Hi there,
I’ve been using intervals.icu since a few weeks. I am no stranger to the metrics and their values. So far those are things easy to figure out by reading books and fora. And oh boy, did I read books, fora, … and watch youtube. It got me confused.
I’ve come to a point where I’d like to have a conversation about how best spend my time preparing for a 1200km audax/randonneuring event (Paris Brest Paris). I’d like to present 4 questions and thank all in advance for all information given.
My doubts come from the fact that I’ve read polarised training is the way to go for the time I have to spare. Which I understand is: long steady Z2 rides combined some for example with VO2 max intervals (1 or 2 minutes intervals) efforts on the turbo trainer. However I’ve also read SweetSpot efforts are a good way to ramp up TSS, but this seems to contradict as Sweet Spot is high end Z3, which is the zone to skip when going polarised? When I look into my data and time spent in zones since January, I find that i’m in a ‘treshold’ approach which would be a less than ideal approach ? That distribition is partly because of some frequent sweet spot turbo sessions. So how does sweet spot training fit in a polarised training approach? (question 1)
Is sweet spot training actually a valid way to overcome the distance of my challenge as I’ve also came to find that it isn’t building the fatburning engine the same as those long Z2 rides of ‘traditional base’-approach does? I will however build up the long distance rides as the event approaches. My plan is the build up as much ‘fitness’ as possible in the next 4 months but I just don’t have the time to do that leisurely in Z2, thats why I looking into sweet spot training to build my aerobic engine and build muscle endurance(question 2).
How do I keep on adding TSS without keep adding extra training time? My wife will thank you for your answers (question 3)
I’ve been ramping up fitniss from a small ‘30’ to a ‘60’ before I fell Ill a few days ago. I did however not really add recovery weeks but do I need those as my ‘ramp rate’ has been smaller than 4 or 5 on a weekly basis? (question 4)
My progress since the start of the prepartion:
![image|690x220]
Sorry for my written english, it could use some training as well.
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To participate in PBP, you’ll need to do a full series of rides between now and the middle of June. These rides are a 200K, a 300K, a 400K, and a 600K. If you don’t have much experience with the longer rides, you should plan on these rides leaving you exhausted for a couple of weeks each. So where am I going with this?
Don’t worry too much about building power between now through PBP (in August). You’re going to be ramping up your load / TSS massively with these longer rides and will likely be unable to do effective VO2 or threshold type workouts for the two weeks after each of the 300K, 400K, and 600K.
Focus on your long weekend endurance rides. Focus on your bike fit. Focus on your nutrition. Focus on your plan to minimize screwing around time at PBP so you can maximize your sleep time. If you’re feeling good on a weekday and want to squeeze in some hard efforts, go for it! But with only 3-5 months to go, going long on the weekends should be your main goal. And recovering from your long weekends is the parallel goal.
I’m no coach and I only have six 1200K’s under my belt. The first one is all about survival and the key to survival is endurance base and minimizing time not spent moving forward. Rolling at 12 kph is way faster than rolling at 0.
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I’m familiar with rides up to 600km and I did superrandonneur series before… I just never went for a 1200 and as I want to enjoy my first PBP I want to get as fit and strong as possible. I want to work up to it with an efficiënt structured solid approach.
The goal is moving as much as possible but it couldn’t hurt to get that ftp up, the weight down and the muscle endurance maxed out I guess 
The weekend endurance rides will come as the weather improves. I just finished the first 300 of the year 3 weeks ago. But it hurt a bit. Hour sessions on the turbo and the rower didn’t really translate to the distance but as time is scarce, I depend a bit on the shorter traininginputs. I’ve got plenty of time but it comes in shorter durations.
Haha, so you ‘only’ did 6 1200s.? That doesn’t make you a coach, but it does make you an expert in my book
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Is there like a ctl-amount that I should be aiming at? Or what number should be enough to be confident to start (and more important: finish). I’ve started out in January with a mere 30 and got it up to a 70. I didn’t do an FTP-test in 2 month so that number might be skewed upwards.
I finished all the rides up to 400 in a gentle pace and never really got in trouble. I did get lucky to find myself some broad shoulders to hide behind in a windy 400 but in the end it only kept the pace higher. Finishing was a certain thing. There is a 600 coming up in a few weeks (27 May: Alken-Alken-Alken) which will be quite hilly, so I’m looking forward to a real check-up to see where I stand.
I keep struggling to get more long distance rides in and to find enough of elevation in my rides to get to the point where 10.000m height meters of PBP don’t seem daunting anymore. Most of my training comes from indoor riding so I’m afraid I’m going to be surprised in the end of August.
If you have more tips and suggestions so I can be as best prepared as possible, I’d look forward to hear/read them.
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