Hi,
I’ve done McAdie +1 last Saturday as one of the 5th week SSBI MV training. In short it is an 4x12-minute sets of over-under intervals alternating between 1 minute at 95% FTP and 2 minutes at 105% FTP with 6-minute recoveries fall between intervals.
What a BEAST! Since the 2nd or 3rd interval of the 1st set I struggled to avoid collapsing. First the breathing was hard, really hard with my HR going over 170 (I’m 43 years old and 170 indoors looks to me like 190 outdoors) and in the 3rd and 4th set the pain extended to the legs.
After every interval and before the beginning of a new set I struggled with my self to not decrease the training intensity. I seriously doubted during the hole training that I could get to the end of it without “cheating” using the percentage button to put the intensity on the 90 to 95%.
But… I nailed it without collapsing or “cheating”! It felt great in the end as much as a victory in a race, well almost like that
Have you done this beast? Was it so hard as I described mine? Please tell your experience on this exercise. It’s always good to know someone else also struggles a lot in the same exercise or not.
So I have this workout next week, but just did Paliside (5x9’ - 1min under, 2min over) and it was a beast. I had to take a 1min break between sets 4 and 5! Made it with full intensity though.
It definitely should be very hard. Not only because of the long overs and short unders but also because it is the second to last workout after 4.5 weeks of training. I’d say almost reducing the intensity a couple of times but not and still completing it is right where it should be.
It wasn’t to bad. I was well rested and fuelled. The one legged drills help my pedalling efficiency as does relaxing the body and concentrating on deep breathing. Each one adds a bit more head room for executing the session with good form and compliance.
Follow the drills and ensure you apply equal weight to your nutrition and rest and it all comes together .
I just did this one on Saturday too! Like you, I just finished the 5th week of SSBMV1.
I agree, it was super challenging. The 3rd 2 minute 105% interval of each set was mentally the hardest. The last 2min interval was hard, but just knowing it was the last one made it bearable.
I didn’t find it too hard to keep the power on target, but that’s mostly because I’ve gained fitness from when I tested in the first week until now. My average watts per 12 minute set were 12 watts higher than my FTP - I was doing 6-10 watts more per intervals than what I was supposed to do. I expect an FTP bump when I retest.
the Sunday workout Galena - 3x20min was pretty hard too after doing that effort on sat! I made the mistake of doing the second 20min set at around my currently set FTP. I really had to grind out the 3rrd 20m set.
I had trouble with regular McAdie earlier doing it on rolling terrain in wind and knew the +1 would be tough. So I carbed up well.
A wood fired pizza night before with lots of bread on the side. Then a house made quiche, cornmeal scone and a pie for breakfast. I highly recommend Ben Gable Savories in Chatham NY for this top quality endurance fueling. It was probably at least 3000 calories of birthday deliciousness. Then later on, went to a 12 min 6% climb to do it as repeats outside. This went really well… I felt so strong at end that I went for a PR up it on last interval and managed to throw my chain, so best power of all, but blew my time
It was eye opening to see I could do this climb 4x with each run coming in seconds of my previous best all out effort. First day in good form that allows light summer kit, I can’t wait to strip the bike down and crush my PR.
McAdie+1 gave me confidence that I got something out of recent run doing SSB2 followed by SSB1. Now going back to SSB2 once again before build.
I recently tested and didnt know if my new ftp was left. So I did this workout to test my new ftp and I knew if I nailed It that my new ftp was real. And i nailed it with my new 300 watt ftp. So now I feel pretty good about going forward with it
Thanks for sharing. I feel a lot more positive about myform now. Not the only one having an hard time to finish this beast
I usually skip TR workouts 4 and 5 of every week doing outside rides with friends instead. I have no powermeter on my road or MT bike so instead of doing TR outside workouts on those days I prefere to simply enjoy myself in the group pushing hard from time to time. Those are not easy rides and they are about 3h30 sometimes more, but it’s not the same as being used to this kind of over under exercises.
Well… story of my training plan so far. Did McAdie last week. All good until last set… failed eventually, legs were cooked. Started doubting choosing SSBM I. Then again, it’s only my first time in structured training, it’s still early days so i guess it will come easier by time.
Does this count as a failed workout?
For me it does not, i completed Reinstein and Tunemah ( only 3 sets ). I guess that i have a problem at what is beyond the 3rd set.
I did this a long time ago, feels like it anyways, and it went better than expected. The drop in the first interval was when my god damn towel went straight into the front derailleur and got stuck. But other than that it went well above expectations.
I’d say bailing in the middle of the last interval counts as a failed workout but you got pretty close at least! It’s the sort of failure you can chalk down to being a little tired, maybe not fuelling enough, or just having a bad day, not the kind of failure that has you doubting everything about your existence as a cyclist.
I’m doing a mix of SSBLV1 & SSBMV1 & have McAdie tomorrow. Not looking forward to it -Reinstein wasn’t bad, I was fresh. Tunemah definitely took it out of me with the fatigue I was carrying. These over unders are no joke! Next week is Palisade on Tuesday & Warlow on Friday. That’s going to hurt. Week after that I’ve got McAdie +1 on Wednesday, Palisade on Friday & Galena on Sunday. I can feel the suffering already but it’s going to result in a PR at Shenandoah next September so it’s worth it.
I had same experience first time doing TR, also mid vol, two winters ago. Last year did fine in LV even after a big break. Now in third year, MV is going well. So I’d say it’s totally normal to struggle with the structure the first year - and it still paid off massively. I was strongest in long rides after having serious difficulty just finishing MV base with an outdoor vanity FTP, adding days of rest and missing a couple. Point being you will get the gains even failing some.
This 3rd year, no more than two week break, structure restarted in Aug with lots of base and I hope to finally complete a full MV build/specialty cycle at a dialed in indoor FTP, stay compliant to schedule even if I fail a few, and break plateau in 5-20 min power/ftp!
But other than that it went well above expectations.