530miles in 7 Days
90% Top of Zone 1 power
Avg HR at the Bottom of z2
TSS was 1200 for the week
Total ride time was 40hrs15min
My wife had never done RAGBRAI and she committed to it in Jan. She did all the prescribed training. No background in cycling. She got the long down as was the goal since the route was 500 this yr. No intervals just seat time. At talking pace, this ended up being 12-13mph. I did every mile with her. She did two half days which let me stretch out for 100 miles worth of my Z2 and Z3.
Because she was slow, we had really long seat times as many of the days were 75 plus 5.5 to 7hrs in the saddle.
Most days ended up 55 % IF No punching hills as I geared way up to be able to sit on her wheel nice and slow. She had a 45 cassette and I had a 40.
Totally shocked at how tired I was getting off the bike at the end of the day. TSS was high due to LONG rides but damn they were slow and HR avg stayed really low with no real spikes as there were no efforts.
By far the most volume measured by seat time. Never have I been to 40. I’ve done 1200 TSS weeks on other weeklong trips but they were done at faster pace and not as much distance.
So was this Polarized or the IF too low?HR was Z2 Power top of Z1.
If it could be considered Base, maybe throw a Build and see what happens.
I’m quite confident that what you have done served as excellent base building week… Thou it’s still just one week.
It bothers me that Z2 has high jacked endurance training, while actual pros seem to ride a lot of Z1. I’ve searched this thing quite a lot in google and rarely if ever Z1 is considered to build aerobic fitness.
This is why i think ‘5 Zone’-model is problematic. When considering Z1 and Z2 training main thing should be how long and how tiring the training is. Z1 can be recovery if done little… But it can also improve fitness if done for hours.
Yeah it was a heck of a week. Really rode lots of time at legit Z2 all year. A Vo2 every 10 days and one Threshold per week. Normal weekly volume 8 to 10. Rest weeks at 6 hrs and one short Threshold workout towards the end of the week. It’s so dang hot here in N. Texas I’m just over it. Will ease into indoor riding till it cools off.
@tx246, looks like a fantastic week to me! Building that aerobic base doesn’t require intensity or going hard - just putting in the volume. Hence you’re tired from all the riding. I wouldn’t focus too much on the IF factor. Not really an important metric when doing this type of training. Great job on the ride!