Thanks, good to know!
Contentious but I’d just say any time you’re not actually moving forward is enoughnto keep it simple. Can see how others will argue if you hit traffic lights while working hard you’ll still have decent metabolic demand for the first 30s.
For outdoor rides does auto-pause stop accumulation of TSS? As I see garmin/strava end up getting time differences for rides depending in whether auto-pause was on, or whether I press the button at lights.
How easy does it have to be for that? I usually find I can do low Z2 rides while keeping HR low in z1, unless any early efforts elevate HR.
Yeah think that’s legit. Seems more sensible that previous option of keeping it the same all year for ever inflating TSS scores.
Uphill can get higher numbers and show what your legs can produce, and I’ve used the trick before for max 10s or Max minute tests.
But I agree as an FTP test thinking about ironman I’d want to keep it more relevant. I suppose if you’re testing the same everytime that’s the most important thing for your own progress, but then can’t compare between real races/TTs and tests.
So unless you’re a hill climber, it’s flat road for me. Ideally outdoor, but not found one here I could reliably do one on.
It “depends” on how the file is then processed, if the times are still there, then it would be the same, if the times are removed then they’re not. Back in the days of of SRM’s which didn’t have times, pausing it would give you no gaps at all, loads of watts!
The most important aspect for an outdoor FTP is to find a route that is not impacted by junctions, traffic lights or traffic. I use the TT course along the lake (same route as I used for 100km TT. it’s an out and back course, with a dead turn at 17.5km. Only issue is pedestrian crossings and bus stops
FTP climbing is definately higher, its like riding indoors, standing for 20mins, indoors is a bit higher because you don’t need to worry about bike moving around. TT bike is all about keeping it smooth, avoiding moving the bike around, and maintaining an aero position, so definately lower FTP
Bit of a confidence boost yesterday.
Sprint tri. Good swim, OK bike (39.0kph, AP 280W, NP 295W), OK run (3:44 /ks on hard sand, felt easier than Olympic effort and HR corroborates, just doing enough to hold position and reduce injury risk).
About 5 hours later I biked the 70km home. 600m elevation, AP 200W, NP 220W, aHR 133 (z1) mHR 148 uphill (top z2/3). Some fatigue creeping in at 2hrs but think a sustainable effort.
Most pleasing bit was 35.7kph average speed.
First ironman effort ride I’ve done on the TT, and first time I’ve thought 36kph ironman split is definitely doable.
Also my first time descending on the TT. Hated lots of it 
That was me at Helvellyn 
Nice work yesterday, by the way 
bloody good effort, training is all well and good, but nice to see that translatinginto race performance. im not at that level at the moment. this time last zear I was running sub 18 5ks, now struggling to get sub 2o mins however, I think my bike endurance is better, and swim much better.
woke up with a sore foot. in a diofferent place. so low week running. its supposed to be a recovery week, so probably body telling me to go easy
Yeah I’d benefit from some bike racing/zwift but that’s not going to happen, and likewise I’d like to do a standalone 10k (which could double as a threshold test) but there’s a risk of too many competing interests.
I have an Olympic in 4 weeks that I’d like to go well at, a sprint two weeks later than will purely be turn up and do as a training session, then a half ironman two weeks after that that again I’d like to do well at.
The sprint in between has the potential to be a distractor, hence the telling myself I don’t want to do well at it and wont sacrifice training. I wouldn’t enter but I’m chasing a 7-race state series championships and whilst I could probably win overall whilst missing the sprint (I’d have still done 5 of the 7 and placing top 3 regularly) just turning up and scoring a few points should guarantee the title.
Fingers crossed the foot is just a few days off type thing and you’ll be back on the go next week.
Foot really painful last night. No idea why, seems to be an accute pain a few cm behind little toe. It was fine when i ran sunday, didnt do much yesterday. Probably need to book dr appointment.
Im wondering if i managed to knock my foot on something
Help needed. Just got an invite to St George for IM World Champs… should I do both Kona and St George?
Financially would be a stretch, I would also be in St George for my 50th birthday, my daughter will be in the middle of here International Baccalaureate (A level Equivalent)
On the pro side, ego
St George isn’t a World Champs.
It’s called the World Champs.
But it’s as much a world championship as the NBA, NHL, NFL, MLB is.
It’s a nonsense.
Your daughter is definitely going to need your support through the IB, so stay and help her out.
Take a leaf out of Jo Whitfield’s book 
I’m not sure I agree with Poet’s view on it’s validity, but if it doesn’t gel with family then that’s a strong negative.
My factors would be; does it fit with your training plan, does it bridge from one goal to the next, does it replace your primary goals this season or does it interfere with them?
I suspect it’s still not an optimum thing to do.
You’re not allowed (to express) an opinion anymore 
It’d be a WC if it was qualifiers, but they’ve invited a whole load of AWA gold athletes (top 1%?)
So they’re struggling for entrants and are scrambling to fill places.
It’ll be interesting to see which pros attend.
I’d give it a swerve, unless StG is a particular bucket list destination. They’ll be a great Pro field, probably equivalent to Kona - pro’s haven’t had a WC since Oct 2019, and some will fancy their chances as it will play to different strengths than Kona.
But the AG field will be much less stacked than Kona, most Euros will have opted for the Kona option so it’ll be mainly US athletes and now they’re filling it up with AWA Gold etc.
So really any ‘ego’ would be a qualified, and the race will become a sort of forgotten oddity assuming the continue to hold the real champs in Kona.
Personally I’d say with Roth as well, it’ll be a stretch and may well detract from the Sub-9 goal
Can’t imagine it’ll influence your decision either way but I’ve signed up.
I did actually qualify at Portugal last year but turned the slot down then.
As I’ve been moaning about on another thread, I’ve been feeling a bit lost and lacking in motivation and purpose this year since deciding against trying to get back to Kona.
A such St George works well for me. Gives me some motivation and purpose.
I’m meeting a friend out there who moved from Newcastle to the states a few years back. It’ll still be a fair wedge of cash but nothing like as expensive as Kona. My wife was really pushing me to do it - I guess she thinks it’ll help stop banging on about Kona so much.
Timing is an issue. I’ve been reasonably consistent with training over winter but no way am I Ironman fit yet. The next 12 weeks will be a bit of a test to see how fit I can get in a short period of time over the miserable British winter. I’m not going to put a huge amount of pressure on myself. I’m not going to be troubling any podiums - just want to get fit enough over the next 12 weeks to allow me to enjoy the day and soak it all in.
I think it’ll be a pretty cool experience that I’d not have done otherwise. Although it’s not really going to be a legitimate AG World Championship I do agree with @TROSaracen in that it will be a legitimate Pro WC - they’ll all be there so should be a real buzz around the race.
My son is big into Mountain biking and Red Bull Rampage in particular (those guys are fucking mental - and talented) so a bit gutted I can’t bring him along to see what the landscape and national parks are like.
Interesting. Just looked at Intervals.icu. Very surpised by the amount of Z3 and Z4 workouts. I guess Zwift Racing is contributing heavily.
when looking at this, remember that I am averaging over 20 hours training per week, so over 5-6 hours in Z3-5
Training update
Still can’t shift bloody foot pain. Tuesday night couldn’t sleep, foot in real pain. Distinct swelling and red lump. Pain eased off, and didn’t seem to be related to walking or weight. Went to Dr, had an ultrasond and xray: no embolism or fracture, no sign of infection, Dr says its a mistery and I should have 4 days off running. Back Running on Sat and Sunday, easy pace.
Can still run at a very repectable easy pace, 4:30/km is just 135 bpm. I’ve certainly lost top end pace, but running engine is still there
S&C making massive difference to upper body… wife thinks I look great, unfortunately jackets are all feeling rather tight. Just after Christmas, I could just manage 5 pull ups, today I managed 30.
All this S&C is translating into real improvements in the water. I am now thinking that a 1h IM Swim may even be possible. This would be a massive boost to my sub 9hrs ambition
Last week finally saw me coming back to the cycling form that I was in last Autumn. Did the ZRL race with BL13 at 1830, and came 7th, then jumped into the ZZP team at 2000 and came 4th. I’ve been doubling up on these races for the last 3 weeks, and it is a prettz y brutal test, FTP effort for 45 mins, 30 min break, 45 min FTP effort. Second time around I am less then 10w down on the first, but it hurts like hell
Weight is down below 70kg, another couple to hit race weight. However, I am eating loads, during this phase of training, weight loss is not my priroity. Also suspect the increase in Upper body strength is also resulting in incease in weight
We’ve had brilliant weather for 4 or 5 days, so lots of riding outdoors. Its so nice to ride outside in the company of IRL friends
