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Zwift racing, how often
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Curious about people's experiences with doing numerous zwift races during a week. I read an article about a guy who is supposedly the top ranked racer on zwift power, he is 40-years-old and races pretty much 6 days a week. He said it wasn't a big deal because the races were all an hour or less and it was a pretty similar training load to his college swimming days or even easier.

I feel like I'd get tired doing those races day after day I wonder if your body would adapt? I also feel like I would kind of start to dread them after a while.
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Re: Zwift racing, how often [jroden] [ In reply to ]
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jroden wrote:
Curious about people's experiences with doing numerous zwift races during a week. I read an article about a guy who is supposedly the top ranked racer on zwift power, he is 40-years-old and races pretty much 6 days a week. He said it wasn't a big deal because the races were all an hour or less and it was a pretty similar training load to his college swimming days or even easier.

I feel like I'd get tired doing those races day after day I wonder if your body would adapt? I also feel like I would kind of start to dread them after a while.

We are all different. Some with superior experience and genetics might be able to handle 6 days of racing a week, other might not. I personally won't be able to; 3 (maybe 4) days per week of that level of workout is enough for me.

Basically similar to how some could run 80 miles a week, while for others, 50 miles/week is pushing it
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Re: Zwift racing, how often [jroden] [ In reply to ]
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That guy probably only races 3-4x/week, max. His team will be racing every day, but will also take a day or two off.

I personally race between 4-6 times per week, but no races lasting longer than 40-55 minutes. I struggled initially but my body definitely adapted. That said, I always take at least 1 day off the bike per week, and will sprinkle in an easy day or two if the back-to-back days become too difficult.

Challenge yourself to 5 races/week, or find a schedule that is conservative (races that start easy and don't begin racing for 10-15k are really good for this).

Good luck!
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Re: Zwift racing, how often [eganski] [ In reply to ]
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has that schedule made you a better outdoor rider? I'm a slow starter and have lost top end with age, I think e-racing would his some weak spots for me that need work
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Re: Zwift racing, how often [jroden] [ In reply to ]
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That's a great question, I don't know. I haven't ridden outside since April of last year (when my 2nd kid was born). My numbers are higher now than they were even 10 years ago when I was in my early 30s, so I'm sure my outdoor riding would reflect that.
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Re: Zwift racing, how often [jroden] [ In reply to ]
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I have been doing 4-6 races per week and sometimes 2 races in one day. Mostly on the short side of things 35-45 min with some in the 15-25 min range. Most of the races are around my ftp or a little bellow. I am on the top of the B category so most races are not crazy difficult and I spend most of the time thinking about how the final sprint is going to be so long races get boring. I have been doing some A races and those are much harder and I need time to recover.
My ftp and vo2max are higher than it has ever been and I am 40 years old.
I also got faster outside, at least in the short stuff. I was able to do 12% more power than my best effort in the past 4 years in 10 mile the TT that my cycling club runs weekly. Even when I did it after racing on zwift in the morning I was able to do higher power than past years.

Tiago
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Sponsors: : Blueseventy :
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Re: Zwift racing, how often [jroden] [ In reply to ]
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I have a physical job and work 12hour shifts both days and nights, and am 58 years old, I did a race series on Zwift last year and twice a week races were more than I could handle.
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Re: Zwift racing, how often [mikemelbrooks] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for the replies maybe I will treat it like track and get some intensity during the winter time along with some longer fat bike rides and Nordic skiing for the endurance.
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Re: Zwift racing, how often [jroden] [ In reply to ]
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jroden wrote:
Curious about people's experiences with doing numerous zwift races during a week. I read an article about a guy who is supposedly the top ranked racer on zwift power, he is 40-years-old and races pretty much 6 days a week. He said it wasn't a big deal because the races were all an hour or less and it was a pretty similar training load to his college swimming days or even easier.

I feel like I'd get tired doing those races day after day I wonder if your body would adapt? I also feel like I would kind of start to dread them after a while.

My favorite Zwift race is the 9.8mi Crit City race, which takes about 20min to complete.

It’s just the right amount of intensity and duration for me.

https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney
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Re: Zwift racing, how often [plant_based] [ In reply to ]
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I'm 54 and have only raced a few times, way too may variables for the races to be fair. I just pick routes and ride them, though I do a few group rides.
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Re: Zwift racing, how often [BrzilianTri] [ In reply to ]
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Many high end B racers can race that much, because they are coasting / sandbagging... not pushing to their limits, and just win sprints

If you actually raced to your potential, you’d be an A, and then prob Have your ranking / # of races be a bit more reasonable

Just a guess :)

BrzilianTri wrote:
I have been doing 4-6 races per week and sometimes 2 races in one day. Mostly on the short side of things 35-45 min with some in the 15-25 min range. Most of the races are around my ftp or a little bellow. I am on the top of the B category so most races are not crazy difficult and I spend most of the time thinking about how the final sprint is going to be so long races get boring. I have been doing some A races and those are much harder and I need time to recover.
My ftp and vo2max are higher than it has ever been and I am 40 years old.
I also got faster outside, at least in the short stuff. I was able to do 12% more power than my best effort in the past 4 years in 10 mile the TT that my cycling club runs weekly. Even when I did it after racing on zwift in the morning I was able to do higher power than past years.
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Re: Zwift racing, how often [mvenneta] [ In reply to ]
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Pretty bad guess unless you are talking about someone else. Because if you are talking about me, you clearly didn't read what I wrote .

Tiago
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Sponsors: : Blueseventy :
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Re: Zwift racing, how often [jroden] [ In reply to ]
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I am curious about this, I did a few races in the winter/spring, and did one again yesterday.

Another question I have for people is, how much do you warm up for races?

Yesterday I rode an hour, with 30+ minutes of zone 2 and tempo before the race, which was 25 minutes. The race was basically sweetspot with 4 x 1 minute hard (start, hill, hill, finish). I felt way better than I had in other races and the full warmup felt like the right way to do it, and even though it was pretty hard, it felt "right". So I am going to look into racing more often, but doing shorter races with more endurance warmup, rather than looking for 40k races to fill my hour.
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Re: Zwift racing, how often [BrzilianTri] [ In reply to ]
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I think what he's saying is if you can handle racing in the A's, then you should be an A. i'm mid pack A at best, and it's pretty thin there. I feel like most A races are fast A's and A+, but not much in the middle, because those folks find a way to stay in the B's. There is almost never a 2nd chase pack, unless the race is 50-100 deep , and there aren't too many races that size on a daily basis. maybe that will get better with northern hemi winter coming up. i think modifying the categories could be interesting, so some races would be A+ only vs A if #s were large, and if numbers were small they could be combined cats like A/B. that would force some B's to race with A's, then they may realize that is where they belong.
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Re: Zwift racing, how often [BrzilianTri] [ In reply to ]
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BrzilianTri wrote:
Pretty bad guess unless you are talking about someone else. Because if you are talking about me, you clearly didn't read what I wrote .
It doesnt sound like you read it either!
BrzilianTri wrote:
I have been doing some A races and those are much harder and I need time to recover.
We all could race a category or two lower than we are capable of and race multiple times a day, but is it fair on the people who are genuinely trying their hardest?
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Re: Zwift racing, how often [mikemelbrooks] [ In reply to ]
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Yeah, because everybody is racing down a category and never up a category right? That one time that I got my 95% at 4.01 wkg should make me an A rider forever, and I should not count the others that put me at 3.91 average.
Doing some 10-20 min flat A races is pretty different than doing 35-50 min races. At longer A races my power is lower because I blow up, get dropped, and ride at my own pace, that happens even at the 16 k crit races.

I wrote that I'm already at my best power numbers ever and racing close to ftp most times, but I guess I'm not going hard enough and not living up to my potential and sandbagging

Tiago
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Sponsors: : Blueseventy :
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Re: Zwift racing, how often [brando] [ In reply to ]
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brando wrote:

(Snip)-Another question I have for people is, how much do you warm up for races?

I built a custom warm-up, really just using Zwift's own ramp-up, most of the time followed by 15-20s jumps at high watts. If I don't warm up for a good 25-30 minutes then I know I'm in trouble at the start since I struggle for the first 5-10 minutes or so most races because of the high pace.
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Re: Zwift racing, how often [BrzilianTri] [ In reply to ]
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I am right at four watts per kilogram which puts me at the dividing line between a and b. I don't have a spectacular top end however and seldom make the split. After things sort out I end up often in a mixed group of b and c and the pace frequently gets a bit languid then maybe I do some attacking if I'm feeling spritely. It's not a great format for me personally but it does seem to hit me where I'm weakest. it's not something I'm really taking seriously but I was curious about it from a training standpoint. I did a fair bit of racing over the winter and from a numbers perspective I was certainly in better shape. what summer rolled around and there was no racing I just kind of screwed around and did lots of random junk miles
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Re: Zwift racing, how often [brando] [ In reply to ]
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brando wrote:
Another question I have for people is, how much do you warm up for races?

This is the warm up I use for Zwift. It's adapted from the Team Sky/Ineos warm up protocol.

- 5min at 40-60% FTP
- 8min progression from 65% to 110%
- 2min at 55%

- 3x 30’s at 60%/10’s at 160%
- 3min at 55%

Total: 20min30
Last edited by: WhittleFit: Oct 5, 20 4:41
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Re: Zwift racing, how often [plant_based] [ In reply to ]
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I agree. 20 min warm up 20-25 min race, 20 min Cool down...... yeah that never happens. I end up on the trainer about 2 min before the race starts, then go so hard I have to lay on the ground next to my bike and cry at the end.
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Re: Zwift racing, how often [Eroc43] [ In reply to ]
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i've noticed a few top riders actually use a throw away race as their warm up. probably start with a normal 10-20 min spin, then jump in a race and get that first few minutes as warm up intensity, then move over to the race they want to focus on for the day. you will often see people signed up for multiple events, and then only finishing one at end of the day. of course this only works if the start times line up without a major time gap
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Re: Zwift racing, how often [jroden] [ In reply to ]
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Oh that is just a wow for you ,ive got a friend who is going to be 48 and does zwift racing 6days a week too,he uses the sunday time for him and his family ,he does that often and he doesnt flinch when it comes to his health,he is very healthy and strong ,but as for me i do zwift racing with him during the weekends like friday and saturdays..I am mostly busy at work during the days
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Re: Zwift racing, how often [GOAT12] [ In reply to ]
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Some areas have IRL crit series that have two races per week for a month or more, and most folks will race multiple races each night. Like, a cat 4 or 3 can race both the 4/5 race and the 3/4 racer OR the cat 3 can race the 1/2/3 race and the 3/4 race. The Cat 1/2 and the Cat 5's are kind of stuck at only one race per night many places unless you do both your master's and open classes.

So, that could be up to 4 races per week. Short ones at 30min, longer 45min or an hour.

I think the "average joe" Zwift racers probably race too often and don't periodize their training and racing well enough. You can "race into shape" to an extent, but you've got to have rest days and time for some aerobic volume at some point.

I do TT stuff. IRL or Zwift I only do one all-out effort per week, max. Last week I did a 25mi TT alone IRL just to set a PR and that wrecked me for the week.

I have a common Zwift racing sentiment.......implement "points" for categories. Not w/kg. Having 120kg dudes tossing out a zillion watts in a TT as a C-racer isn't realistic. Nor is having the A-category as only 4w/kg. There's a huge difference from A to A+ where a lot of A's are IRL more like Cat 1/2 racers. Whereas A could include IRL racers of 3/4/5.

I'd race more if they went to points or a USAC points and masters categories style. Chase points and upgrades instead of constantly losing out as a bottom of barrel A racer.

Shoot, IMO even USAC doesn't upgrade folks out of 4 often enough. There's local guys who can pretty much solo/destroy a 4/5 race who never upgrade due to racing only twice a year. A win or multiple podiums should be a bump.

Or those pesky Cat 5 "one day license" Kona Ironman triathletes showing up to TT's and pretty much tossing out a Cat 1 winning time.
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Re: Zwift racing, how often [jroden] [ In reply to ]
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Kind of late to this party but figured I’d chime in. I’m primarily a trainerroad user but I’m doing a mini zwift racing “season” for 3 weeks before starting base training. At the moment I’ve done two races this week. The TSS of each, 78 and 68, are well under what I would do on a normal training day, and in fact I’ve been tacking on additional z2 work. I do high volume trainerroad plans, so the sweet spot base program, for example, builds people from 36mins of time in sweet spot over a workout and generally is 60-90mins of time in zone. So I could conceivably see how it’s possible to do, say, 5 days a week of zwift racing, and then one off day and one endurance day. I love interval workouts but zwift racing has been an interesting diversion in seeing myself stay at 95% for nearly an hour straight.
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Re: Zwift racing, how often [jflan] [ In reply to ]
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Many of the A and B riders will do multiple back to back races and just use them for stacking their training time. Depending on the event for an A or B rider it is pretty easy to sit in or do a couple efforts and its just an easy way of passing the training time.

I personally did not race on zwift all summer, since, well outside riding. Jumped in an A race last night that was like 13 miles, then another after just based on what was available. The races were both easy to sit in on with all cat's starting together, which is a bit weird, but I only averaged like 3.9 w/kg for both and finished with the front pack in each, and was basically the same list of riders in each race. Stacking races or events makes it easier to log longer indoor sessions and get some efforts in process.
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