Do any of you share this fear? - Page 3

I also backed out of my 3X20s @ 94% FTP today. I started my warmup, and then bailed.

I just couldn't bear the thought of doing this again. I sure hope this feeling passes soon.

I get like this when I've been doing the same workoutt too much. You might consider changing things up, like do 2x20's or 4x10's at a higher intensity or a couple of weeks of L5 with L2 recovery rides or something. Give yourself some variety.

I guess I'm fortunate that I got this "period of doubt" over with in December. One part of my brain was writing checks (or for the non-Yanks, cheques ) that the other part could not cash, if you know what I mean. I bailed on a lot of workouts.

The past 6 weeks have been different. I have been very, very focused, more than I usually am at this time of year. Some of it has come from looking at the power meter files of one of my competitors for some races that we both did last year. This guy won a lot of stuff last year and I was lucky to just finish with the group, if that actually happened. He has the benefit of a much higher FTP/kg than me but also the luxury of not having to sacrifice himself early on to protect the interests of the "star" riders on his team. (He has no team and rides solo and I do not.) In any case, I got a lot out of that exercise. Once I saw what he was doing for power, I thought it reasonable and practical to approach that (I've been close before) and I've had those numbers in my head ever since. It would be tough to get down to his weight though and I'm still going to be a "worker bee" for my team leaders so I'm trying to not set my expectations up too high either.

The other thing is that I know that threshold takes "a long time" to build. Weeks and weeks and months and months, depending upon how much improvement you are seeking. That and signs of good progress have motivated me to keep my nose to the grindstone this winter. Doesn't work with everything I do in life but this time it does.

Everyone has something that motivates them. This winter, this is what is working for me.

Thanks for sharing your experience Steve.

I'm also wanting to build threshold this winter. I'm going to take a few days off, and try to pick it up again over the weekend.

I keep telling myself it's only a few more weeks until I can get outside for some variety, but then, we got another 20 cm snow last night - 3rd big storm in 7 days, and we're buried here.

I always find that a goal, a target, something that really motivates you beyond anything else is almost crucial to any training that involves anaerobic work whilst riding alone. Training without a goal just becomes another ride. Another ride often gets put off when it's cold and wet or you're feeling a little sore but not really that bad from the last hard session.

If you have such a goal with a definable "end result" that's ambitious but realistic, then you're way over half way there. Doing the training when you have that "carrot" aint that bad, even if that carrot is something as simple and quantifiable as losing weight...