I’m with you @SteveHerman. Most of my debriefs consist of I was so busy with my tongue in my spokes that I didn’t see what was happening up front. Then I just finished the day with a solo ride, or some other poor soul popped as well and we had a casual fun ride for the rest of the day!
No complaints, just my reality.
Heh… trust me I get it. I’m just so used to tongue-hanging-out syndrome that I’m able to remember other things now. Every time I step up on the start line, my only certainty is that it’s going to hurt.
In all seriousness though, that’s something I work on with all of my athletes. Races never stop hurting. The trick is to train your body to “be okay” with the pain. It’s a really hard thing to do. But on the flip side, never feel bad if you’re in a race and hurting. Everyone is.
Nearing the End of the Toughest Part of the Season
Every successful season I’ve had, there’s a period around late March or April which is the hardest part of the season for me - I’m tired, it’s not fun and performance really suffers which is tough on the ego, but it’s necessary for me. Thankfully, I’m in my last week of that phase and this year has been particularly hard.
But before I explain, I need to give my big disclaimer - what I’m doing right now is dangerous. Dangerous in terms of risking going into a non-functional overreach. As much as my winter camps are big and fatiguing, they are acute and never that big a risk. This phase is different. This block I’m in right now is the one phase where I truly flirt with the edge and there are certainly points where I felt I might have gone over. So, if you’re emulating what I’m doing, please be careful. Done effectively this work makes you a tough racer. Done wrong it can end seasons. And even after years of practice I still find it hard to get it right…
So, the purpose of this block I’m in right now is to overload my legs with high intensity work and teach them to handle it. Doing a solid set of intervals fresh is one thing, but being able to push through pain and fatigue and keep riding strong is different. So, while I’m always talking on the podcast about doing interval work fresh, I’m forcing myself to do the opposite. It’s not fun.
Here’s what it looks like for me right now:
This graph shows my volume of high intensity work each week. Look particularly at the maroon bars which is the really hard muscle-tearing high end work. You can see all winter I was barely touching those systems. That’s why the training was always pretty manageable and never pushing any over-reach boundaries. The last four weeks I have flipped that, making them the four hardest weeks of my season.
Right now my typical week is two really hard sessions during the week and then a race on the weekend. During the week it’s a mix of Tabata work and Zwift training races. But the idea is not to get a 30 minute “fun” race and call it a day. I’m making them hard and fatiguing by doing two or three races back-to-back.
I really started to feel the impact of this routine two weeks ago. On the Friday, I did three Zwift races back-to-back and pretty much crawled off my bike. The next day I struggled through a three hour ride and then had a race on the Sunday. I talk about the race above, but it did not go well. I left with my tail between my legs feeling pretty dejected. I was popped 5 minutes into the race and ended up in the field behind my field. Even then, I was struggling so much with the big attacks that I started leading the field up the climbs to prevent attacks.
At any other point in the season, if I felt that bad, the plan would go out the window and I would rest until my legs were back. But that’s not what this block is about…
So, on the Tuesday after my failed race, I did two VO2max tests in the morning and a Zwift race in the evening. Again, I could really feel the fatigue in the legs. I just forced them to get through it. On Thursday I did Tabata intervals but only got through a set and a half. This was the point where I wondered if I had gone over the edge…
Saturday I went to another race. And finally I started to feel the rebound I effect I was hoping for. The legs were still tired, but they were handling it. It still hurt to respond to a jump, but I could do it now.
Unfortunately, I flatted out of the race near the end, but just before that we hit a short climb fast. I looked over to a Mesa State rider beside me who was breathing hard and rocking all over his bike. I wasn’t struggling the way he was. And for the first time in weeks, I started to feel like I had race legs again.
I have one week of this overload left. It was touch and go for a while. I wondered if I had overdone it, but now I feel like I may actually get through it successfully. It’s reminding me of just how hard I had to train back when I was racing full time. I had forgotten how much pain and fatigue you have to push to hit those higher levels. Fingers crossed it will show in my racing next month…
So what’s the purpose of what I’m doing? It’s about building a particular type of toughness or stamina. I’m training my legs to be able to race even when tired and damaged. It’s not something that really shows up in the data. The closest I’ve found is a fatigue chart that shows your power-duration curves after you’ve expended increasing levels of calories. The idea is you want the graphs to be as close as possible (i.e. you can put out just as much power after a lot of work as you can when you’re fresh.) Here’s what I looked like last year when my durability was not good:
Here’s what I look like now:
My sprint power needs some work so I have something to attack with late in a race, but that longer, more aerobic power seems to be a lot more fatigue resistant.
Thanks for reading! More to come…
Nice work @trevor, very inspirational. Question, with your stage race not being until August, why are you doing this now? Wouldn’t it make more sense to do it closer to your “A” race? Or are you planning a good rest then build up and repeat this cycle again? Would you call this “block periodization”?
@trevor… Other curiosities with your current block:
Hi @robertehall1, good questions! And yes that’s exactly it… I’m doing a block of racing now to chip a lot of rust off. Then I’ll take a break in June and then do my second build to the target event.
To be honest, I worry even with the double build if I’ll be ready. I’ve lost a lot of top end fitness. Last year with no targets or racing, I ended up just doing what I enjoy - long rides and threshold work. I didn’t do anything to hit my biggest weakness in races - my anaerobic capacity. And it’s really showing. To give you an idea, I’m doing an interval workout right now that has always worked well for me - 15x15s. I did them last week and barely finished. In my 15 second efforts I was averaging around 450-480 watts. I checked back 10 years ago and I was generally over 600 watts. That’s a really big difference and really shows why I haven’t been able to respond to the attacks in the races I’ve done over the past few weeks. I have a lot of work to do…
To answer your other questions, yes, I’m really trying to hit my anaerobic systems. I feel pretty good about my aerobic fitness right now. But with my current mix I’m just going to be really good at chasing at a fast steady pace after the field has popped me. Need to make sure I don’t get popped.
I’m only periodically doing Zwift races. I’m not particular about the race, I just pick the time I want to be on the bike and look for races that seem like they will be hard. I want them to really hurt and force me to do what I’m not good at right now - respond to attacks and get over the kicker climbs. If I enter a race and it’s not hurting enough I drop out and find another one that’s sufficiently painful.
I am still doing weights and actually doing pretty heavy weights. That’s actually not typical for me. Normally I’m on a maintenance routine by this time of year. But with my target race in late August, I decided to shift my weights. But I’m well aware that the weights are doing damage and hurting my performance on the weekends.
Well good on ya. From an outsiders view, it looks like you’re doing well. I wish it were a game of “Catan” and I could swap you some anaerobic for aerobic cards. On the bright side, isn’t anaerobic ability quick to develop? It must be a bit of a mind twist for you in chasing your prior form. A good challenge indeed. What will determine success for you at Joe Martin? Thinking of it, that would be a good post from all the coaches … define what will be a successful N1 challenge.
Thanks for all the info.
Survived the Fatigue Phase (I Think)
Well, I seem to have come through what’s always the toughest part of the season for me when I’m training to be at my best. I had forgotten and was surprised all over again, the difference between achieving 90% of the peak level you’re capable of vs trying to get 100%. I’ve been at 90% the last five years and while it takes good hard training, it’s never a struggle. But getting that extra 10% requires a level of fatigue and pain I haven’t gone through in a while. I’ve never stopped polarizing my training but this year I’ve taken it to a volume and “unwillingness to compromise” that’s different from what I’ve done the past five years. About two weeks ago, getting on the bike and doing anything was a struggle. I really questioned if I was overdoing it.
Last week was the final week of my big three week fatigue block. I did intervals on Wednesday that started as a struggle but I finished them feeling pretty good. On the weekend I did a 3.5 hour ride with intervals on Saturday and then did a race on Sunday - the Koppenberg Classic. At the race, I got caught in a crash off the start line so I was solo the whole race. But who am I kidding, the way my legs felt and with the nature of the course I wasn’t going to last 10 minutes.
That said, my legs felt different last week - more like what I used to remember. Tired and worked, but they felt like they could keep going. In the race, even being sore and beat up, I chased solo at about 330 watts which is good for me. That gave me some confidence. I still have a lot of work to do to compete with the cat 1/2’s but it was also a nice boost to the confidence to see that my solo time was four minutes faster than the winning 50+ time.
It’s hard to explain, but I’m coming out of this fatigue block with different legs than I’ve had in years. Not stronger (yet,) but more resistant. Wish I could think of a better word
The other big realization of this fatigue block was how much I’ve let my anaerobic systems “fade” over the past few years. Especially last year. With COVID and no racing, I just did what I enjoy - threshold work all year. I didn’t eat my metaphorical vegetables and I’m paying for it.
Two weeks ago, I started an anaerobic capacity workout that has worked really well for me in the past - eight minute sets of 15x15 seconds. Here’s what they look like:
But here’s what was really shocking. This was my typical power for each 15 second effort last week (look at the top right corner for each lap):
I was right around 450 watts. By contrast, here’s a typical set from April of 2011:
All above 600 watts! That’s a 150+ watt difference between now and then - that’s REALLY REALLY big. No wonder I’m getting popped in races. Sebastian Webber told me my VLamax is bad, but I didn’t realize just how bad it has gotten until I saw this contrast in my intervals.
Fortunately, to answer @robertehall1’s question, this system can be trained fairly quickly. Especially because some of it is neurological which can turn around in a week or two. Case in point, here’s my set from today:
Still far off my 2011 numbers, but 50+ watts higher than last week.
I know where I’m putting my focus throughout May!
The first race I care about is this weekend - Steamboat Roubaix. Fingers crossed!
@trevor, what were your 4DP numbers like? I am curious but definitely not trying to compare or d&ck measure or whatever, really i am curious about teh relationship between the values for someone like you. Like, you have said that you are more of a pure endurance / time trial type rider, so in particular i’m curious what your 1 min power at hte end looks like. I could imagine it being high (because strong aerobic capacity helps you very quickly replete that battery) or is it low (in comparison to your 5 and 20 numbers) because of your overall stronger aerobic bent.
Hi @BikerBocker, happy to share. Generally, my 1 minute power is pretty abysmal. There’s a few reasons for that. First, that’s just the way I’m built. Second, I tend to only do the test in the winter when I’m not working on that system at all. And third, since I’m not working on that system and hate the one minute test at the end, I don’t really give it my all.
So here’s the results of my 4DP tests over the last few years:
What may give a better answer to your question is the following graph that shows a riders power compared to various levels. I’ve never fully agreed with the levels… Dr Coggan developed them back when doping was pretty rampant, but they are good for showing your relative strengths and weaknesses:
The dark bars are my numbers from 10 years ago, the light bars are my current numbers. You can see that my 1 minute power has always been my weakest asset.
I was actually surprised to see my five minute power was relatively higher than my 20 minute power ten years ago, but back then I wasn’t doing the 4DP and there weren’t any 20 minute time trials, so I don’t think I ever really gave a full 20 minute effort (i.e. all of my all-out efforts were either 5-10 minute climbs or 45+ minute time trials.) Knowing the type of rider I am, my 20 minute power should be on par with or better than my five minute power (as you see in this year’s numbers.)
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing!
And okay, last question on this: is sleeping on crappy floors part of the challenge or what. Because I’d think that at this point in your life you could probably skip that part of it if you wanted to.
Sleepy on crappy floors is definitely still part of it… wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t. That said I have a sleeping pad I’ve learned to take to races with me.
Really great work! You’re definitely putting in the hard work!
If your objective is to increase your vlamax, are you sure that these deep fatigue blocks will have that effect? Wouldn’t heavy, explosive weights plus maximal sprints with long recoveries stimulate the glycolytic pathways more efficiently than hammering them at a sub-maximal wattage?
I have the opposite problem: my vlamax is far too high (0.7), and without the time available to get in frequent long lsd rides I’ve been increasing my training frequency (with twice a day commuting), slight overgearing/low cadence, and some tempo/sweet spot used sparingly.
Hi @SteveHerman, I’d saying raising my VLamax is one of my objectives and not the most important one. I need it good enough to cover the moves, but if I’m fatiguing rapidly in the race or don’t have the overall aerobic engine to sit comfortably in the field, then I won’t be there when we get to the point where VLamax is going to be important.
As I get closer to the race, I’m going to do 3-4 weeks of a sprint workout that I’ll do fresh. It’s really good at raising VLamax. But it’s for later. Right now the focus is on the things that take longer to build.
Pretty impressive you have a 0.7! You’d definitely kill me in a sprint. Sounds like you’re doing the right things with the time you have to bring that aerobic engine up!
Well Maybe I Didn’t Survive As Well As I Thought
Sorry I haven’t given an update in a bit. Probably a little lack of motivation on that front since things are not going as well as I had hoped and it’s never a fun thing to write about. But got to talk about the tough moments along with the good…
Last report, I was coming out of a long period of working my fatigue resistance and looking forward to the first race that I really cared about. I thought things had gone well and finally with easier week of training, I felt I could go to the Steamboat Roubaix with good legs. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out that way.
At the race, I thought it was altitude, but the reality is the legs just weren’t great. And the motivation probably followed the legs.
The first hour went well - I was at the front, getting in breaks, chasing moves, and feeling part of the race. At the 20 mile mark, we hit our first climb. I crested second wheel to a guy who had been in the breakaway at the 2019 Tour of Utah. Felt pretty good about that. Then we came over the top, did a short downhill, turned onto a relatively easy dirt road, and I got popped. Didn’t even realize I was getting popped until it was too late. (I had a GoPro, so if you really want me to embarrass myself, I’ll upload the 5 minutes of going from leading to popped…)
I chased hard and almost caught the field at one point, but chasing all day just wasn’t the position I wanted to find myself in. After a bit, I caught a few riders and went to the finish with a good partner for 12th place (which sounds good except there were only about 20 in the race.) Basically I got another good workout, but not a good race:
I did some Zwift races the next day (ended up in a race with Dr Seiler for an hour) and then concluded I needed a recovery week. Boy was I right. Didn’t touch my bike for three days and can’t say I was upset about that. I then rode easy for a few more. A week after Steamboat I did an interval workout and was shocked how much stronger I felt. Clearly a lot more fatigue had built up in the legs than I had thought. Obviously, I didn’t come out of my fatigue block as well as I thought.
Tomorrow, I race Superior Morgul and I’m hoping that the legs will be much better. But I know I still have a lot more work to turn around my race legs. I’ll report how it went either way.
But regardless of what happens at Superior Morgul, I admit, it’s not the fact that I had a bad race two weeks ago that has me concerned. I’ve had more than a few of those in the past. What has me concerned is how much I’m struggling to handle my current training load when I compare it to what I used to do…
A couple days ago, @ryan and I looked at my 2009 spring. i had always remember 2009 as a pretty bad year when I wasn’t able to train as much as I wanted. I was shocked to see what I was doing in May that year compared to this year. Here’s four weeks of my TP records from this time in 2009:
That “bad year” was at a level of training well beyond what I’m doing now. And what scares me a little is I handled it just fine then. By contrast I’m struggling with the lower level of training I’m doing now.
A book that made a huge difference in my own riding career was Jack Daniel’s Running Formula. He starts by explaining the fundamental principles of training. One of his last principles was that time erodes memory. He explains it as we forget how hard we had to work to achieve a particular level.
I’m just learning how true that principle is. I’m really only just starting to remember what it took to race at the level I want to be at by end of August and I won’t lie, it has me a little scared.
After I race Steamboat tomorrow, I’m going to sit down, rework my plan and see if I can both work in and more importantly, handle, something closer to what I used to do. Fingers crossed!
Sorry for the doom and gloom in this update… but got to share the bad with the good if you’re going to share the full experience.
Thanks for reading!
Out of curiosity, how did you manage your CTL ramp into your fatigue week? Was it like 2009?
As for the doom and gloom, it’s all part of the training/racing process and the honest discussion and learning from the good and the bac is what I like about this forum. If I wanted sunshine and rainbows, I’d go to Instagram 
Really appreciate that @ntnyln! Will definitely keep giving you the honest assessment good or bad.
My build was actually very similar to 2009 and 2010. I actually modelled my training this year after those years. And certainly just like those years I was fatigued and struggling a bit in late-March/early-April. What was different then was I came out the other side strong and ready to go.
@ryan and I had a good talk about it yesterday and drew some conclusions that I like. I think I’m not factoring in my age and also my work hours now. Back then I could do 900+ TSS weeks many weeks in a row and handle it. Now I don’t think that’s possible. I need to bigger 900+ weeks to be able to compete at a race like Joe Martin, but Ryan and I both felt I have to approach it differently now.
So, my new plan… I’m going to start doing three week blocks with two weeks comparable to what I used to do (850+ TSS) but then make the third week a recovery week. We think that’s just a reality of age and if I’m going to train that hard again, I need to recover more frequently. Fingers crosssed!
@trevor That’s what my coach and I found I needed to do. I’m going to be 52 here shortly and two years ago a 750 TSS week was really big for me. When we decided to target a podium at Master’s Nat’s, we started pushing it up and I was doing blocks of 750, 850 and then 950 TSS weeks. I would crack by the weekend of the 3rd week and then even when I recovered, I will still have a mid season meltdown that required time off.
We then moved to a 2/1 and now 650 is my light week and by two big weeks average over 900. I’m in a block of two weeks of 1000+ TSS and while tired, still riding strong.
Hooray for getting older. It definitely adds some interesting flavor to being competitive to versus staying fit. Keep up the great work on and off the bike and sharing your experiences. There’s a lot to be learned here. Appreciate it.
HI @ntnyln, great to hear that you’re taking that approach and it’s working for you. Have to admit I’m very bad at recognizing that I’m getting older and need to make some changes…
Forgive the short message, but for some reason I have a need to go home and play Super Mario on my NES.
Trevor, when you do a recovery week, how do you decide again when to start training?
I’m dong one right now after a very heavy 2.5 weeks and took Monday off, Tuesday easy and short, wednesday easy and longer. Yesterday, whenever i started riding again after a stop light or whatever, i had that feeling of dull but growing pain and pressure in the legs that eventually went away after i kept pedaling, but felt pretty bad in the moment.
Today, I am going to do another easy ride. If I don’t have that type of pain, should i throw in some openers and then test tomorrow and start training again?
or would you take one extra day–in other words, get yourself one full day of feeling good–before throwing in the openers and testing and training?
Also more importantly, which NES version we talkin about here
