Summary: It was a week of learning thanks to my fitness community and new connections. I’m going to continue using TrainerRoad (TR) and add a lot more easy hours of indoor cycling to my routine. Spending a bulk of my time on the bike at a lower heart rate will eventually adapt my body to be more efficient at burning fat, which is favorable to burning carbs since we naturally have more of this fuel source on board.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
| Rest | Strength: 0.75 hr TR Ride: 1.00 hr at Sweet Spot | Strength: 0.75 hr | Strength: 0.75 hr TR Ride: 1.00 hr at Sweet Spot | Strength: 0.75 hr | TR Ride: 1.50 hr at Threshold | TR Ride: 1.00 hr Endurance |
| Second day of rest | Set a new 1-hr average power record. | Reduced to a 1-hr endurance ride. | Nailed it while perceived effort was high. | TR reduced to 45 minutes but I added extra easy time on the BikeErg. |
“TR” = TrainerRoad. I don’t have an affiliation with TrainerRoad.
Monday: TR recommended either an endurance workout or another day of rest. I chose rest, which is unlike me… read about my experience in The practice of rest.
Tuesday: I woke up excited to train and crushed the Sweet Spot workout TR planned. These aren’t shaping up to be my favorite style of workout because it’s hard to stay focused on hitting the same wattage for so long… but I let the perfectionist in me take a rest while I did my best. I set a new average power personal best for one hour!
Wednesday: My strength training routine called for a mix of upper and lower body exercises and it was a quick, focused thirty minutes. That lighter time demand makes it more likely for me to do this work regularly.
Thursday: I had a call with a coach recommended by friends and she helped me bridge how my knowledge of endurance training from running applies to cycling. With that insight, I manually adjusted my TR planned high intensity workout to a low intensity endurance ride. A post about this advice will be forthcoming!
Friday: I tried a new routine from my strength coach; she thought I would love it and she was right!
Saturday: The TR workout was a hard effort. I experimented with which muscles to recruit and what cadence would hit the watt targets for each interval throughout the workout. It was great practice in learning to engage my core, pelvic floor, glutes, and hamstrings in the “pull” of my pedal stroke rather than just smashing the stuffing out of the pedals on the downstroke.
I also chuckled at the HR data in Strava when I reviewed the workout. I did not flatline during this workout, thank you very much.
Sunday: I got extra easy zone 2 time on the BikeErg to continually build my base endurance.