With the shorter, colder days and loss of outdoor mountain rides, I’ve looked for a substitute on Zwift to build the same sort of cycling strength. Last three weekends, I’ve used several races/rides, all of which were in the range of 1.75 hours @ 0.84-0.89 IF. With warm-up/cool-down, I’m getting 2-2.5 hours in. One was a ZHR age group race, which I won by riding steady instead of trying to stay with the front group; another was an AHDR (Aussie) ride around London Flats, frustrating as I’m handicapped on the flats d/t weight; and last Sunday a second place on Watopia’s 3 Sisters, where I again came from behind starting on the downhill from the Radio tower through the Volcano (the guy I was catching didn’t seem aware of super-tuck value in a race). Pairing that with a weekly WTRL race and a Thursday Steady State ride (@ 0.9 IF for an hour) around London Flats (bunch of Glasgow riders) seems to provide what I think I need.
Running continues to be dictated by what my knee(s) can handle. Which seems to be about 18 miles, 4-5x/week. This week I’ll be aiming for 1:40 long run, and 4 x 6′(4′) @ SPD (9:13). On the long run, I’m descending walk/run intervals from 5/5 >> 1/9, increasing the run interval by :30 each time. I seem to need the warm-up to help slow the progression of swelling, rather than use it the reverse (walk more towards the end) which seems to be worse.
Strength has been 3/week x 45′. Swimming is per the plan where I’m currently in week six of HIM, targeting Dec 5th. 70.3.
Main goals are to keep the legs strong for cycling, while keeping the strain on the knees under control, and managing the race based on that.