TravelingTri wrote:
One of the better threads generated recently with great discussion points. Nice one Winter shade.
I don’t think that adding a 30-45 min spin or a 30 min commute is going to do much for you. Reasons being to detailed to go into posting on an iPhone but it has to do with philosophies regarding training “time limited” athletes vs non-time limited athletes.
Thanks TravelingTri. I agree that many great points have been raised by contributors, so thank you all for that. I'd be curious (when you're not on an iphone) to elaborate on why you don't think a few shorter Z2 rides would be beneficial.
A few folks here have suggested adding some additional run or swim workouts. I think this is the right answer for most time limited athletes who want to build their aerobic base and/or address swimming or running weakness. I'm certain that there can be great benefits from more frequent, shorter, easy session for running and swimming. For swimming, being so technique intensive, I think the benefit is greatest with almost no downside. And for running, I also have no doubt that if your bio-mechanics are sound, a lot can be gained from frequent 4-6 mile easy runs, though there are more overuse injury risks. There are Olympic medals and world records to back this up.
I just wonder, what is the right answer for people like me, whose
performance limiter is bike-specific fitness, and even more particularly bike "strength endurance" or the ability to ride at/near my FTP for long periods of time. My legs just turn to jello. I can barely walk at the end of an IM, but I bet I could still crack out a low-mid 20 min 1.5K swim.
So I guess to reiterate my question:
is there a training benefit from adding short easy base miles on the bike, like there is with swimming and running? Or, per conventional wisdom, do base mileage workouts on the bike need to be of much longer duration (90+ minutes) for their to be much of a benefit?
If the answer to the above is no, I suppose the follow-up question is, should I add 45 min of sweet-spot interval riding (85-95% of FTP) a couple evenings/week. It most targets my specific weakness. My concern here, knowing myself, is I worry this would materially increase training load, require more recovery, and potentially compromise my other quality sessions. I'm not sure I'd have the time, but I think doing longer 90 min evening rides would be easier for me to recovery from. I know I respond well to high volume, and quickly slip into injury/over-training when I push to far on intensity.