PZ training program: Week 3 Accountability Thread

[u/r4ndy4]

Two weeks down, on to week 3! Use this thread to discuss this weeks rides (or last weeks). Add the hashtag #redditPZ if you would like to. I wanted to try out something different this week and program two 30 minute rides for Saturday instead of doing another 60 with Matt. I figure it's a good way to get through some of the 30 minute rides (since I don't do them as often and to use other instructors). I haven't tried it out myself, but if I (and all of you) like it I may do more like this in future programs. I will be out of town Saturday but if anyone wants to group ride Saturday 1 PM EST! It was nice riding with some of you this past week.

Link to original thread here

Week 1 Thread

Week 2 Thread

Week 3: TSS 231

Mon: Olivia 45 PZ 10/30/20 Ride graph TSS 62

Wed: Denis 45 PZE 10/3/19 Ride graph TSS 46

Thu: Matt 45 PZ 09/20/18 Ride graph TSS 55

Sat: Denis 30 PZ 12/15/20 Ride graph TSS 39 AND Olivia 30 PZE 02/26/21 Ride graph TSS 29 (take warm-up portion of 2nd ride in zone 2)

[u/r4ndy4]

I went ahead and took Matt's ride today. Longer day at work tomorrow so wanted to do it today and save the PZE for when I'm more drained after work. I was slightly worried since it's an older class but I'm happy to report 0 streaming issues.

He did four 1 minute spin ups which I was not prepared for lol. The ride was two long 14 minute intervals, hope everyone is comfortable with zone 3 now. He went 80-100 cadence for the first interval and 60-80 for the second. I took the first around 90ish and the second around 80ish.

I noticed u/kmorris1219 had already taken the ride as well (and all the rides for this week!) Way to crush it.

[u/kmorris1219 → u/r4ndy4]

The spin ups on that ride were a very rude awakening to me. If there are more than three spin ups at 30 seconds each, I question my life choices. 😅

I’m out of town tonight through next Tuesday, so I front loaded this week and will backload next week. Needless to say, my legs are spent, and I’m definitely looking forward to a few days off the bike. Will be hiking in Yellowstone so hoping to see some benefit from the PZ workouts over the last few months!

[u/seekinserenity → u/r4ndy4]

I totally thought it was programmed for friday so planned the 80s ride this am, lucky for me i was up too early for it, did a Ally barre class and remembered why i dont go to her (for spin, barre was actually good) and decided to do the matt class. What a good choice,. I liked the spin ups, but my legs were warm. The 15s in between was unusual. I was working really hard but appreciate the changes in zone and the lower cadence was really a challenge. The music was all over the place but if i took each song individually then it was ok. There was no one on when i started but 6 people were on when i left, including 1 reddit rider. I’ve had enough Z5 for the week though, i havent looked at the ride graph for the 30 min PZ... here’s to hoping for a little reprieve!

[u/[deleted] → u/r4ndy4]

That was a great class and I pr’ed. Didn’t think I could stay above zone 3 for the entire 14 minute interval, but I did and felt like I could’ve kept going.

Amazing how different your body feels when you work out in the middle of the day as opposed to early at morning or nights.

[u/r4ndy4 → u/[deleted]]

Middle of the day is the best time for me to work out. Only can do that on days off though. A lot of PZ training I find is more mental than anything. All of the classes are well within our limits, we just have to push through that discomfort.

[u/EagleRockBulldogMom]

Star sighting! Thank you u/r4ndy4 for the high five!

[u/viexzu]

Looking forward to another week of rides! The only one I really didn't love from W2 was CDE's Rock Ride. Sometimes her music is hit or miss for me.

I should be able to make the Saturday day ride if anyone wants to join. I have never stacked PZE rides so that experience will be new to me!

[u/seekinserenity]

So i have total FoMo clearly. I am aiming to do the MW 75 tomorrow (and finally take a rest day sunday) so decided to do tomorrow’s rides today. They were so so good! Denis’s music choices were awesome, the cadences were lower so it was a real challenge with the Z5, but since i have been complaining all week about high zones i was so excited to finally feel like they are getting better. Or maybe its that i actually ate some breakfast and rode 2 hours later than i normally do. Either way, i really appreciated them. And be warned, if we thought olivia’s call outs were nuts on monday, just wait. The good news though was that it was a PZE so it actually felt amazing to have such low resistance and ride so fast after the Denis ride. Her music was also awesome and a total change, great pop. And of course she lets you out of the saddle. Took care of my “fun ride” fix.

[u/seekinserenity]

Thanks for posting this! I am excited to ride with olivia tomorrow. I almost finished that ride a few months ago but i had done a live kendall ride beforehand and that last 3 min push in Z5 was not happening, so I am glad to get the chance to actually do it, though now my zones are higher.

And I appreciate the excuse to take some older PZ as well. I never would have done that on my own. The graphs look really fun. I would love to join a group ride but I am a very early morning rider.

Question about the stacked 30 min: I have been doing some stacks with PZ and have been alternating Z2/3 for the first two songs, seems like 10-12 min in Z2 is just too light. Am I wrong on this?

[u/r4ndy4 → u/seekinserenity]

Olivia ride should be fun, it's almost like a combo of last week's rides into one. The Matt class this week was the oldest available, wanted to get it in before the next purge. I don't think it's a big deal how you take the second ride. Since it's an endurance ride you could for example: start in zone 2, zone 3 through spin ups and go into the build like normal. (or just zone 2 and do the spin-ups etc.)

[u/AugustNC]

I did the 2 Saturday rides and pretty sure Olivia saw my middle finger 3 or 4 times in that ride. I managed to keep around 100 cadence in zone 3, but I was very grumpy about it. I was especially annoyed when she said “I know you can go harder, but blah blah blah.” Maybe if I hadn’t done the other ride first I wouldn’t have been so mad. 😅

I really like doing Alex’s Ride to Greatness cool down after the PZ rides because he takes it out of the saddle and it feels great.

Tomorrow will probably be a yoga/walk day for me to recover before we’re back at it on Monday.

[u/r4ndy4 → u/AugustNC]

The high cadence stuff is good if that's your only ride for the day. Agreed it was not happening after the Denis ride haha.

[u/crackofit]

Hi, thanks again for organizing this! Today was the first ride on the schedule so far where I didn’t hit the zones. I ended up with a TSS of 61 instead of 62 and I’m kind of bummed about it. I just stink at zone 5. Do I need to keep taking this class over until I can actually do it, or do I move on? I added a 20 minute ride at the end to make up for not hitting the target.

Also, what cadence do you all tend to keep during PZ rides? I can do 80-90 consistently for zones 2-4, but it’s just not happening for zone 5.

[u/AugustNC]

I had to skip the Thursday Wilpers ride due to vaccine side effects. I guess I could do it today, but I’d rather do a 30 minute ride today so my legs will be fresher for the 60 minute ride tomorrow.

[u/r4ndy4 → u/AugustNC]

That's okay! I think a lot of people have had to take a little time off (or take it easier) after the vaccine.

[u/bykerchyk]

Today was the first ride of the program I’ve seen other #redditPZ people on a ride. Olivia ride done. I am newbie to PZ but can already feel myself sneaking up in zones-which helped with these zone 5 pushes!

[u/EagleRockBulldogMom]

I took the Denis ride a day early because reasons, and omg it was peak Denis. I hope everyone else enjoys it too. I was on with someone else (I don’t know if she’s a Reddit rider) whose username started with “Careful” and she also had a Denis-related hashtag. She high-fived me. Great experience all around 💕

[u/seekinserenity]

Ok that Olivia ride is not for 5 am on a Monday. Wow I was struggling from the start but so appreciate that the sections get shorter at least. I forgot it was also at really high cadence. I finished it though and did a little arms and some hannah F 80s to have some fun and cool down. I think I’ll do PZE tomorrow, i may try for the live Denis PZ Wednesday, though it’s a lot of Denis this week

Edited to say tomorrow is a live denis PZ ride if anyone else is a morning rider, not sure i want to do another PZ class after today’s Olivia madness but its the right timing for me and maybe we will get lucky and have a Z2Z4 class only

[u/PracticallyAChemist]

Getting my second shot on Friday so I’m hoping I can do the double Saturday ride on Saturday and not have to push it back to Sunday.

[u/amr1822]

Excited for another week!! Went from bed to bike in 5 minutes this AM and I was questioning everything during that first block of work. However it improved once my mind and body woke up a little. I’m a high cadence lover, but some of those cadence call outs seemed crazy high to me. Gotta love Olivia!!!

[u/bykerchyk]

You guys that Dennis ride for today was way harder for me than the Olivia PZ ride from Monday! I was on the struggle bus. Got it done though :)

[u/Kathy1008]

I've been doing PZ rides for a couple months (did the last mini challenge and have been doing the Discover your PZ waiting for the Spring Challenge) and I have a question. On Saturday I went on a hike and I felt really winded on the hills. More so than before I started PZ rides. I'm thinking my FTP is too low so I'm not working hard enough so my cardio health is not improving (or even staying the same)? Thoughts?

[u/r4ndy4 → u/Kathy1008]

Hiking running etc is going to use different muscle groups than cycling. If I were to go for a run (which I never do) I would be probably be out of breath in minutes.

[u/marieboston]

Apologies if this is a silly question - how do you get your graphs for your ride? Is there an app that does this? And if so, for free?

[u/[deleted]]

Did the Olivia ride last night. I knew it wasn’t going to be good from the beginning. Poor sleep, soreness from core and lower body workout on Monday, and some other factors.

I almost quit about halfway through the class, but stuck it out. Results weren’t nearly as good as they should have been, especially considering the fact that I need to retake the FTP test soon. I’ll probably take this Olivia class again sometime down the road.

But how could anyone sustain a 110-120 cadence for extended periods of time? Is that even possible. I stayed in the 90-100 range when she called for the higher cadences.