ride timetable strategy?

Team Banana Spokesman

I commute for 1.5hrs per day mon-fri going hard and am slightly fatigued by friday night. not too much though.

i have sat/sun for riding but i want one recovery day

do I use saturday for my longer ride and go super super hard so sunday I can recover or do I recover from the commutes on saturday and go hard on sunday while feeling fresher?

my commutes are about 85-95% of ftp. 45 mins each way.

which should I do?

sunday ride may affect my ability to do the commute hard on monday if not recovered properly. saturday ride can be harder because of the rest day but may not be as hard as I want because of the fatigue.

which logically will give better results?

commutes can add up to 700 TSS and I once did a 350 TSS long ride every sat but I think I could do more if it were on the sunday.

hmmm.....

chrisw12

I have exactly the same dilemma and similar numbers as well. Commuting has it's advantages and dissadvataages, there's almost too much training time.

I now usually take one day off in the week and or take Thursday and Friday easier then I'm good to go for Saturday, long and hard. Sunday I'm wasted though which annoys me. Monday is then usually the off day.

Also your idea about taking Sat off the go hard on Sunday. FOR ME, I'm finding I don't go that well after a rest day, but you might be different but it's something else to consider perhaps.

Team Banana Spokesman

cant really take a day off from commuting during the week tbh. would mean twice the commuting time on 3 sweaty busses at 8am. no thanks!

chrisw12 wrote:

Also your idea about taking Sat off the go hard on Sunday. FOR ME, I'm finding I don't go that well after a rest day, but you might be different but it's something else to consider perhaps.

depends waht you mean by 'dont go that well'. i admit that there is a bit of a lull after a rest where motivation can drop a bit... after a rest day with proper refuelling doesnt the science say you can go harder? the fatigue from the commutes isnt much but i think a hard ride after it could not be as hard as i would like it to be.

not sure about it. thats why I started the thread. i think there is a difference between the 2 strategies in terms of muscle recovery and physiological adaptations.

a saturday hard ride after the commutes seems like its more likely to lead to overtraining but i cant think of any science to back this up. on the other hand a hard ride followed by a hardish commute the next day might affect the recovery in a different way. I wouldnt want to go all out if I plan to do 5 days of sst after it.......

chrisw12

Team Banana Spokesman wrote:

cant really take a day off from commuting during the week tbh. would mean twice the commuting time on 3 sweaty busses at 8am. no thanks!

chrisw12 wrote:

Also your idea about taking Sat off the go hard on Sunday. FOR ME, I'm finding I don't go that well after a rest day, but you might be different but it's something else to consider perhaps.

depends waht you mean by 'dont go that well'. i admit that there is a bit of a lull after a rest where motivation can drop a bit... after a rest day with proper refuelling doesnt the science say you can go harder? the fatigue from the commutes isnt much but i think a hard ride after it could not be as hard as i would like it to be.

not sure about it. thats why I started the thread. i think there is a difference between the 2 strategies in terms of muscle recovery and physiological adaptations.

a saturday hard ride after the commutes seems like its more likely to lead to overtraining but i cant think of any science to back this up. on the other hand a hard ride followed by a hardish commute the next day might affect the recovery in a different way. I wouldnt want to go all out if I plan to do 5 days of sst after it.......

Perhaps the science says you can go harder after a rest day, I'm just starting to find that when I'm riding every day I tend to be a bit lethargic after a rest day. Don't know why and have no science and as of yet no figures to back it up and it's a FOR ME observation.

I take it you're using a powermeter? If you are, have a look at the performance manager in wko or have a look at the free golden cheetah. They might be better at answering your questions more specifically.

shockedsoshocked

You could just go easy on monday/friday, or whenever you're feeling a bit worn out.

You don't have to go as hard as possible at all times.

SBezza

Have a couple of commutes as recovery paced rides. You will have to leave early, or get home later, but no wonder you are tired if you go hard with every ride.

Infamous

chrisw12 wrote:

I have exactly the same dilemma and similar numbers as well. Commuting has it's advantages and dissadvataages, there's almost too much training time.

Spoken like a true tester

Take it easy on monday and friday (you can't train hard 5 days in a row anyway), then get some proper rides in on sat/sun.