18 Week Sweet Spot + Climbing

Hey there! I’m starting week 2 of the 18 Week Sweet Spot training, but wonder how/ when I should start implementing climbs? Last week I rode 117 miles with 2,900’ of climbing which feels a little light. Wasn’t sure if or when I should be adding climbs since the training says to look for flat roads (except on the Saturday group ride :)). Unless of course, there’s a method to the madness and the climbs will come in the coming weeks?

You can add climbs to any workout you like. If you do have longer climbs that last 8 - 20 minutes those would be good for the sweet spot intervals. If you have smaller hills and have to do lots of downhills during your efforts you might not be able to get in the consistent effort we are looking for. But if you do have the longer ones mix them in as you like. But it is best to not do all climbing. Get comfortable being able to push efforts on the flats while in the saddle. Then do some climbing when you may be out of the saddle a bit more.

Also look to see what your goals are. Do your races, rides, fondos and etc include climbs? If so you might want to do more climbing than flat. That specification. But that tends to also come more when you do interval plans that are specific to your event after the base building period. So right now the big focus is on just building that aerobic engine with mostly steadier and consistent efforts.