[sam.ley]

sam.ley on June 9, 2019 at 10:53 pm · in reply to: I can't think of a reasonable usage for these #23254

I don’t think there IS a reasonable use for those…

[sam.ley]

sam.ley on June 9, 2019 at 10:47 pm · in reply to: TrainingPeaks Interface – Best Way to Modulate Volume #23253

Realized all that might be a bit confusing, so here is a screenshot of my ATP “synced” to my UA training volume. You can see my “too high ramp” week which it warned me about. The warning was accurate, it kicked my butt. 😉

[sam.ley]

sam.ley on June 9, 2019 at 10:41 pm · in reply to: TrainingPeaks Interface – Best Way to Modulate Volume #23252

I don’t think there is a way to bump up everything at once, though I think the ATP plan view is a good way to look at your upcoming volume.

I set my ATP plan based on the same objective date I used to start my UA plan (IE, set them to “finish” at the same time. Then in the ATP view, I drag the ATP bars up or down (usually up) to meet the “planned” bars from the UA training plan. This makes my ATP “line up” to my UA plan (the filled fitness graph will line up with the dotted graph.

The nice thing about this is that with your UA plan and ATP plan “synced up”, you can make quick adjustments using the ATB bars to add or remove volume, and benefit from the ATP’s calculation of what your fitness/form will be. It will warn you if it thinks you are ramping too hard, and you can play with adding volume until your predicted form values get below the point you want to be at, then you can back off a bit.

After you’ve dialed the volume in, you can go back to those actual weeks and add the actual workouts needed to increase the volume, adding TSS to existing workouts, or copy/pasting some workouts in. But since you already dialed the volume in with the ATP bars, you don’t have to do all that work only to find out that your form will be -100. 😉

Hope that helps,
Sam

[sam.ley]

sam.ley on June 2, 2019 at 7:35 pm · in reply to: How much is too much? #22836

In my experience I have had to reduce some of my “fun” activities in favor of the structured training, but I do keep some. I’d suggest starting out the plan as faithfully as you can, without adding anything on top, or modifying the workouts much. As you get used to it, you’ll probably find that some of the hikes or runs called for aren’t that different from a recreational hike you’d do anyway, so you can do some swapping of a workout for something you’d do anyway, just think of it a bit as a workout, and try to hit the target exertions.

I will say that I’m in the 16 week plan now, and there are BIG weeks coming, especially later on after your base is built up. You do not want want to overdo it during those periods – the fitness ramp rate is already very high. When you see a big week coming, be rested for it.

[sam.ley]

sam.ley on May 26, 2019 at 2:33 pm · in reply to: Weighted Hill Climbs: a bike trick to preserve your knees #22544

I love it! I might try it out next week, there is a great MTB ride near me that has a steep and deeply unpleasant climb, followed by a long and awesome flow singletrack descent. Just hiking the ascent with the pack and making it a Z3 weighted climb would be ideal. I’m sure I’ll get some strange looks!

[sam.ley]

sam.ley on May 12, 2019 at 9:42 pm · in reply to: Specific Period…I've been carrying too much weight? #21939

I’m still intermediate at all this, but I’d suggest that you continue with the weight progressions, even if it is more than you need for your objective. I’d read “50% of the weight” as a more general “less than you COULD carry, but more than is comfortable”. As long as you aren’t overtraining, and feeling good, then might as well keep getting more fit.

No one ever completed an objective saying, “I was just too fit/strong/healthy!”

[sam.ley]

sam.ley on May 12, 2019 at 7:07 pm · in reply to: Aerobic Threshold test questions #21931

– First 30 minutes low: 132 / high: 148 / Ave: 141
– Second 30 minutes low: 143 / high: 154 / Ave: 147

I’m just another guy working this out for myself, but from my understanding of the test, your AeT would be 141 bpm, since that was your starting point. 4.2% is very close to 5% – even if your “real” AeT is one BPM higher, you are probably in the noise of the test. I’d recommend basing your training on the 141 value for now, and in several weeks, test again.

If that felt super slow, take heart – my AeT has been rising steadily with the low intensity training and is now ~158-160. I’m running much faster paces than before, all while comfortably nose-breathing. It does work, it just takes some time.