The time to record our Question and Answer #19 Podcast is coming up!!
For these podcasts, we gather all your questions here in this forum thread and try to answer them one by one during the podcast.
Use this thread to Ask your Question! The deadline for submission is Wednesday July 28th at noon (mst).
You may also email your question to help@fascatcoaching.com
I recently got access to an infrared sauna. How could I use this to benefit my training? Right now itās super hot and humid outside, so I am extremely cautious about adding any additional heat stress.
This is our biggest giveaway ever in terms of monetary value so really give your question some good thought . We have talked about the Normatecs several times before in our Recover Podcast & Tip and the Holiday buyerās guide
This question is a little unorthodox but here goes:
This spring/summer Iāve done a fair amount of physical labor around the house. Specifically we had 15 tons of landscape rock I shoveled as well as some other projects where I had to move dirt. Iām positive this work took a lot out of me on some days. Should work of this physical nature be factored into my TSS. Iām seriously not trying to inflate my TSS! Similarly how much TSS should be added for the recovery day Foundations workout? TIA,
James
Like many āFascattersā, I have a young family and demanding job so my training time is limited to around 8 hours a week.
This year Iāve followed the basic 18 week sweetspot plan which raised my FTP from 280W to 300W (CTL around 65). By the end of the basic plan I felt like I was plateauing and needed more volume to push the gains. With that in mind, Iāve stepped up to the intermediate Road Intervals plan and feel like Iām getting stronger week by week.
So my question is whether there is a known performance (or FTP) ceiling for limited training loads / CTL / weekly volume. I.e. at what point will training no longer yield additional power gains without increasing training load and what are good options to keep building power once close to that ceiling?
My question centers around the mental and physical aspects of handling mid-season race schedule adjustments. Iāve been working with coach Allie (who is awesome) for a few months now to dial in my switch from base to race-specific training after going through the 32 week winter training plan. Originally, I had targeted 4 of the NUE marathon distance mountain bike races this year to hopefully qualify for year-end points. My first of these races went really well, and Iām excited about my fitness level going into the rest of the season. Unfortunately, one of the four I was targeting was cancelled this year, and a series of unfortunate circumstances caused me to miss another of them this past weekend. Giving up on the goal of NUE year-end points, but wanting to use all of this excellent training and fitness: how do you go about re-setting and peaking for new races if you pivot (must be said like Ross from Friends) to new race goals mid-season? An earlier podcast or two talked about training as though races were going to happen as/when planned, but staying flexible in case they didnāt. Now that weāre here: what are a few actionable items to staying flexible? Iāll of course be discussing a few alternate endurance MTB races to re-fill my schedule with Allie very soon.
Iām hoping to get a slot for the SBT GRVL black course in 2022! Iāve done a few gravel events, and I think I have a good idea how I want to approach training and equipment.
Training:
Fall Foundations
10 weeks of weight lifting
18 weeks of Sweet Spot
A lower priority gravel event/self-made challenge
Recovery week
Gravel Plan
Do SBT GRVL
Equipment:
My tried and true All-City on 38 mm gravel king sk+
2L CamelBak + 16oz bottles
The course is a mystery. Could you share some insight into the Gucci-ness of the gravel? The perceived flatness of the course? The temperatures in that part of Colorado?
And maybe my equipment could use some fresh ideas. Maybe I could use a more supple/slicker tire (like WTB Byways). Maybe try out some of those aerobar extensions or different bars to get comfy and relax the hands?
How does one physically and mentally prepare to complete an ultra gravel race when they know their fitness etc. will result in them taking 2x long to complete an event as the top ten 10 finishers?
Basically, how does the back-of-the-pack get it done?
*I think the mental (not necessarily the physical) preparation is different than what gets covered for Cat 1-4 athletes for the following reasons:
You most likely ride solo more often
You might be competing against the mental stress of missing a cutoff
You will be covering rough ground in dark
Answering this question creates an opportunity to expand your audience to include many on sidelines for various reasons. When answering, you should include actual riders to share their perspectives like you do for the Top 10.
I would like to hear thoughts on doing intervals at purposely higher or lower cadences than self selected cadence. I ask because with todays wider range cassettes, cadence changes from one gear to the next (while maintaining the same power) will often be >10 rpm . Also, Ive noticed during my my un-scientific study of one that when I add in a rolling singlespeed ride once a week, I become a stronger rider on hard varying grade longer climbs where cadence and sitting and standing vary during its lengthā¦ Is there a good way to simulate a singlespeed workout (mashing and spinning high and low power) with on road intervals? I know coaches usually donāt like SS workouts, and Iām totally on board with structured training of energy systems, but I really think thereās benefit there. Thanks for your thoughtsā¦Jon
With restarting racing, I am feeling at a bit of a crossroads. The road races here have full fields, like 80 persons or even more. Iāve been FTFPāing and feel at my best ever fitness level. But as a 50 year old masters with responsibilities, Iām now daunted by the possibility of serious physical injury in these big, fast moving fields. I should mention I crashed badly in my first race of the season and was āluckyā it wasnāt worse. Took over a month to heal. My question is do you have any tips on dealing with the mental fear of crashing so that the fitness can shine thru, and racing can be enjoyable again. Iām a good bike handler and fine in group rides. Guess Iām also curious if anyone else out there is dealing with this. Thanks!
I live at altitude as Iām sure many do, 5280 ft. My A race next year takes place at sea level. I know I wonāt be watching my power during the race (I also know that Iāll be competing against myself, not trying to or able to hang with the fast groups for sure) - but Iām wondering if the coaching staff has data on how FTP is affected when you get the short term āsea level wattsā. Are we talking 2W or 20W?
PS: no way this will win but I am a new training plan user and am really enjoying it (well, āenjoyingā haha) and also love your podcast!
I crashed hard riding gravel last summer, shattered my clavicle and tore the labrum in my shoulder socket. Long story short, Iām planning surgery to remove the plate and dirty dozen of screws used to put this Humpty Dumptyās clavicle back together and fix or replace the shoulder socket to regain lost shoulder strength, range of motion, and reduce the lingering pain.
Given I have the opportunity to choose the date of a major surgery such as this, my question is when is the right time to build the 2-3 weeks needed to recover from the surgery into my training schedule when I probably canāt even be on the trainer and then another 4-8 weeks when I can be on the trainer but canāt ride outside, do any weight training, etc.?
Iām thinking one option is to do my end-of-season 2 weeks of rest starting around now, then my 3 Week Fall Foundation, then my 10 Week Weight Lifting and then get the surgery in early November. Two to three weeks after that, I can get on the trainer and start doing 18 wks of SS which Iād do most of on the trainer since it will be winter by then. That would keep me on my normal road season schedule
The other option would be to get the surgery now, use the 2-3 weeks of recovery from the surgery as the end of season rest time, then start the 3 Week Fall Foundation on the trainer and then do the 10 week weight training starting with 3 weeks of Adaptation.
Iām not totally sure if Iād be able to āshoulderā the weight for squats so soon after surgery so might need a 6-8 week Fall Foundation before starting the weight training. That might delay my training schedule a month or so or lose a month of base building altogether. I can do squats before the surgery using a squat bar with handles in the front.
Essentially, it becomes a question of do I interrupt my training schedule for 2-3 weeks immediately after the 10 Week Weight Lifting yet stay on schedule of delay or potentially lose a month or so of base building? Thanks
Frank - youāve got me covered on all the metrics for physical training and weight loss. Iād like mental metrics from my power data. I use āperceived exertionā but thatās subjective and I lie to myself I use my power numbers, but that is influenced by how much training is still in my legs on a given day, etc. What WKO metrics are there to show me how far Iāve ādrained the tankā / āhow deep Iāve goneā for each interval (which could also be an interval on a Strava segment during my group rides!) beyond my actual power numbers? Does dFRC work? Anything else? Iām working on "How Bad Do You Want It? (Matt Fitzgeraldās book) to motivate a 66yo with too many things pulling my motivation away from racing (yep, thatās meā¦). Thanks!
How do you coaches look so good and ride so fast? (cough cough, obvious ploy for the Normatecs, haha)
Seriously thoughā¦ Some mornings are hard to know what the sensations are telling me. Am I groggy because itās 5 a.m. and will crush the workout or am I actually exhausted and will be non-productive? Do you find any objective metrics like HRV useful to determine when an athlete should just HTFU and FTFP or instead adjust the plan take it easier that day?
Thereās been a lot of talk lately about the value of a proper warmup before a hard race / workout. What about cooling down afterwards? As stage races are approaching for me, how should I be ācooling downā after each stage? I see the pros hop on the trainer after every TdF stage ā what exactly are they accomplishing and would it be helpful for me to do the same?
I have two questions but if that is not allowed then please go with the first one
Like many of the people in the Fascat community I find myself a little timepoor. Most of my training is early in the morning before the family get up and Iād like to know what the best approach to eating and getting out the door is. I think the general advice is that you eat carb heavy meal and wait 2 hours for digestion then train or race which I might be able to do when I am racing on the weekend but during the week I do not have that luxury during the week and I am sure that I am not alone. Given the small window I have during the time from when I wake up to jumping on the bike and getting on the bike, how would you best fuel for the workouts from Tue - Thurs in the sweetspot plans, both on the bike and prior to getting on the bike?
Second question - what advice would you give athletes that have a very flat CTL line over a long period of time but do not have the time to push more hours in their training? The simplistic and best answer would be āget a someone who can structure your training for youā aka. coach but for the Fascats that do not have the means to subscribe to a coaching service what would your generic advice be? ie. Should a riders CTL line largely follow the picture that you have on the Fascat website in the various phases or can it remain flat until you want to peak for an event where you might employ the Fascat race interval plans?
I have a question mostly about pre ride/during/general nutrition. I have a hard time eating on the bike, I just find myself eating too lateā¦ What are some good recommendations for carbohydrate drinks so Iām getting enough fuel early and often? I also find getting enough carbs a struggle in general as far as day to day nutrition, do I need to āretrainā my gut to be able to tolerate more. Donāt want to gain weight but want to train hard! I know you have said donāt restrict during the season and to lose weight in the off seasonā¦ but what about when youāre in base and lifting?! Itās just hard to wrap my head around eating correctly for the work required. Hope my question(s) arenāt too confusing.
So my question relates to marathon mtb training. In my particular case the race will last a little over 4 hours. I obviously need good endurance but in this race itās a whole bunch of short punchy 3-5 minute climbs. My question is, how do I throw in an anaerobic block of training to really drive up my top end while keeping my CTL on the rise? Should I do intervals during the week with a couple long rides on the weekend or do a 3 week block of anaerobic work focus only and then ramp back up my CTL after that block before the race? Iām almost done with the 32 week plan with 100% FTFP and donāt want to mess things up right at the end before my race.
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I use my power numbers, but that is influenced by how much training is still in my legs on a given day, etc. What WKO metrics are there to show me how far Iāve ādrained the tankā / āhow deep Iāve goneā for each interval (which could also be an interval on a Strava segment during my group rides!) beyond my actual power numbers? Does dFRC work? Anything else? Iām working on "How Bad Do You Want It? (Matt Fitzgeraldās book) to motivate a 66yo with too many things pulling my motivation away from racing (yep, thatās meā¦). Thanks!