A Knight To Be

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...

The Tour Of Sufferlandria is just around the corner. One week to go. I've decided that it's going to be easy, so I have a much, much better idea. I'm going to ride into a Knighthood on the last day. See? Now, this is an excellent idea, just like winning the Most Aggressive Rider's Award on that snowy Giro mountain stage from ISLTA. The last day of the Tour is 3-stages long. So, if I'm going to be around 3 hours in the saddle anyway, then why not push on for another 7 hours or so? A Knight of Sufferlandria is on my todo list for H1 this year anyway, and the 3-stage jump start is just what I need to give me momentum to keep going. So what I'm thinking is to ride the Tour backward upon completion. Here are the stages:  https://thesufferfest.com/pages/tour-of-sufferlandria-2020-the-stages So I'll start with the 9th and last stage: "Grunter's Gran Fondo" - Power Station + 2. Angels + 3. Thin Air Then, backtrack, replacing workouts f...

More Volume, that's what I want. One of the many joys of being relatively unemployed is that I can "afford" to spend more time on the bike (but not much more than that). Coupled with my overeating tendencies (don't get the wrong idea, I'm ~12% body fat, ~67kg), I still want more training volume to polish off those extra snacks, another serving of pasta and yes, please, I would like to see the dessert menu. At the moment, I'm working on The Sufferfest's all-purpose plan that has me riding about 6-7 hours a week (plus 1-1.5 hours strength and same for Yoga). As such, my longest ride in a block is around 2.5 hours (ISLTA longest session on the plan). So sometimes, I find myself, well, longing for longer. I want to hit off on those 3-6 hour rides, good old quality time with myself, off-limits to the world, off the grid, not to be interrupted. Sometimes, I just go on. I'll finish ISLTA and keep going for another hour. Other times, I might push on ...

It seems like the trend on The Sufferfest community these days, and as reflected on the SUF Facebook page, is the mental difficulty people have with doing easier workouts*. As with any plan, sometimes you have days with less strain and stress. There is only one correct response to such a workout on your training plan calendar: "Thank You." I won't go into the physiology of recovery here, and if it isn't obvious that recovery is crucial for improvement, then I suggest adopting other hobbies, Macramé perhaps. Some people use the convenience of a private torture chamber to punish themselves for their sins. Fine by me. Your workout says "45% FTP," and you still push 100%? Go for it. You deserve to suffer for your mistakes in life, your wrongdoings, and anything else you blame yourself for. Heck, why stop at 100%?! Do Blender at 200% - now that's the spirit! But seriously - it underlines an issue with The Sufferfest. New users seem to think they ar...

fail·ure /ˈfālyər/ noun 1. The action or state of not functioning. "The point when your working muscle is fully fatigued to the extent that it can no longer complete another repetition of a movement with strict biomechanics." Or, in other words, Success . Workout highlight Fight Club... true to its name, was a fight to the finish . This workout comes early on the training plan when targets are high, and adaptation has only begun. You attack. Attack and attack. The attacks come thick and fast from a threshold level with no recovery. As with most surges on The Sufferfest workouts, cadence spikes by ~15rpm and the power by Multiplies of Agony and Pain (MAP). Each interval starts with a TT effort, ~100 rpm, then transitions into a climb with ~75 rpm. While I have no problem surging from 100 to 120 rpm regardless of power (usually), the surge from 75 to 90 is a challenge. Obviously, metabolic and muscular demands are different at these efforts and given enough of ...

Plan #2 Week 2. 10 Weeks To Go. Welcome back, weary traveler. I trust that you may have wondered about my decision about which training plan to pursue having completed a 12-week program on 12.10.2019. You may have lost sleep, bitten your fingernails, pulled hair, and felt generally anxious and edgy. That's common, expected, and you're healthy - it's ok. More realistically though (and Google Analytics doesn't lie) I, the composer of these digital scrolls, is the sole soul reading these lines anyway, so, like the rest of it, no one cares, right? But I keep at it nonetheless. Remembering Why. That's why. I had, at the time, contemplated another 12-week plan, an eSport/vRacing plan, or a Knighthood attempt. Virtual Racing, I must admit, was most tempting because keeping a tight plan prevents me from hammering away on Zwift, which I genuinely enjoy. As for the Knighthood attempt, I can always do that, and I'm quite confident I don't need five weeks to...