The Group Workout dynamic..

Hmm, when I lived in Portland I started getting more detached from group runs as a runner, then as a Tri geek I loved the rides (not many group swim or run opportunities then)..

As a runner it was mainly because at the track I had my own program and didn't (still) didn't want to do a random workout that didn't fit into the meso cycle; I wasn't really ever worried about going too hard, as a runner I ran hard all the darn time!

What I was worried about though was running hills... Strange as it may seem when you're running seriously on the track the hills deaden your legs faster then anything.. So group runs that were hilly I avoided like the plague; though a couple of times I showed for some fun.

Once I moved to Seattle a couple of years ago even finding folks to ride with was a chore; sure I had groups I did weekly trainer interval sessions with (actually miss that) but I can count the number of times I rode with groups outdoors.. I didn't make a decision not to ride with folks so much as the option wasn't really there.

Swimming up there gave me plenty of options, but, I stayed away from masters swims in the morning because, while I get fit from the push, inside of two weeks of morning swimming I will have a niggle in my left upper back, just a knotted muscle but annoying. Something about the intensity that early in the morning freaks my bony little back out.

Where am I going with all of this?

Ah, well today I did my first group ride in ages and in Portland no less. It was an absolute hammer fest and while I was semi-prepared to deal with that the approach to the long ride it was much different then how I've approached building my cycling fitness.

Here are the over-arching tenets to my training approach as regards cycling:

-Build endurance:

My strategy with the cycling component of Triathlon is to be able to get off the bike fresh and run hard.

I've had mixed results with a cycling-centric approach and found success & balance in riding 4-5x a week an average of 2hrs a session.

That's still pretty darn hard when you're a working stiff, but it can be done, a person simply has to slice and dice the schedule to find time to to do so.. Again, reference my last post, I follow mod/hard days with easy days.

On easy days I ride how I feel and the wattage is the wattage meaning whatever the computer tells me is fine, I don't need a goal on an easy day other then getting out there for a spin and enjoying it.

-Build race specific speed:

Cycling in triathlon is unlike stand alone time-trials in that they are (usually) much longer than what single sport athletes deal with and as a result the emphasis really should be on endurance, not speed.

But, that said an element of speed is an important in a program where the orientation is performance and that happens to be me.

How do I get there? Wattage based training.

For each distance I race I take my Functional Threshold Power(FTP) and multiply it by an Intensity Factor (IF) to determine race goal wattage.

For example, if I race a Half Ironman distance I will target roughly 85% of FTP, but due to the vagaries of wind, descending and other elements beyond a rider's control in a race "hitting average race wattage" is usually difficult, if not impossible.

Finally, and most importantly, I approach the time-trial portion of a triathlon with the goal of going as fast as possible on the least watts.

This approach has served me really well, most of last summer I had top bike splits at most local races I competed in and rode 5.30 split at IMC on a windy and hilly course.

More importantly, if I use less watts for the same, or in many cases, better speed then another athlete it gives me an advantage when it is time to run..

"Ride for show, Run for dough."

As far as training is concerned, I allocate a small component of my training to sub-race wattage efforts; again for example I will find a course where I can ride steady wattage at (using the example above) 80% of race effort.

Why not faster? See below.

-Approach cycling as a subset of another sport: Triathlon

If you are a long course athlete chances are you workout a couple of times a day. If the first workout wrecks you it has a direct negative impact on the second workout.

This means that when you have a "quality session" on the schedule you'll need to be aware of either the scheduling of the other workout or how the intensity of one or the other workout impacts each other.

Additionally, due to the sheer volume of work we (I) do, a really significant element of intensity isn't important; think of the corollary in the Lydiard athletes (Snell, Halberg, etc.) also given the demands of the events the main emphasis is endurance.
____________________

So, what does this all have to do with the group workout dynamic.

Right. Yes, here we go:

Today I did a 60mi group ride. I came home and downloaded the data and was not shocked to see that I nearly recorded new "best average power" norms for 5min, 10min, 20min, 60min power.

I did, however, record a new best two hour power average.

A couple of things.. I was disturbed by this..

The ride was 3 hours and to be candid I think hitting those numbers should only ever happen in a controlled test or time-trial (in fact all of my best averages come from those kind of testing efforts) not in a group hammer fest.

My other thought was that perhaps those old norms aren't the norms anymore and I need to retest (it's entirely possible)...

All that said, I'm sticking to my philosophical guns on this one: Testing power happens in a controlled manner, training is training, and I like to follow the Bowerman axiom, "there will be no racing during workouts"...

Unfortunately I've found out that I need to control either how often I do these rides and accept that they are race-pace efforts, or just let people ride away..

Today I had a friend who had bonked hard and he really needed a wheel back to the car, I was more than happy to help and save myself for an evening swim set.

Next time? I dunno. I will probably only do group work rides that are super easy from here on out !