L4 training query

Watoni said:

After four straight days of this and a pair of climbs on Sunday, I am a bit fatigued but still put out better watts yesterday than I have on 2x20s for a while.

I think it would be better to do 2x20s 2x a week, but I am wondering what folks think of this catch as catch can approach when that is what can be done.

I wouldn't worry too much about scheduling in rest days - life will do that for you... If you feel good, go with it.

WRT 2x20's, lots of folks on this forum advocate them. I favor the "Hour of Power" approach. Maybe use both?

Lastly, "all you can do is all you can do".

Dave

Watoni said:

I am wondering what folks think of this catch as catch can approach when that is what can be done.

It might be hard to keep up 4x threshold week after week. Everyone is different though and you may be able to pull it off for quite some time. If you're motivated, go for it. There will certainly be weeks when you are not though.

Many people find that they put out good or better threshold numbers when they are less than fresh.

Watoni, if your training time is limited, especially to an hour or so, you[font=Verdana][font='Times New Roman']’[/font]ll get the most bang for your buck by using the trainer. Unlike outside, the resistance is constant, and you will be pedaling the whole time. If I had only an hour to train L4, I would warm up for 15-20 min. and then hold L4 power for 40-45 min. That workout will get you burning.[/font]

Not to mention, if you keep a bike set up on a trainer, you can cut your ride prep time and use that for your training time.

Steve_B said:

It might be hard to keep up 4x threshold week after week. Everyone is different though and you may be able to pull it off for quite some time. If you're motivated, go for it. There will certainly be weeks when you are not though.

Many people find that they put out good or better threshold numbers when they are less than fresh.

Bailsibub said:

If I had only an hour to train L4, I would warm up for 15-20 min. and then hold L4 power for 40-45 min.

I realize that this is largely a personal matter... I find 5-6 min's of warm up more than adequate on the trainer. This leaves more time for L4 work.

Dave

Bailsibub said:

Watoni, if your training time is limited, especially to an hour or so, you[font=Verdana][font='Times New Roman']’[/font]ll get the most bang for your buck by using the trainer. Unlike outside, the resistance is constant, and you will be pedaling the whole time. If I had only an hour to train L4, I would warm up for 15-20 min. and then hold L4 power for 40-45 min. That workout will get you burning.[/font]

Not to mention, if you keep a bike set up on a trainer, you can cut your ride prep time and use that for your training time.

I see the logic of that, and did this when I lived in cold climates (using a Cardgirus trainer).

Now that I live in California it seems silly to ride indoors when I am not a pro or its not dangerous weather (black ice).

It takes me about 5 minutes from home to get to the base of a 25-30 minute climb, and get a 45 minute workout in. I often just descend the other side (though it is a rough road) and get another 30-40 minutes of climbing in in 1.5 hours.

What I really need to do is ride more, but I also need to work on things like descending, etc.

I am wondering if when I get longer rides in I should do more SST rather than L4, which will allow for more total work. Since I tend to ride longer centuries and double centuries, solid SST/L4 seems of more use than L5 or above

This weekend I just rode for fun but had a 2.5 hour ride with 30 minutes L4 (average 295 with a 284 threshold) , 16 minutes L4/L5 (average 311 watts), 7 minutes L4/L5 (average 315) and the rest descending or L2/L3

I am thinking I should try to get a very long ride with lots of SST (a total of 1.5-2 hours?). I did well on a 140 mile ride several weeks ago but faded on the last climb, down from 260 watts on the first climbs to 220 on Coleman Valley Road, and it is not a long climb. If it were Alpe d'Huez I would have been in big trouble!