Quick question. Just came off a recovery week on the longer Strava Hill Climb plan. I have two weeks left! Tuesday and Wednesday of this week I have 2x20 threshold and 4x15 SS.
I rode yesterday and did not feel particularly recovered when I started. I had already struggled with the two workouts during the week. On top of that, the temps soared and I came back fatigued from the heat as I’m not acclimatized for the summer yet. That and the ride was too long as the target hill is quite a ways from my house.
Would it be better to:
a) Just try to win in the kitchen, get a good night of rest, and FTFP on Tuesday with the threshold workout. Whatever happens, happens…
b) Drop a workout this week to see if the volume reduction helps.
c) Repeat my recovery week.
d) Scale my target wattage down a little as I’ve been at a higher FTP since the plan started but am struggling to hit workout targets the last two weeks.
Some of this may be too involved without a coaching subscription but any insight would be appreciated.
So yeah the heat and humidity around right now is brutal! It is full on summer for most of us at the moment. There are a few things you can do.
So first of all winning in the kitchen is always a good thing to do! So stick with that.
Each workout has a range of power to hold so aim for the low end to start, especially if hot. Get through the first set of each interval and see how it goes for the following. On the zone 2 before, between and after ride that lower. Let your heart rate and perceive exertion be your guide. You want to be at your best for the intervals so don’t push this too much. Keep that heart rate down if you can, which might mean lower power. But if that means you can hit the efforts harder that is exactly what you should do.
If you are really struggling you might want to look at your FTP again. Some riders can really perform a high 20 minute test but could over inflate what they are really capable of for 60 minutes (FTP)
If you are still feeling bad come Tuesday you can just do a short zone 2 ride in. Ideally 60 minutes at most, super easy, again keeping heart rate low and staying out of the heat as possible. You don’t want to add dehydration or fatigue. Then do the intervals on Wednesday and Thursday. I would try to keep on schedule like this.
I always forget that these are ranges because I look at the static target wattage on my head unit. Assuming I feel ok tomorrow, I will dial back down to the lower part of the zone on the first threshold interval and see how it goes. If I clearly don’t have it, I’ll drop to Z2 like you said.