mvenneta wrote:
....This stuff works - just a question in my mind does it work as well as others.
But this is by far, no doubt in my mind, the most fun
structured training Iāve ever done and Iāve been at this for 10 years now
I wouldn't call races "structured training". It's scheduled but I wouldn't call it structured.
I've been using Zwift heavily for about 16 months. Races work really well to motivate me for sustained hard efforts, and it sounds like you are finding the same. I'm certain they will make you fitter. However, I doubt they're the best way to do it, in isolation. As others have touched on, your efforts will be effected as much by what other riders are doing as by what you're capable of. Either consciously or subconsciously you'll likely hold a little back when you can to allow you respond to attacks or fight it out in a sprint. This is not quite the same as a structured workout, where you know what's coming, you know what you should be able to do and you'll more likely pace yourself evenly for sustained efforts. For example, if you are drafting in a group while doing 260W, increasing your output to 280W will probably achieve nothing. It may or may not be enough to move to the front of the group but it won't be enough to raise the group's speed. So, you'll likely either sit at 260W, raise the power a little just temporarily to do a turn at the front, or raise it significantly to make an attack. That's just one example of how tactics will inevitably dictate how hard you work and when, more so than your ability alone.
I do some races on Zwift and I consider them very valuable training tools but I also do both structured workouts and some terrain based intervals like ZenTriBrett mentioned.
Typically I'll do a mix of some longer outdoor rides, combined with say a 2x20min@95%FTP session and a VO2max session each week. Sometimes I'll replace one of those two sessions with a race or a difficult group ride. Other times I'll replace them with a terrain based session. For example, I think hill repeats on the short hill just after the start/finish area in Watopia is perfect for VO2max training. I'll do a warm-up and then head for the hill, do say 6-8 reps aiming for a time just short of my PB and then cool down. It's easy to pick turnaround points that give the desired amount of recovery. So at present (carrying a little extra weight) I can get up that hill in about 2:30, so I do reps where I aim for about 2:35-2:45 and that puts me around 115-125%FTP. The stimulus is different than just staring at the wattage and the countdown timer on a programmed workout but it's essentially the same thing. Likewise I'll occasionally go up the big mountain "Epic" climb either forward or reverse as a long interval for either sweetspot or threshold effort training. Forwards is shallower but longer and takes me about an extra 4 minutes compared to the reverse direction. Just below FTP it takes me about 22 minutes reverse and 26 minutes forwards either of which is a good interval length for a 90-100%FTP effort. Repeat one side or do one of each. On occasion just go up it once at about 105%FTP and try and set a new PB.
Variety is good, for the body and the mind.
One other thing, while races are good motivation, if you're training for TTs or triathlons, it's also important to be able to motivate yourself when riding solo against the clock at a consistent pace. I think long hard intervals like a 2x20min session works very well to prepare you for that. But if I only do that, I get bored.
ZenTriBrett wrote:
Pay attention to when you climb the hills. There's a 3 minute hill, a 5 minute hill, a 10 minute hill, and you can turn the mountain into a 20 or 30 minute hill. Ride those hills at lactic threshold or higher efforts and scatter them about your ride as if they are intervals on a formal workout. Ride everything else easy. Watch FTP shoot through the roof.