I’m doing SSBMV. And I am wondering if i’m missing something by replacing the sunday workout by a long Z2 ride either on the trainer or 1,5X times the duration outside. I understand it’s how SBBMV was structured originally. But I realize I’m missing on the longer SS work. In the end the longest SS I would have done will be the 2 X 20 of carillon.
Am I hampering progress by not doing the likes of Hunter, Juneau and Wright Peak? Carillon felt uncomfortable toward the end but I could have continued. The thing is that Sunday ride is the only one I can really do outside to recharge mentally. And since I don’t have a PM doing intervals is somewhat diffult. Terrain is also a problem since I live at the heart of Montreal And I have to ride 30 minutes to an hour to be able to ride without stop and lights.
I’ve been doing the longer rides on Sunday in lieu of the workouts for the exact reason you mentioned. I think what matters is coming into Tuesday not feeling wrecked. I also think the longer rides are beneficial for fueling/eating/seat time. It’s the one day of the week (if you don’t count Wednesday) where you can tune out and just ride your bike.
If you can squeeze out the hours, go for it, I think it’s just as beneficial. If you are short on time, do the workout to the best of your ability and make it a quality day.
This works for a lot of folks and it’s your plan. Modify as you need. Mileage may vary.
I do something similar, but technically I follow a LV plan and I add two z2 workouts and 1 “group” ride where I do what I want. It makes it a MV plan, but rather than delete a workout, I’m adding. I get between 450 and 550 TSS a week.
Nope! Unless you find that sweet spot is something that you struggle at I think a long Z2 ride is a great substitution. And if getting the mental refresh of riding outside makes you more compliant when you are forced inside then that’s worth more than anything you might miss from not doing the SS workout.
Just do your best to make those Z2 workouts as productive as possible by limiting your coasting and time in Z1. I like following the advice of @brendanhousler on this. Try to target less than 10% of your ride being below Z2. He outlines it in this blog post: Power Zones for Cycling Endurance Rides Explained | EVOQ.BIKE.
I’m a fan of both (shorter SS and longer End) and try to alternate from week to week, when I can. I think each has some great stuff to offer and the variety of workouts breaking the monotony of repetition is good in it’s own right. So I think people should mix and match based on their preferences, available time and any other factor. I don’t think one is necessarily “better” than the other in the grand scheme. You will get something beneficial from them both, the emphasis may differ, but it’s all time well spent, IMHO.
So far I am very satisfied with training road. Im follow the sweet spot training in the basefase. I have more time in the weekend. So I would like to extend my week with some quiet endurance training. Trainerroad has displayed a stress level that I want to respect. So is it effective to increase my stress level by adding extra low-intensity long endurance ride.
I am currently working through SSBMV2 and have moved long sweetspot workout to Wednesday. On Sunday i do long Z2 ride. I schedule Mount cook or allegheny and do them outside. This way you get 1 workout of VO2 max Monday, long Sweetspot Wednesday, threshold Saturday and Z2 sunday. I feel gain more TSS with quicker recovery by dropping the 1hr threshold and adding long Z2. 1 threshold workout is enough for me in a week
Yes adding extra aerobic riding is the the recommended way to start adding stress. So as long as you find that the extra riding doesn’t detract from the more focused sessions then it’s all good!
