TGTTOS was active recovery - but long. And boring, but I'm not sure how you could have a stage of this type and not be boring. Still, I'm feeling 4 days in a row. The Wretched just does not sound like a terrific idea tomorrow...

I actually like TGTTOS quite a bit. It is just "different".

The Wretched is going to really suck tomorrow...

The Wretched was brutal after 4 days of suffering. It's only going to get harder. Scared of Violator. Bad.

Just finished the Wretched. I suffered but never thought about dialing it back...the "rest day" yesterday must have helped. Full disclosure, I was probably due for an FTP test before this week, but figured I wouldn't shoot myself in foot and make things harder than they had to be.

As for Violator...I'm making a point not to look at more than one ride at a time.

I'm more of a runner, i'm not used to this riding everyday thing, I'm having to dig into my older cycling shorts pile, my ass is starting to join the sufferfest.

Wretched was fine until about 10 minutes to go and hit a wall midway through second to last climb. It only gets harder from here forward.

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http://www.teamodz.com
http://www.endurancelab.fit

I couldn't do Wretched until tonight, so 24+ hrs between stages. I was surprised - wretched wasn't terrible. BUT, Rookie is scheduled for tomorrow early morning, so I'll only have about 12 hrs between stage 5 and stage 6. Hmmm... And, like everyone else, I'm not looking beyond tomorrow...

I thought The Wretched was particularly tough too...I barely made it through those last couple of power increases leading up to the final sprint. Also I am afraid of Violator, it has always been really hard on me, even with decent rest.

Well, Rookie 12 hours after Wretched...not ideal. But I did get through it at 100% FTP, so I should not complain. I had done Rookie before - a few times, but the middle race simulation seemed particularly rough this morning. The lack of discussion in this thread suggests that many here have discovered their inner Couchlandrian. I may join you. I can't do DAYT until late afternoon Friday and then I'm forced into Saturday's double stage in the early morning. I've never done AVDP, but my only effort on 9H was pretty rough. Since it is the 2nd half of a double stage with probably 18 h or less since the previous stage. Hmmm...

This is my second year. Last year's tour ended with a whimper, after some non-Sufferlandrain approved shenanigans between stages 8 and 9. I guess pacing a friend for miles 80-98 of a 100 mile trail run Saturday night thru Sunday morning wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done (I took a short cut at the end to let his minions know we were about done). However, this year's tour is going great. Sufferfest is a big part of my training; I've used the climbing and intermediate plans with great success. I got a huge kick out of dropping Jensie this morning-and we were just warming up! Not sure what's going to happen after it's all over. Knighhood is rolling around in the back of my mind...

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"A merry heart doeth good like medicine." (Proverbs 17:22)

This is the first I've heard of sufferfest but it sounds interesting, what does one need to do it? Just a laptop, your bike and a basic indoor trainer? I don't have a power meter. Just a very basic, no frills trainer.

Just those things and a willingness to Suffer! There's an app or you can purchase and download the videos, which is what I have. Go to Thesufferfest.com for info. The tour happens once a year, and the goal is to raise money for the Davis Phinney foundation for Parkinson's research. It's all virtual and done on the honor system. Check out the Tour of Sufferlandria facebook page if you need a good laugh and/or some motivation. It's great stuff!

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"A merry heart doeth good like medicine." (Proverbs 17:22)

great - thx! will look into it.

Made it through Wretched and Rookie as well, surprisingly didn't find them too bad. Hard, but not to the point that I was pondering lowering the resistance... :)
The first three stages were definitely the hardest for me so far. Today's looks interesting.... ~ 22 high power intervals...

I realize that the videos are all geared towards certain types of workouts - but if i was to download a couple of them, which are the most popular among ST users here?

It depends on what you like. I prefer the videos w/ longer intervals, so my favorites are The Hunted and HHNF. The Hunted has one 20 minute interval and HHNF has two 20 minute interval.

Yup. Add to that ISLAGIATT which is a 2hr workout with 15, 20, 20, 8 and 7:30 for its intervals. Longer intervals are good for triathlon training. I own every single one of the videos (even the running ones, but I don't really use them for more than entertainment). Some of them are not terribly useful for triathlon, but I still do them on occasion to keep my high-end power up. As much as I "like" Revolver, I don't use it as much.

Blender is another good one.

Angels and AVDP are good in the sense that they have shorter intervals (8:00 and 4:00) at SuperLT.

As for The Tour... I faded hard on The Wretched, but came back strong on The Rookie and this morning for Do As You're Told. Although I had watched DAYT while doing a different workout on my own, this was the first time I had actually done the workout. Ouch.

I am riding a wave of confidence that tomorrow's AVDP + 9H will do well. Still not sure about how Power Station + Violator is going to go. (Again, I watched Power Station for entertainment while doing a different workout, but this will be the first time I actually do the workout)

Thanks - I was looking at The Hunted. I'll try it out.

7 days FREE trial through their App. There has been a Sufferfest ad banner on the site for the past week linking you to their App promotional offer. I purchased 20 or so videos two years ago but they've added new ones. So instead, I went with the App. It is awesome having everything in one convenient place. Not to mention the video files are MASSIVE.

Blender, Local Hero, Fight Club, The Long Scream and....Rubber Glove are my favorites for TT specific work.

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Lars Finanger
Odyssey SwimRun

I just did The Hunted and while it was a good workout, didn't think it was that bad. maybe i'm doing something wrong - when they say 4/10 (i use easy Zone ish), 5-6/10…high zone 2, 7/10…zone 3, 8-9/10…zone 4, 9/10…zone 5. Is this what you all do…use your HR monitor?

You can do them based on perceived effort but if you really want them to feel like the hard mofos they are meant to be you'll want to know or find out either your FTP or Lactate Threshold numbers, and do the workouts at those numbers. All workout interval efforts are based off a % of those values (usually ABOVE your FTP/Lactose Threshold).

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Lars Finanger
Odyssey SwimRun

Thanks - can you clarify something for me? if it says to do an effort of 6/10 for example, how is that at LT level? I was under the impression that LT level is zone 5, which for me starts at hr 173-176…thats def more than a 6/10 effort for me.

7.5 on the Sufferfest scale is supposed to be your LT.

1-4 is simply "easy"
5 is what I would call "Ironman Ride" effort.
6 would be "Half Iron Ride Effort".
7 would be "Olympic Ride Effort".
7.5 being right on LT.
8, obviously just above.
9 is your VO2 max
10 is all-out sprint

thanks a lot - no wonder it didn't seem to hard. damn.

yes, what he said.

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Lars Finanger
Odyssey SwimRun

Angels and 9 Hammers are IMO the best intensity workouts, but it depends on how long you like your intervals vs intensity.