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I am in week 2 of Ironman plan Level 2 Power/Power and am eager to make continual gains in FTP/speed when I can, so I want to put in a hard effort when workouts call for Zones 3-5. Question is: is it better (toward gains in FTP and race speed at the IM 21 weeks away) to do a CCI workouts where
1. I push a bit above Z3 steadily on the Z3 intervals (around 5% above FTP – which is Zone 4), but then after these intervals I pretty spent and for the CCI13 workout I did today I then did the remaining 29 mins of Z2 and 5 mins of Zone 1 at the BOTTOM of those zone ranges;OR
2. To do the CCI workouts where I hold back some in the Zone 3 intervals and just do them near the top of Zone 3, and then with the saved energy, focus on working higher in the Zone 2 and Zone 1 segments of those workouts?
Thanks!
Hi Tedc,
I suggest sticking in the zone (3) that is stated for the CCI intervals. It’s fine to be on the upper end of Zone 3 if you are feeling strong but the intent of the CCI work out is to keep the effort during and on each of those intervals relatively even. Edging them up changes the intent of the workout particularly if you move into zone 4.
As you are only in week 2 of the plan I really suggest following the intent of th workouts and not overreaching in effort.Let these first 4-6 weeks feel good and allow consistency in order to lay down a strong foundation for the work to come.Leyla
Thanks Leyla. Since so much related to training intensity and progress is focused on FTP it has seemed that working slightly above FTP (Z4) rather than slightly below FTP (Z3) would pave the way for higher FTP numbers in the future, but I hear your on what’s to come in the build in future weeks and not to overdo it. Z3 feels like permission to go as hard as I can on the intervals if I am able to do them steadily not erratically.
Hi Tedc,
I think it’s important to recognise that for an Ironman event your aerobic endurance is actually a better measure of your improvement over just improving FTP. FTP is Zone Y in the 80/20 Zone system and actually a zone not utilised much in 80/20 training and particularly not for Ironman Training.Matt wrote a great blog on this topic that might provide some further insight into not overemphasizing FTP gains when training for longer events that require a different level of fitness specificity.
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