I forget which episode number this was but it was a real good one.
By the way, i just thought of something while i was thinking about this episode while riding (not listening, thinking 
). At one point, Connor and Sebastian Weber were discussing the traditional 5x5 “Vo2max” intervals, and Sebastian said he thinks it’s weird that we call them that, and Connor mentioned that he doesn’t do these much unless an athlete has a specific need e.g. was facing a road race with a 5 min climb in it.
Question for you though: would traditional 5x5 Vo2max actually be “specificity” for a road racer? I would think that rather, these would be the kind of interval you’d use–sparingly–during general prep: they push adaptations that overall make you stronger but are not specific. I would think real specificity would be something like, have the athlete go do a long endurance ride, and throw some hard 5 minute efforts in the middle.
Or, even better, how about go on long endurance ride, halfway through, spend ten minutes ramping up from tempo to sweetspot to threshold (sort of like the lead-in to a big selection-type hill, where the field is jockeying / not letting you just roll up nosebreathing), hit your 5 minute supra threshold interval very hard, then settle back into sweetspot / tempo (mimicking when the field is deciding whether / how to take advantage of any separations). Then, rest, and repeat that a few more times.
I’d think the usual, straight-up 5x5 would be specificity for shorter racers like STXC or crits.
Is that how the coaches would approach it? Do you ever prescribe those, umm, not sure what to call them, “intervals-in-the-middle-of-an-endurance-ride” (for lack of a better term )?
