I’m two weeks into a structured training program with Matt Rowe from Rowe & King. These first weeks have been hard fun, and I’ve also learned some new things along the way. All told, I’ve managed to total 19 hours of solid riding. Here’s how the rides unfolded…
Week 1: Wednesday Intervals
The week started with an easy ride before Wednesday’s suffer-fest which consisted of 3 x 10-minute intervals at 92% of FTP. This was a solid session, I was working hard but not at my maximum. By the third 10 minute interval, fatigue had increased and I was glad to complete the session. My cool down was a gentle ride outside, to enjoy the autumn evening.
Week 1: Thursday’s TTT Turmoil
Thursday was planned to be a double session, so I enjoyed a break from my desk with a lunchtime ride with the Castelli Team, which is always good fun and kept the heart rate in Zone 2. I didn’t want to over-exert myself as I was racing the WTRL Team Time Trial event with Rowe & King and the Gazelle team.
The WTRL TTT was a non-starter, quite literally. After joining the pen and enjoying the camaraderie with my new team (where they decided to name me “Tim Peak”) I was all set for the event but as they counted down 20 seconds, I noticed that there were no watts being generated by my smart trainer. The trainer had gone to sleep as we had sat idle for 9 minutes! Despite my frantic scramblings to re-pair the trainer, the team blasted away leaving me embarrassingly sat on the start line. When my trainer finally re-paired, I chased in vain to catch them and even overtook a team of three, but the gap stayed at 30 seconds and I couldn’t bridge.
With that metallic taste in my mouth from a hard effort, I stopped pedaling and climbed off the bike dejected and embarrassed. I certainly didn’t reach the “Peaks” of my new nickname. I really wish Zwift would address the TTT and come up with a solution that is more professional than people waiting 9 minutes, idle, with a stopwatch. Zwift are world builders – surely this can be fixed. And don’t tell me it’s all part of the fun, waiting for 9 minutes sat idle, before your turn – there is nothing fun about being left on the start line with a new team after your trainer goes to sleep!
Week 1: Friday and Saturday
Friday’s session was my customary jaunt up Alpe Du Zwift in my own Mountain Massif TT event, which is brutally hard but so much fun. This was followed by an evening ride testing some new hardware and this was followed by a Saturday 100km spin with the Race3R endurance team. Having promoted the Dempsey Challenge and given the fact that it was for cancer, there was no way I was going to miss it, so I treated it as a recovery session to prepare me for the crescendo of Sunday’s offering of suffering.
Week 1: Sunday Suffering
Sunday’s session was tough. 30 seconds at 130% of FTP, then 30 seconds rest. 30 times! This was broken into blocks of 10 with 5 minutes of recovery between each block. These 5 minutes seemed to get shorter and shorter with each block. The pain I felt mirrored that of Zwift Academy Road’s early sessions.
Catch-Up with Matt
In our weekly catch-up, Matt explained the different sessions. It is important that I have a good blend of Zone 2 training which builds your base. Zone 1, my gentle rides, are active recovery to get the blood flowing to the muscles before my harder efforts, which are designed to stretch me – most notable being Sunday’s hour of pain. A tough first week, but I enjoyed the structure.
Training Peaks + Zwift
All of these sessions are managed via the Training Peaks app. The app can be synced to Zwift and Matt as my coach can upload sessions into my account. I can then do the sessions and data from the rides are automatically uploaded to Training Peaks. This automation also means the structured sessions are automatically downloaded and appear in the “Training Peaks” workout section on Zwift. If it sounds simple, it’s because it really is.
Furthermore, if you do additional rides, these are also uploaded into Training Peaks and all you need to do is rename the activity. I have also synced my Garmin Connect account to Training Peaks and that has automatically pulled through my sporting endeavours for the last 5 years, allowing Matt to have a holistic view of what I have been doing and where I am at. (Note: historic data download can take between 5-10 days and as of writing, only partial data has been downloaded.)
Week 2: Scheduling Snafu
Week two started with a missed target. I could only manage half of my 90-minute Zone 2 ride. Disappointing, but a lesson learned is that longer sessions are probably best scheduled when commitments are less likely to impact them. So, a little more planning is required from my side.
Week 2: Session 2
If the first session of week two left me deflated, session two left me pumped!
Session two was 1 hour of intervals. I would ride for 3 minutes at just slightly below FTP, which was 330 watts, then have 2 minutes at a little lower wattage (305) and repeat this 8 times. This resulted in me clocking up 41.4km on the Tempus Fugit course, in ERG mode! This is the type of session I haven’t been doing consistently, which is probably why I have stagnated. This was the start of several tough days with a WTRL Team Time Trial, my Mountain Massif TT, and a 3-hour long ride to look forward too. Matt is monitoring progress because after each tough session, feedback is provided, so there is this extra incentive to follow the plan.
It’s interesting because having a coach feels like being part of a team. You don’t want to just improve for yourself, but you also want to deliver for your coach, who is investing their time and effort in supporting you reaching your goals. This probably explains why at the Olympics for example, the coaches are the first people the athletes go and hug, regardless if they win or lose – there is this shared investment in the outcome.
Week 2: Thursday TTT
After my customary Thursday social ride with Team Castelli, which is easily one of my favourite group rides for many reasons, primarily because they genuinely feel like a “Club ride”, I later lined up for round 2 of the Team Time Trial with the Rowe & King Gazelles, renamed the “Grim Reaper” for the Halloween offering. Fortunately, our wait time was only 4 minutes, which did not result in my trainer going to sleep (plus every few seconds I would turn the pedals a fraction to ensure the trainer stayed awake).
2 loops of the Flatland Loop on Makuri Island was unforgiving and the finish could not come fast enough. I averaged 4.5 w/kg, which is probably my highest in a Team Time Trial. The team was strong and the tactic employed was different to what I am used to. Instead of each rider going to the front and doing a turn in a specific order, riders went to the front when they felt ready. This meant that the rider at the front was always the strongest, which resulted in a high pace and a tough ride.
Week 2: Friday Fail
The two hard days (particularly the TTT) meant that my Friday race up the Alpe Du Zwift was compromised. I think I lasted halfway up the mountain before the legs gave out. I was disappointed as the previous week the event was disrupted by issues with my trainer, and this week it was my own legs that failed me. There was nothing I could do as I crawled up the mountain. I did, however, try to get some excellent marketing photos for the article. But you’ll notice how the photos don’t include any power… because at that stage I was only pushing 100 watts!
Week 2: Saturday
On my schedule for Saturday was a 3 hour or 100km ride. Fortunately, on a Saturday morning European time there are many long group rides so I opted for the Race3R Endurance ride, in part because I know many of the riders in the event. So I joined their Discord channel and chatted around the Mega Pretzel route which includes climbs up the Epic KOM (both sides) and the Volcano.
I could have done without the climbing but I stayed with the group until the unexpected happened. After exactly 3 hours and 90km into the 110km route, there was a glitch in Zwift and the group physically disappeared. It was the same for everyone, as it became the hot topic on Discord. I pushed on for another 2km but having now surpassed my 3-hour target I decided to stop. My legs certainly felt like I had done 4 hard sessions.
A recovery ride for an hour on Sunday would take my total to 9 hours. But it’s less about time, more on quality. And my legs were telling me I had done 9 quality hours on the bike.
Matt has provided my schedule for week 3, so I am all set to go! Stay tuned for a post on week 3.
Questions or Comments?
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