I used that approach for a long time but do things just the opposite these days. I do my hardest, shortest workouts early in my training week and reduce intensity but increase duration on following days. This time of year it's pretty subtle since I don't do short intervals during winter base building but I'll still do my hardest efforts but shortest workouts early in the week.edd said:... So I always leave them to late in the week (Thursdays) Friday off the bike and am fresh for road ride on Sunday.....
I first saw this proposed by Greg Lemond in his book 20 or so years ago but was reluctant to try it. It seemed I might go too hard early in the week and be too tired for decent training later in the week. Well it took me a long time to really give it a go, but I find it works really well to start hard and short and work towards easier and longer. For one thing I do my hardest workout when I'm most fresh. But I also finish each workout knowing my following workout will be easier. That's a big mental advantage late in a training block. I also finish my midweek block with a longer Tempo/low SST session which is easy to recover from which sets me up well for weekend riding or racing.
Like I said it's pretty academic this time of year when I'm only focusing on FTP and CTL but as I transition into preseason prep and then into racing I'll definitely be using a ramp down in intensity but up in duration approach to my weekly training. I know it's counterintuitive and I was skeptical for a long time but I'm amazed at how well this approach works.
YMMV,
-Dave