This is where conservative long-course and aggressive ultra-distance triathletes will live for hours at a time. This is also where a lot of time is spent during any long road ride.
Use portions or entireties of these intervals to work on riding in your aerodynamic position without sacrificing power, and try to do so with a cadence above 85rpm, preferably above 90rpm.
There is no scheduled rest during this workout, but brief, occasional backpedal breaks are encouraged if they're the difference between loss of form and a high-quality workout.
Recovery intervals between the over-unders are 9 minutes long.
While typical over-unders aim to flood your muscles with an acidic burn during the over-segments, this version aims to keep you just below that point.
An important objective during something like the bike segment of a long-course triathlon or sustained climbs in a road race is to restrain yourself from overdoing it. These intervals will help you learn how to rein in your effort while improving your muscular endurance at a repeatable but highly demanding effort level.
Try to keep your spin in that 85-95rpm range and spend increasingly longer periods of time in your aero position if it suits your ride discipline.
Recoveries between each short repeat are 1 minute long, and recoveries between each set of repeats are 5 minutes long.
Working on muscle endurance can be a daunting task when interval durations reach the double digits.
By segmenting longer intervals into shorter stretches with short recoveries between them, nearly all of the same benefits are conveyed but without the same rise in bodily strain.
Use these segmented workouts when you're struggling with longer, continuous Sweet Spot intervals, when you're new to steady-state work like longer Sweet Spot efforts, or if you're rebounding from illness or injury.
Try to keep your cadence above 90rpm unless you're intentionally targeting lower-rpm cadences.
Main Set:
– 103 minutes between 118-141 watts.
Cool Down:
– Easy for 18 minutes
Aerobic Endurance workouts are aimed at improving your aerobic power producing capabilities in a low-stress manner.
By riding for increasingly longer periods of time, your endurance muscle fibers become more efficient at utilizing oxygen as well as sparing sugar stores for more intense efforts.
The goal here is steady, continuous mileage and a slower form of fatigue than during your shorter base runs.
Planned Swim: 2,000.00 yd ~ 3:30:00
Planned Bike: 7:15:00
Planned Strength Training: 1:30:00
Planned Run: 5:25:00