Anyone fancy joining up with Zwift “build me up”, to start 7th Feb…?

A bit late to the party here but I’m up for giving this a go. I was planning on doing the STW Tuesday night races but not had much luck with getting time around work etc. Hopefully the training plan being a bit more flexible will make it a bit easier!

Whoop whoop….
How’s everyone doing?

I’m planning pedalling drills for the 30 min before the race tonight… as a warm up I guess…

Red unicorn on Thurs as the group, and possibly benchmarking on Friday am… maybe..

DrP

Just done Devedeset this morning. My FTP is probably too high although it could just be bad form as I didn’t do a recovery ride after a pretty intense (for me) session on Sunday.

Probably do Pedal Drills tomorrow as I’m out at work so short on time and Red Unicorn on Thursday AM.

Hoping to make it beyond week two as I’ve started this a couple of times and junked it after week two.

Devedeset done last night, I ended up increasing FTP on zwift companion for the rest periods, some of the efforts and flicked erg off for all of cooldown so I could get the Innsbruck route ticked off before my fajitas went cold, can’t forget about the XP points 🙂

Will do the unicorn on Thursday.

I’m planning pedalling drills for the 30 min before the race tonight… as a warm up I guess…

doesn’t seem like a terrible idea (unless it’s a lot more intense than it sounds!!

I didn’t do the Zone Benchmarking before the end of Sunday. It’s now red and presumably I can no longer do it. Do I just carry on or does it affect the rest of the training plan?

I didn’t do the Zone Benchmarking before the end of Sunday. It’s now red and presumably I can no longer do it. Do I just carry on or does it affect the rest of the training plan?

Anything prior to Monday this week was pre workout and not actually part of the 12 weeks.

You should have these 4 for this week, aka week 1.

I’ll be doing my first session tonight, either zone benchmarking or devedeset.

I have them. They’re all green/available now but Benchmarking was red before. Must’ve been a glitch.

I’m going to do one or two tonight.

Good luck 👍🏼

Just tried to do Devedeset and my old Zwift gremlin came back.

Got 6 minutes into the first 10 minute block and lost the will to do anything.

Wasn’t overly stressed although I was blowing a bit – probably 7/10, which is I guess where it should be.

Main problem is I have a mental block with 5+ minutes of doing the same thing. Just get bored and give up.

Have a multitude of excuses ready but ultimately I don’t enjoy Zwift, much prefer Sufferfest.

Will do the Thursday meet up to see if being part of a group helps.

Zone benchmarking done, glad I did that as it was the first workout after my FTP increase, and confirmed I’m at just the right level. Although I enjoyed the last 2 segments (270w and 310w for me) a little too much, I don’t know why but I like the short big power intervals!

I’m also functioning on 4.5hrs sleep after an issue with my neice and some boiling water last night, I don’t think I had devedeset in me today. Tomorrow! 😁

Oh and yet another VO2 max increase from my Garmin, I’ll be into the purple for the first time in my life on the next increase!

I’m planning pedaling drills for the 30 min before the race tonight… as a warm up I guess…

good plan, went with that idea as well. Did “Zone Bench marking” yesterday. Red Unicorn Thur and prob Friday for “Devedeset” will see out week 1.

Did the Zone Benchmarking. During the warmup it mentioned ftp so I checked mine and it was still at 158 so I changed it to 190 as per the Ramp test I completed yesterday. Will that have changed the Benchmarking test accordingly? Last two segments were 230 and 240.

Yeah that’s correct, the final 2 segments are 110% and 125% of FTP. I think it was actually 210w and 240w btw 👍

If you’re ever in doubt, this link lets you check the workouts via % of FTP or by watts by entering your FTP.

https://whatsonzwift.com/workouts/build-me-up/week-1-pre-training-plan

Just be aware the ramp test can over estimate by a little, especially if you have good 1 min power, so if things start getting really tough, you might want to drop it by 10 or 15w.

That’s what I did for the dirt destroyer plan, it had me at 227 on a ramp test, I then had 2.5 months with barely any riding so judged my FTP at 210 which was a good level for the 6 weeks.

Did zone benchmarking on Monday, Devedeset yesterday and will probably do pedal drills tonight so I can keep the weekend clear.

My 20 min FTP was about 30W lower than the quick ramp test I did, may be a bit too low as I didn’t really know how to pace it. Think I’ll see how this first couple of weeks goes and bump it up a bit if I’m feeling OK.

Just did Zone Benchmarking, was pretty happy with where my FTP was already but thought it was an interesting concept so wanted to see how it went. Confirmed what I thought so I’ll leave FTP where it is.

Kind of wanted to do the pedalling drills straight after but obviously it won’t let you and I couldn’t find it in the normal workout folder so just did half an hour with the C pace partner to round it up.

Won’t make the group wrokout tomorrow I’m afraid as I think tomorrow is the one day I can get outside for a ride so will do the unicorn one on Fri/Sat/Sun. I don’t work normal hours so if there is ever appetite for a group workout earlier in the day then I’d probably be keen for that.

Also did the Zone Benchmarking ride tonight, seemed ok, last effort probably could have been a bit harder but I think I’ll leave it as is.

50/50 on tomorrow nights group ride, need a bit of schedule juggling.

Devedeset for me tonight, group red Unicorn tomorrow, which leaves pedalling drills for the weekend, which I’ll probably fit in after an hour with one of the pace partners for some base work.

completed Benchmarking FTP-203 so I am in. No sooner had I signed up, I tested positive for CV so wasn’t sure I would be able to join you all but no ill effects (well set a new HR record)

DrP please could you add jaminbSTW to the group.

Red Unicorn done! Last main set rep is a killer!

You lot doing the group ride tomorrow are in for a treat

I am now committed. Well for at least a couple of sessions a week. Benchmarking done. Not done anything like it before but instructions on the screen and how I should be feeling all seemed in line with what I was feeling. See you tomorrow.

Devedeset done, phew… Sweaty!

I’ll admit the 2x 10 min segments at the same cadence are a bit monotonous, but it’s a case of getting through it. I think my weak area is long intervals at 80-90% of FTP so it’s a good job this plan seems to have a lot of it!

Devedeset also done.

Half way through, I found myself wondering why, at 47 and no future plans to race, I am following a program again when there’s beer in the fridge.

I didn’t figure out the answer before finishing it.

Devedeset done and Benchmarking done. Is there a group thing tomorrow?

Devedeset and Zone Benchmark done. I’ll be riding IRL tomorrow evening so will have to do the 🦄 on Saturday.

Devedeset complete 👍🏼

@jodafett.
We’re doing a group red unicorn ride at 1815 tonight… have I invited you?

I think I’m going to skip zone benchmarking tbh… it’s REALLY useful if this is your first workout plan to gauge FTP… I know mine is fine, and scheduled in running instead!

See you tonight..

Remember… join the meetup EARLY, and then pick the workout whilst waiting!

DrP

DrP

Red Unicorn finished just now.

Not looking forward to the rest of the unicorns.

Tonight is gonna be a 2 bottle job, for sure.

Maybe even level 2 on the vacmaster… 😦

OMG! I’ve TWO vacmasters, both at level 3…and a big 12 inch fan blowing from the rear onto my legs…

DrP burn hooooot!!!

DrP

Jeez! I only ever have my 1 vacmaster at level 1, my FTP test I upped it to level 2 🤣

Sweat was dripping off me at the end mind you…

Sweat dripping = wasted sweat 😉🥵

Wet sweat is no good… it’s gotta evaporate away…
Turn that fan up to 3 dude!

DrP

Did the zone thing yesterday, think I’ve managed to hold onto my 255 FTP through a dose of the plague, won’t make the group workout tonight unfortunately but going to grab another session now – Devedeset I think.

I’m not going to make the group thing tonight. Dads taxi services are required 🙄

That’s cool….

But remember… these plans are hard to fit in, so sometimes YOU need to get it in the diary and YOU take priority… time never ‘appears’… we need to make time….!

DrP

Devedeset Done. That’s week one all ticked off.

How did everyone get on with the unicorn on the group ride?

Well that was bloody annoying!

Got through the first 50 minutes just about, had even started to get into a rhythm, then the ERG mode on my trainer went haywire, stuck at showing 330~odd watts with a cadence of 66. I was keeping going without even pedalling! Then it reset but continued to get stuck at 233w and a cadence of 66 but it was making the pedals impossible to turn, tried a few things to fix it but I just gave up in the end. Really annoyed as I’ve had a very positive day, was totally up for nailing the workout with others and was doing well up until that point. Still, got a solid hour under my belt so it wasn’t completely wasted. Just got to decide whether to do it again solo or just do Davedeset (not doing pedalling drills) in addition to riding IRL this weekend.

I blame DrP’s Fruit Salad kit 🤣😮🤣

Annoying over here too.

Nearly didn’t start it as I really wasn’t feeling the need or desire but, thought I couldn’t let myself down after committing.

35 ish minutes in, screen freezes then get this.

No option but to quit and start again.

Couldn’t get back in and set about it again, skipping up to where I was roughly.
Managed 1 more set before quitting.

DrP – I believe you said it in the group – a ride together prevents quitting – or words to that effect. I think you’re right !

Anyway, time to buy an Apple TV and run Zwift on that. Thought I’d seen the last of the PC freezing with Zwift. 🙁

Top stuff this that survived it!

I find by the third or fourth set (in the first half) you start to warm up to it!

Gonna have a recovery shake and shower, then watch simpsons with the kiddies!

Will post up next week’s workout(s… maybe) in a bit!

DrP

Phew! That was pretty tough in the middle, good though!

I definitely need to get a second fan set up, I think because my last plan had only hour long sessions I was ok, but I was VERY sweaty after this. I had been wondering why my left hand/bar area gets sweatier than the right, it’s because my fan is on the right of my front wheel!

I’ll try and work out how too get a fan at body height with a smart switch as I won’t need both at full blast until 30 mins in or so.

Good effort guys!!

Glad to see it wasn’t just me with technical issues. My connection failed as soon as the warm up started. I have just about calmed down knowing I cannot rage at Virgin about by mega expensive super fibre broadband, as they are too busy to respond!

Well done those that managed to build it up.