Originally Posted by pedalbiker
But when it adapts, it no longer needs to improve. You have to keep changing the stimulus to keep the body improving. The same thing over and over and over again simply doesn't work.
3 months is nothing in the grand scheme of athletics. . 5-6 hours at 3w/kg just on a whim? That might take years or never for some people. Sorta impossible to say.
I spent probably 3 years of riding 15-20 hours a week to get to the point where I could do that as a normal Z2 endurance ride, and it took me about that long to get to a Cat 1, so I wasn't slouching about. But that included lots of intensity as well as volume, improving different things along the way and building a big foundation from which I could do those rides. Mostly it took patience and miles. Lots and lots of miles.
One of my favorite things to remember in my own training is the common, "Keep doing what you are doing and you will keep getting what you are getting." I've enjoyed some similar discussions on the web lately from guys like you that have a lot of experience both good and not as good. When I competed in lifted there were a lot of trial and error years to start, but when things really started to sink in mentally the refinement went to the next level and so did the outcome.
I liked this from Dr. Coggan on FB the other day. "In my ~40 y in endurance sports, I've never seen anyone get faster by reducing the volume and/or intensity of their training." From that statement several others posted a few more morsels.
There are some other discussions going on about "quality vs quantity" and "sub vs supra" that I have been watching. Since last fall I have been moving a bit more polarized. Unlike the popular study that came out last year with 80% in L2 I've got a little bit more intensity in the weekly ratio. That study ratio doesn't make sense to me and it does not seem to play out well in observing trends in the PMC at least in a short observation things were declining in the PMC and on the road.
Saturday and Sunday (warmer weather) I go out for more of a 4 to 5 hour L2 to SST type blend of a ride and try to keep from getting up toward 275 to 300+ TSS for the long ride. Too much and it seems to impact the higher intensity days (harder for me to hit those interval targets). My indoor intervals I try to focus hitting top of L4 into L5 (100% to 115%) for at least 3 days during the week. I did this schedule from September to November with no issues on recovery. I was starting to see some good improvement until the busyness of the holiday obligations kicked in. Now if work and life allow I should have a straight run in trying this for a long block and see how it goes.
For the indoor intervals I bump the intensity % by a couple more watts each week until I can't finish the intervals. When I begin to struggle I will then stick with that target until I can move up again.
PPP "sooner or later, you have to increase the power"
I don't compete (have never competed in endurance sports) and mainly ride alone so most of this is just for curiosity sake in observing the trends. My training time is usually limited to 10 hours a week.
Anyway thanks for chiming in. I appreciate your post.