A Knight To Be

I did the 4 Dimensional Power Test again today. The new plan I'm on (100 Mile Gravel Grinder) has this on the 2nd day. The 4DP Full Frontal test protocol is the stuff nightmares are made of. A session so painful and demanding it can bring grown men to tears. I tested with another protocol, "Half Monty" just two days ago and will discuss how the two compare. The previous 12-week plans all ended with the fitness test. Instead of a race or event, you go ahead and set new records to make your future workouts even harder. You see where this is going, right? There's a good reason it's called "The Sufferfest." Usually, there's buildup, and some planning for the test is involved, much like a real race. It includes pre-test prep, physical and mental, event strategy, mindfulness work, and more. Going through the motions is priceless and can undoubtedly push one through those horrid dark places a Full Frontal 4DP Test takes you to. Nonetheless, I st...

Last week I completed another 12-week cycling training plan with The Sufferfest. The grand-finale, yet again, is the excruciating Full Frontal 4DP test session. As a brief reminder, since most who endure this go deep into denial, you undergo a series of 4 maximal power output tests to get a complete and comprehensive profile of your abilities. And these are: Neuromuscular Power (NM): 5-second max power Anaerobic Capacity (AC): 1 minute Maximal Aerobic Power (MAP): 5 minutes Functional Threshold Power (FTP): 20 minutes It looks like this: 4DP Full Frontal Power Output Graph (on a bad day) More info: https://thesufferfest.com/blogs/training-resources/4dp-full-frontal-fitness-test-faq Completing the test creates and applies a "4DP Profile" to your training plan and subsequent workouts. Right. Moving on. So last week I completed the third instance of the test . The first was upon my arrival at Sufferlandria, part of the immigration process. I then fol...

*CAUTION: This post may contain images of a grown man in tights practicing masochism with the aid of a bicycle. TL;DR: The Sufferfest Training Plan, 12 weeks, MAP (VO2max) focus helped me raise my MAP by 4.3% (w/kg) and my FTP by 2.5% (w/kg).  Pre-Event Checklist? Done. Event Strategy? Done. All boxes ticked; battle awaits. Today I rode my second 4DP Test: Full Frontal. The first was a little more than 12 weeks ago, and since then, my focus is Maximal Aerobic Capacity (MAP, or VO2max) with The Sufferfest Training Plan. As a reminder, this is the 12-week General Cycling Plan, Advanced Level, Indoor Only, MAP focus, with all the toppings: Strength, Yoga, and Mental Toughness. TL;DR*: NM: 987 => 994 (+7W / 0.71%) AC: 470 => 456 (-14W / -2.98%) MAP: 314 => 328 (+14W / 4.46% ) FTP: 268 => 274 (+7W / 2.24%) LTHR: 182 => 180 (-2 BPM / -1.10%) And in W/Kg terms (as I gained 1kg over these 12 weeks): NM: 14.51 => 14.62 w/kg (+0.11 w/kg / 0.76%) AC: 6....

Just came off the bike after doing " Primers ". This drill "revs up the engine," so to speak by dishing out 4x 3 minutes intervals of around FTP, then 3 low effort sprints. I vaguely remember from doing this before the previous Full Frontal 4DP Test that these efforts we a bit on the demanding side of things. Spinning 90rpm at FTP, or just above, for 3 minutes and thinking, "this isn't as easy as it should be... I need 5 minutes at almost 100 Watts more tomorrow!" I attribute this to the very light days prior: no ride yesterday (just some Yoga) and a 30min Recovery Ride the day before. So legs are a bit "rusty" to the extent that a coat of oxidization only a couple of days old can blossom. Tomorrow is going to be a blast. I went through the Mental Toughness Program pre-event work, have my TO-DO for today and tomorrow and getting things in place. For instance, making sure to supplement and eat/drink enough today, even though it's ...

6 Days to go. Last kilometer. La Flamme Rouge. I've gone under the kite, as Carlton Kirby might say. Into the final rest week of the 12-week Sufferfest Training Plan I go. As a reminder, this is the General Cycling Plan, Advanced Level, Indoor Only, VO2 focus, with all the toppings: Strength, Yoga, and Mental Toughness. At this point, it's interesting to look at the power zone durations for the span of the plan thus far: 4.3% spent in Zone 5, and another 1.6% in Zone 6 - and since there were not too many sprints in this plan, let's assume that the NM+AC work is there to support MAP development. We combine these two figures to ~6% (3.5hrs). I'm very curious to see the impact this will have on the upcoming 4DP Full Frontal Test. Meanwhile, this rest week is a blessing. I'm utterly exhausted. To illustrate a point, last night, I rode the 90min Endurance+ ride, which generally puts me in a hazy comatose state. This time it was so challenging that I ...

Week 8, 26 days to go. I get that tingling feeling from time to time. No, it's not the beta-alanine OD, although that's fun too. It's when you KNOW that you can go harder than the workout demands of you. It's that feeling of restrained, controlled patience. The sensation of having more to give, even though you don't need to. And when you get that feeling in "A Very Dark Place," then you know you've come a long way. It also hints that a Full Frontal Test is imminent for raising that bar once again for renewed, fresh, Suffering. The Sufferfest - A Very Dark Place - Trailer from The Sufferfest on Vimeo . The value of repeating a challenging workout on the same plan cycle is immense. The comparison, at least in RPE, is invaluable. I could go technical and compare in detail how the two repetitions of A Very Dark Place differ. I did that for The Shovel here: https://suffer.tavor.io/2019/10/mining-courage.html The bottom line is that this ti...

Week 7 I may never discover what Salted Watermelon tastes like. As I soak in this glorious Rest Day (that still includes a recovery spin, Yoga, and MTP), I have time to reflect on the past couple of days. On Monday, I rode " Who Dares ." Now, whenever I see an "FTP" focused workout, I tend to relax. Why? because I find it relatively easy to settle into a rhythm and push on. No workout is going to have me sitting at FTP for an extended period (shut up FF), and a session that's an hour-long, well, can't be that punishing with FTP focus, right? Wrong. "Who Dares" is basically 3x 9.5minute sets of: Sprint > subFTP > Sprint > Grind > Surge >Sprint > Rest The idea is to teach your body to be more efficient at recovery under pressure and clear away metabolites faster. The sprints flood the body with metabolites (lactic acid and its buddies). The following sub-FTP efforts force the body to clear them out while still pushin...

Week 6. They say that Fear arises from uncertainty. From the Unknown growing dark in your mind. Akin to inexperience: undergoing a new adventure without preparation, doubt breathing heavily down your neck. Courage, on the other hand, would then be risk-taking? Nay. Courage is action in spite of Fear. And Courage can be mined if your shovel can take the beating. He meant Courage, and he was wrong about Fear. Read On. As for Fear, though, I do have my objections. It was back in July, before starting the structured Sufferfest training plan, that I rode The Shovel. It was the first Sufferfest video I played in several years, back since when the SUF videos were in Strava (only 90's kids will remember). Now before diving into the gory details, let's just say that The Shovel is simply two sets of 23 intervals (5sec to 1min) with inverse ratios. In other words, the harder the interval, the longer the rest and vice-versa, taking a minute in total. For example, 10...

Week 5 When I first started with The Sufferfest Training Plan, I had to pay attention to planning the upcoming weeks carefully. Going from Xert, which is "dynamic," meaning you can find the right workout for your goal on any given day, SUF Plans are pre-fixed. Let's dwell on that for a moment: Pre-fixed training plans are a "given." You get the workout schedule for the next ~12 weeks and follow it. Sick child? Holiday? Business trip? Tough luck. Yes, life always gets in the way, but you more or less have to make up for missed sessions somehow. The Sufferfest makes it easy to figure out what to do in such a case: https://thesufferfest.com/blogs/training-resources/skip-a-workout-dont-panic . But as a whole, you're committed and inflexible. It's the same with training plans on Zwift and Today's Plan. Zwift will give you a short window to complete workouts, but if you miss the train, you're in trouble. Dynamic/Flexible training pla...

Yes, you will bleed from your eyes. I used to be fearful of the annual ramp test done for the medical checks. I'd get anxious about it weeks in advance, each winter. But now, it seems like a cake walk. I spent a week prepping for the Full Frontal. The notorious 1-hour all inclusive fitness test. It's so hard, it has a training plan of its own. This essentially follows a short Sufferfest plan which includes some drills, openers, and mental preparation. The latter made a big difference and I'm surprised how effective it is. I will definitely adopt it moving forward. The countdown started yesterday with carb loading and setting the schedule for the test. I used the Sufferfest nutrition guide and supplemented as suggested. Twenty grams of sodium bicarbonate had me visiting the porcelain a few times, but hey. Beets, beta-alanine, caffeine, and isotonics on the menu with some honey, a banana, and yogurt for breakfast. The air conditioning was at full gas, all compute...