Official Sprocket Rockets Training Thread

[XtrPickels]

So, I've been doing this little podcast thing with the guys at FastTalk. The latest just came out.
https://www.fasttalklabs.com/fast-ta...ts-within-lsd/

Trevor Connor and I discuss research- but in fun and conversational way; not nitpicking the specifics.

In general, I think those guys are doing a great job creating information and resources for athletes. It's run by Chris Case (previous Managing Editor of Velonews) and Trevor Connor (Ph.D. physiologist and Domestic Pro). Contributions are from Andy Pruitt, Stephen Seiler and many others.

https://www.fasttalklabs.com/

[Dantheman]

I'll check that out for sure. The last episode you posted was great.

Speaking of podcasts, while not really training-related, is anyone else addicted to Huberman Lab?

[XtrPickels]

I'll check that out for sure. The last episode you posted was great.

Speaking of podcasts, while not really training-related, is anyone else addicted to Huberman Lab?

Thanks.
I added Huberman Lab to the list. Long format will be good for riding.

[Dantheman]

You'll really dig it. It's almost insulting to call it a podcast, it's a wide-ranging upper level college lecture series covering physiology, neurobiology, endocrinology and beyond.

[EWG]

You'll really dig it. It's almost insulting to call it a podcast, it's a wide-ranging upper level college lecture series covering physiology, neurobiology, endocrinology and beyond.

In.

[Falcon3]

WTF is up with TrainingPeaks Threshold changes?

I had to turn them off. Unlike Zwift (which doesn’t bill itself as a high-end training log/analysis), TP wants to update my threshold HR after literally every ride. Since I’m doing 90% base training right now, that means the software wants to put my Threshold HR at 135 and the next ride at 118 when in reality it’s around 168.

At least Zwift on the FTP won’t update it every ride. It’ll let you go slow for a number of rides before slowly reducing it.

[XtrPickels]

WTF is up with TrainingPeaks Threshold changes?

I had to turn them off. Unlike Zwift (which doesn’t bill itself as a high-end training log/analysis), TP wants to update my threshold HR after literally every ride. Since I’m doing 90% base training right now, that means the software wants to put my Threshold HR at 135 and the next ride at 118 when in reality it’s around 168.

At least Zwift on the FTP won’t update it every ride. It’ll let you go slow for a number of rides before slowly reducing it.

That's weird; I've never had TP suggest a lower Threshold or HR than what was set.

[kathleenturneroverdrive]

Same. I didn't even know TP could do that for you. There might be a setting somewhere you could turn off?

[Dantheman]

Hey Pickles, what are your thoughts on Gatorade's GX Sweat Patch?

https://www.gatorade.com/gx/sweat-patch-detail

Only $25 for a two-pack.

[fool]

An article from one of my favorite sports physiology authors, Alex Hutchinson, on his experience with continuous glucose monitoring. It's not super in-depth, but I think this crowd might find it interesting: https://www.outsideonline.com/health...ning-insights/

Will be curious to see how the concept develops over the coming years both from a training and technology perspective, especially if Apple - or perhaps Garmin - is able to put it into their watches.

[climberevan]

Thanks for posting that, fool. I think CGM tech has enormous promise and would love to get one if the cost weren't still prohibitive.

The sensor friendly has a filament that goes into the skin, so they would have to create a pretty wild new tech for it to work on a watch, but I'm sure they are working on it.

[Dantheman]

Yeah, that's really interesting, though I wish he had 24-hr data.

[Falcon3]

I’m in the market for a basic power meter for my mountain bike. Is the Saint M820 Gen 2 any good? Only $150 right now. I don’t need a ton of features, basic data is ok and I’d like my TSS to show in TrainingPeaks which requires a watt meter.

[climberevan]

Many Shimano left arms will mount to other models just fine. I have an m8000 left arm on my m8120 crank. Offset is the same, but the clamping part is quite a bit thicker. No issues in about 2000 miles.

The Saint arms are super heavy, but if it bolts to your crank you'll likely be just fine. Gen 2 Stages is fine.

[schuss]

There's a lot of great info in here that's mostly beyond me, but thought I'd throw myself at the experts to see if what I'm doing is productive.
Long story short, coming off a long spell of almost no training as between young kids, work demands and blowing up my back then rehabbing it, I haven't had much consistency beyond back/core work (bird dogs, body weight squats, some ball/plank work). I'm finally getting in the swing of things so I'm not an anchor on Dee's rides (ha!)
Current layout is something like this - any key changes I should look at? Goal is just healthy fitness that leads to capability in biking, climbing and skiing.
Sat/Sun - hard ride or effort one of these days for an hour+ (zone 4/5 or hard MTB/climb), an hour at zone 2 the other day.
Mon-Fri - I have 40 minutes in the morning to jump on the trainer - typically alternate zone 2 and 4/5 with some pushups and ball work thrown in. Tuesday nights I climb, will likely add Thursday if I can.

Also, if there's any solid beginner blogs you just want to link, that would work as well.

[XtrPickels]

Hey Pickles, what are your thoughts on Gatorade's GX Sweat Patch?

https://www.gatorade.com/gx/sweat-patch-detail

Only $25 for a two-pack.

I've used it, but not extensively enough to have a full opinion.

1. I did not find the sweat volume to actually match my experience- but this is fine because it's easy enough to figure this out on your own.
2. The Sodium recommendations were within reasonable expectations given what I know about myself. This is potentially the strength or weakness of this product BECAUSE we know that sodium concentration is going to change due to many many factors.

Therefore, using them in a variety of environments / situations is imperative to getting worthwhile information but also possible given the relatively low cost of each patch.

[XtrPickels]

Thanks for posting that, fool. I think CGM tech has enormous promise and would love to get one if the cost weren't still prohibitive.

The sensor friendly has a filament that goes into the skin, so they would have to create a pretty wild new tech for it to work on a watch, but I'm sure they are working on it.

I'll have more info for you guys on this soon, but I agree that the cost is a bit prohibitive for the common athlete at this point.

[XtrPickels]

There's a lot of great info in here that's mostly beyond me, but thought I'd throw myself at the experts to see if what I'm doing is productive.
Long story short, coming off a long spell of almost no training as between young kids, work demands and blowing up my back then rehabbing it, I haven't had much consistency beyond back/core work (bird dogs, body weight squats, some ball/plank work). I'm finally getting in the swing of things so I'm not an anchor on Dee's rides (ha!)
Current layout is something like this - any key changes I should look at? Goal is just healthy fitness that leads to capability in biking, climbing and skiing.
Sat/Sun - hard ride or effort one of these days for an hour+ (zone 4/5 or hard MTB/climb), an hour at zone 2 the other day.
Mon-Fri - I have 40 minutes in the morning to jump on the trainer - typically alternate zone 2 and 4/5 with some pushups and ball work thrown in. Tuesday nights I climb, will likely add Thursday if I can.

Also, if there's any solid beginner blogs you just want to link, that would work as well.

Congrats on getting back into it.

The biggest thing is that consistency is your friend. I'd focus on that first and foremost.
Secondly, I'd focus on how much you're riding. Trying to increase this as much as you can, again, consistently.
Third, I'd focus on intensity. Your one hard ride on the weekend is great. If you want to add another during the week then perfect. Beyond that, I'd keep everything "easy".

You're on the right path, without question.

[schuss]

Congrats on getting back into it.

The biggest thing is that consistency is your friend. I'd focus on that first and foremost.
Secondly, I'd focus on how much you're riding. Trying to increase this as much as you can, again, consistently.
Third, I'd focus on intensity. Your one hard ride on the weekend is great. If you want to add another during the week then perfect. Beyond that, I'd keep everything "easy".

You're on the right path, without question.

Thanks. It's mostly logistics trying to find the time for the other rides, as the only real open time I have during the week is after the kids go to bed and a hard ride is rough on the sleep schedule.

[Iowagriz]

OK gents, how about crowd sourcing my thoughts for a 18 week training plan to do the Tour Divide and not suffer too much. The basics:

• Tour Divide race starts on Friday, June 10th
• I'm 56 with a good race background, but have not been racing for the past 6-7yrs (at a high level)
• Last summer was lost to investigating heart health problems (determined to all ok)
• I want to finish in under 25 days, so 110 miles a day average, closer to 120 would be better (23 day finish)
• I have a good amount of bikepacking and riding Montana TD sections, riding all day at a slower pace, being efficient is my norm.
• I don't feel like 100 a day would be a problem, doing it consistently and adding that 10-20 miles per day will be the challenge
• Typical past problems are with saddle sores/cuts

My plan:

• I'm now retired, so plenty of time to ride, rest, recovery
• Past race training history, so I have old plans and notes on what worked for me
• Past training showed 2 weeks on plan, 1 week of rest worked well, trying for more usually put me in overtraining after a few sessions
• I'm thinking mostly z1 for the first 3 rounds (9 weeks), starting with 1hr a day for weeks 1 and 2, rest with small load on week 3, ramping up time in weeks 4 and 5 by adding a two rides a week of 2hrs, rest week 6 with small volume, approaching 2hr daily rides in weeks 7 and 8
• Continuing this pattern with a goal of having a majority of daily rides being closer to 4hrs daily by mid-May (again, race starts on 6/10)
• I am believing that by riding many hours back to back that I'll toughen up my taint and reduce the chance for sores/cuts, this will also help me shed the 20-25lbs that I want to cut

My concern is balancing the addition of weekly hours with the need/desire to have 4hr daily rides by mid-May. Any insight in adding high volume this quickly on an older athlete? Should I consider an alternative plan on not doing daily 4hr rides, but say a 2hr ride, then a 6hr ride (trying to get longer rides on the same volume).

Lastly, I've been lifting since November. Upper and lower body. Skiing 3x a week since 1/1 and will continue that until mid-March. Core work has been started, stretching needs to start.

Any suggestions or alternative thoughts are greatly appreciated. I've got plenty of time now, I might as well check off this bucket list item.

Edit to add: I'm thinking all Z1 and Z2 rides. Z3 and more might happen organically, but I can't get past thinking that I just need lots of hours without burning out too quickly. I see the first have of the rides happening indoors, last half will be on a loaded bike.

[climberevan]

Briefly, I'd sprinkle in some harder interval sessions in the 6 weeks leading up to it (maybe once or twice a week VO2 max intervals, while dropping your volume a bit). I also think you'd benefit from breaking your total training time into long and shorter rides instead of all medium length.

If you've struggled with saddle issues in the past, now is the time to experiment with saddles, bibs, chamois cream, and position. Tiny differences can become huge but you have a lot of time to really dial it in.

[Dantheman]

This series of Huberman Lab episodes directly relates to all aspects of athletic performance. Highly recommend listening to these. Available on all common podcast platforms.

https://hubermanlab.com/supercharge-...-with-cooling/
https://hubermanlab.com/how-to-lose-...e-based-tools/
https://hubermanlab.com/science-of-m...ular-recovery/
https://hubermanlab.com/how-to-build...rain-and-body/


Also, if you're still not lifting, Dylan Johnson has another video that hammers the point home. Everyone from weekend warrior shuttle monkeys to elite road and XC racers should be lifting, period.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Bumping this up. My coaching stuff is in limbo right now as my coach is leaving his current employer....and I don't know yet if my sponsorship is going out the door with him. My Training Peaks calendar is empty.

I'm still recovering from omicron. Been skiing quite a bit with some hiking and feeling fine. Did my first trainer ride today and definitely had some of the chest pain/tightness again but I felt good. Was just mellow Z2 though.

Haven't lifted in almost 3 weeks

I feel like I need to ease back and not push too hard. I want to use this time to get my diet really dialed. It's not bad but it's not great. I've been gluten free for 5ish years, and think daily diet with even lower carb/sugar would really help me. Only eat carbs when I am training or racing?

Can anyone point me to a place with some simple meal plans written out? Eat this at this time on these days, etc.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

[bean]

I feel like I need to ease back and not push too hard. I want to use this time to get my diet really dialed. It's not bad but it's not great. I've been gluten free for 5ish years, and think daily diet with even lower carb/sugar would really help me. Only eat carbs when I am training or racing?

Can anyone point me to a place with some simple meal plans written out? Eat this at this time on these days, etc.

What is/are your goal/s that you're trying to achieve with your diet?

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

What is/are your goal/s that you're trying to achieve with your diet?

Continue to build muscle and burn some more fat. Stubborn little belly while my arms/chest/back/legs have gained noticeable muscle mass over the past year of training.

I could possibly benefit from classic "train low and race high" in reference to carbs? I don't really know.

I think overall I could be eating cleaner and I need to cut out stupid "treats" like Noosa Yogurt for desert (those things are basically ice cream).

If stuff is written out I am can be pretty damn strict. It's when I wing it that I get myself into trouble.