turning 5km journey through the heart of Run Valley, down onto the beach path, and along the scenic skyway over the ocean
Chili Pepper (8km): This short and spicy route takes you through the heart of Run Valley and then on a quick trip through the Volcano
Jon’s Route (12.5km): Take a scenic tour of Watopia that hits all the highlights of the running path and flat route
That’s Amore (6.5km): Run – or walk – your way from Run Valley over to the Italian villas. If you really want to earn your pizza slices, this route will help you do it!
Custom Ride Routes
Zwift’s update notes say:
“Added support for unique routes that are used only in scheduled events, allowing for more variety in events.”
This is exciting news for Zwifters who take part in group activities, since it adds a nearly endless level of variety to group rides and races. If event organizers can now define custom ride routes we can have races which begin with a two laps of Volcano Flat but end with Watopia Hilly, for example. Or something much more complex! We’ll see what ride organizers come up with.
Additional Updates
Here are a few smaller features included with this update:
Some training plans now support “optional” workouts
Road intersection UI changed
When adding a Daily Target in running you can now enable the Distance Markers feature
Improved support for iPhone XS and XS Max
Cloud workout sync: this feature was enabled when the update originally arrived, because I tested it and it worked great. But presumably some bugs popped up which led to it being disabled for now, since I’m being informed it is not currently functional or included in the official release notes. Hopefully it will be back soon.
People take part in Zwift races for a variety of reasons. Whatever your motivation, it’s hard to deny that we all want to finish high on that leaderboard. Here are five quick tips you can implement right away to boost your Zwift race results.
Pick Your Best Racecourse
Are you a bigger rider who does better on flat routes, or a lighter rider with a high power/weight ratio that helps you win on the climbs? Or perhaps you’re somewhere in better, a puncheur best suited to rolling courses with short, hard climbs.
Pro tip: Zwift Companion doesn’t currently make it easy to see which route a race is on, but the events app over at ZwiftHacks does, and I highly recommend it.
Start With a Useful Powerup
Powerups are accepted in essentially every Zwift race these days, so it pays to begin your race with a useful one! This will let you use the draft boost or aero helmet to make the start a little easier, or perhaps the feather to punish the competition on that first short climb.
Come on, this is rookie stuff. Just like racing outdoors, Zwift racing requires you to conserve energy so you have something left when it really matters. That means staying in the draft for most of the race, only putting your nose out when it’s time to attack.
Drafting in Zwift lets you maintain the same speed as the person you’re behind while expending less energy. Read Drafting in Zwift: power savings and advice to get the specifics.
Use Fast (Virtual) Gear
As you level up in Zwift, you unlock new frames and wheelsets. These aren’t just eye candy–they change your speed in game. In fact, simply upgrading from the stock wheels to the Zipp 808’s will take ~40 seconds off an hour long race.
If you’re anything like me you tend to take warmups less seriously when you’re hopping on your bike for a free race in your garage, versus an outdoor race you drove hours and paid money for. But most Zwift races are short and fast, so coming into them warmed up is essential.
Experienced cyclists know that a proper warmup is key if you want to perform your best in any hard cycling effort, but newer cyclists often don’t understand this. Come into your races like a pro–read Pre-Race Warmups on Zwift.
