Monday: Zone 1
I was left pretty tired from the intense weekend of racing the Flamme Rouge Race series and the extended Surrey Hills race the previous day left me wanting a day off from the bike. However, the schedule said an easy hour in Zone 1, so back on the bike I went!
Despite my fatigue, this was a perfect opportunity to explore Neokyo and do what is still one of my most favourite things on Zwift – Badge Hunting. So within an hour, I was pleased to have ticked off “Sleepless City”, “Sprinter’s Playground” and “Rooftop Rendezvous”.
Despite the easy ride, my legs were feeling heavy, so this was the chance to use my latest purchase, the Hypervolt 2 3-speed massage gun from Hyperice. The intense training sessions meant that my legs were constantly feeling tired, and not having a Masseur on hand, I decided to invest in this device which you can use to massage your legs, or whatever area is sore.
Tuesday: Endurance Waves
I wouldn’t say I was feeling refreshed, but I did wake up feeling less stiff following my easy ride and session with the Hypervolt 2. So Tuesday’s session was approached with fewer concerns.
It was an interval workout called “Endurance Waves”, and it was actually a nice session, never going into high power but working me enough to feel tired. (For example, I had 3 minutes at 250 watts, then 2 minutes at 260 watts and then it peaked at 270 watts, before repeating.) With my FTP at 345 watts, I was not at my limit with this session. As an added bonus, I decided to complete the session in Neokyo and was able to bag the “Temples and Towers” badge.
Wednesday: Midweek Mountain Massif TT
This session left me primed for the “Midweek Mountain Massif TT – Sponsored by Elite’s RIZER.” This is a new 10.1km time trial up the Ven-Top, an event that I created in partnership with Elite, to celebrate the release of their combined climbing and steering device called the RIZER, which I reviewed recently. We’ve already published my summary of the event but the key point to note was that the last 6 weeks of training culminated in me achieving my highest-ever power rating at 5.3 w/kg for 20 minutes. This was a next-level riding for me.
If we just take a step back and look at this, in the space of 5.5 weeks, I have now increased my 1-minute power, my 5-minute power, and now my 20-minute power, which I was able to hold for close to 30 minutes. I was hoping for improvements in my cycling, but never did I envision I would be holding 5.3 w/kg for 30 minutes! And the truth is, it only just feels like we are only getting started with this training. If you look back at the training, it took 4 weeks to increase the power in my 1 to 5-minute range and subsequently a further week to improve the 20-minute range.
As well as the training sessions, it is clear that the Flamme Rouge Race series that I’ve tackled has had a contributing factor to my improved fitness. This event fine-tuned and accelerated my progress. It’s no wonder Coach Matt Rowe was keen for me to participate in the event. Racing has effectively become part of my training, sort of like when the pros participate in races such as the Tour de Suisse or Critérium du Dauphiné (both week-long races) in preparation for the Tour de France.
Thursday: Roll with Castelli
Following Wednesday’s ride, Thursday was my usual rollout with Castelli. I did struggle as the course was the Mountain route, which includes the Radio Tower. I kept it steady and didn’t chase on the descent when I got disconnected from the bunch.
Friday: Mountain Massif TT
Friday was my second mountain race of the week and saw me tackling another one of my own events, the “Mountain Massif TT – Sponsored by Muc-Off.” This was another time trial, this time 12.1km up the Alpe Du Zwift, finishing at turn 8.
I wasn’t expecting much given my effort only 2 days before, but I managed to hold my form and I was outputting the same power a before. I clocked up another strong ride, finishing 4th with a 20-minute average of 5.3 w/kg, proving Wednesday was not a fluke. I hadn’t even finished my session and Matt was messaging me, congratulating me on another strong ride, which was appreciated.
What I am enjoying about training with Rowe & King is that during my weekly conversations with Matt, he is listening to and understanding how I am feeling in terms of fatigue, and he is tailoring the sessions to my level. But he is also able to appreciate the events I am committed to and is able to ensure I am hitting them in peak condition.
(For example, having invited Matt to the launch of my new event, he was aware that it was important and that I obviously wanted to give a good account of myself, so to that end, the Monday and Tuesday sessions were designed to aid recovery and ensure that I wasn’t fatigued for the main goal of the week. Had I been trying to manage my own plan, I think I would have been tempted to have Monday and Tuesday as a rest day, thinking that would have got me ready for the race, however Matt’s active recovery approach paid off, twice over. Not only did I hit peak form for my Wednesday event, but also Friday!)
The Weekend
Saturday’s early morning endurance ride saw me team up with Race3R and tackle the Uber Pretzel, but I could only manage 2 hours because of life commitments
Sunday was a day off. It was actually nice to have day a day off the bike, giving me time to reflect on the last several weeks where we saw significant performance gains. The results show I have to stick with and trust the process because the data doesn’t lie. Significant improvements are being made!
On to the next week!
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