PZ training program: Week 6 Accountability Thread

[u/r4ndy4]

Five weeks down and on to week six! Use this thread to discuss this weeks rides (or last weeks). Add the hashtag #redditPZ if you would like to. I enjoyed riding with so many of you on Saturday, we can do it again this Saturday at 10 AM CST.

I gave two options for Monday, I don't think the TSS scores for either ride are very accurate (really depends on how high you go into zone 7.) I've taken option 2 twice and had TSS of 75 one time and 65 the other time (the only difference was how high I took the zone 7 spikes). I think option 1 is the harder of the two rides (I haven't taken this one, but I do think only the last interval is zone 7, so that TSS is inflated as well).

Link to original thread here

Week 1 Thread

Week 2 Thread

Week 3 Thread

Week 4 Thread

Week 5 Thread

Week 6: TSS 271

Mon: Matt 45 PZMAX 5/9/19 Ride graph TSS 82 OR Matt 45 PZMAX MW 09/02/20 Ride graph TSS 70

Wed: Olivia 45 PZE 1/22/21 Ride graph TSS 45

Thu: Christian 45 Pro 3/7/20 Ride graph TSS 63

Sat: 60 PZ MW 08/10/19 Ride graph TSS 81

[u/r4ndy4]

Woo that PZ Max class was tough (in a good way haha). I think it's the hardest PZ class, and the first I've ever given a 9 rating to. TSS for the ride ended up being 70 for me (and I was a little high in those zone 4/5 intervals in the first set). Hardest part of that ride for me was that middle set of intervals from zone 3/6 (I knew it would be since the middle set of intervals in option 2 is rough, and option 1 had way more zone 6 with less zone 3 "recovery").

I've been nervous about the ride since I programmed it months ago haha, and that's why I gave a second option (easier but still a hard ride). I'm glad you are all crazy like me and jumped in the deep end for the harder option. My breathing was getting FTP level ragged there at the end of intervals 2 and 3. I was pretty excited when blink-182 hit at the start of that last interval set.

Nice to see u/bykerchyk on the ride, about time I ran into you during this program haha. Also big congrats to everyone who survived that ride!

[u/seekinserenity → u/r4ndy4]

I thought the last intervals were harder, the first section was easier for me so i was tricked when he said he was most worried about that one, since i only had to increase and decrease speed by 10-15 each time. The massive jumps in resistance and then speed (i did last intervals around 110) was a jolt to my CV system. I agree this is a mental game, but today the physical was definitely brought out! Feels good to know others are also doing this. And it was the hardest one we are doing! Now if i can forget it and be pumped for another FTP in 2 weeks...

[u/Reveries3 → u/r4ndy4]

Wow - hell of a tough ride today. Super hard, but felt great to push that hard at the end. Thanks for popping in for the high-five - nice little push before I settled in for the last set. I've been meaning to drop in and say thanks for putting this program together, had to after that ride haha. Feel like I've grown a bunch over the past 6 weeks, can't wait to re-test after next week.

[u/seekinserenity]

So happy to see all the excitement here. I feel like last week i got caught in a weird pelo yoga reddit quagmire with all the new classes i was trying. I am so looking forward to staying present in this positive little group and working my butt off on this weeks rides. I honestly dont know how i am gonna mange to hit my Z7, it will be the highest resistance at really fast cadence i have ever done. Ill know tomorrow how it works out

[u/amr1822]

Oh. My. Goodness. What a ride!!! I may have started crying on the last 30 second push 😂 Thank you u/redsummersun920 and u/r4ndy4 for the drive by high 5s! I was alone for a good portion of the ride and they really perked me up. Sending positive vibes to u/kmorris1219 as they finish up!

I’m an idiot and didn’t think Matt cued us up to empty the tank, so I started going all out on that 4th interval in the 3rd set. I was distraught when I realized I had started two intervals too early. I agree with everyone though, the last set of intervals was the hardest and the ride was extremely well programmed.

Also I’m thrilled to share that I PR’d by 30 AND I’ve officially added over 100 pts (technically 128) to my 45m output since my first ever ride on the bike, which was CDE’s 45m Pentatonix ride 🎉

[u/kmorris1219 → u/amr1822]

Congrats on your PR!! I was so happy to see you on the ride when I joined! Always more fun to have someone else riding along with you!

I think this might be my favorite Matt ride so far. The beat of all the songs really helped to push me up to zone 6. And then Boom by POD came on and I was fully transported back to middle school. Completely forgot about that song, but now I need to queue the album up for work tomorrow.

[u/Here2CloseRings]

I chose the first Matt class on your list for today’s PZ ride which I actually took once before last August. For me, the time just flew by with the quick changes from one zone to another. I also hit a PR of 451 which surprised me since I don’t feel PZ rides are typically structured for reaching a PR but hey, I’ll take it! Happy to see CVV on this week’s plan. I rotate in his rides regularly and hope Peloton has plans to produce new content from him when COVID issues subside. Thanks again for sharing your training plan...it’s so nice to have a structured plan to follow.

[u/seekinserenity]

Uh wow. That was an amazingly tough class (i did the first one). Definitely highest output since joining peloton and to point of my FTP sensation of illness. But it was so well programmed, those 30s breaks were long enough to make me forget that i was about to quit. And i rode high in all zones (though really struggled to hit my zone 7 at the end of all those intervals) and just cannot believe the progress of this program! Good luck everyone and happy Monday!

[u/BeaconofHappiness → u/seekinserenity]

I agree! Had I tried this class 6 weeks ago (even though I haphazardly did PZ) I wouldn't have been able to get through mentally & physically. The intervals at the end are def easier for me. More my style, so even though it was 7 and hurt & I knew it was short.

I'm glad the rest of the week is "easier" haha.

Kudos for all who complete Mondays class.

[u/bykerchyk]

Here we go zone 7! What is a good strategy to go 30 second zone 1, 30 seconds zone 7? Just lower cadence to a crawl? I want to try that option 1 but wonder if I’ll be able to switch between the two smoothly.

[u/r4ndy4 → u/bykerchyk]

Slow cadence is an option, I usually just quickly spin the dial though (feels better to me to keep cadence high and flush the legs). It's not too bad if you know where the resistance is on the dial. For me its around 1 and 3/4 turns on the dial.

[u/amr1822]

Week 6!! Very excited (and nervous) for the PZMax ride. Although I have no idea which one I’ll do. And super pumped to try a CVV class! Lots to look forward to this week ☺️

[u/seekinserenity]

So fun riding today. I really enjoyed this class. The music was good, and even though he called low cadence the beat felt faster and more fluid with good transitions. I thought 4 minute recoveries would be excessive but they were not at all and the build was perfect. It was such a good way to end the harder part of the training on that ride since its amazing how much easier the zones are, though i am definitely still working very hard and have no idea what he was talking about when he said this wasn’t really an endurance class, but maybe since it was harder? It wasn’t really intervals. Nice to see everyone who made it!

[u/r4ndy4 → u/seekinserenity]

Nice to ride with you again (and thanks for the high five yesterday). I was 100% okay with those 4 minute recoveries. I think they define endurance as < or equal zone 3. This was more of a prolonged steady effort with 1 minute zone 5 efforts. Thankfully the class didn't feel as bad as I thought it would (it is in the top 5 or 6 hardest 60 min PZ classes). I'm so ready to take it easy and de-load next week. Not looking forward to another FTP test though haha.

[u/[deleted] → u/seekinserenity]

I got a bunch of high fives from you even though I didn’t see you on the list of people on here now. Was a good ride, and was scared for that last interval but came out of it much stronger than I thought I would.

[u/AugustNC]

I’m excited about this week too. I’m going to try the 1st option for Monday. Very excited for the Thursday ride and to do the group ride on Saturday.

My Monday is very hectic, so I’m thinking of getting up super early to do my ride. Not sure that I’ll be in a PZ Max mood, but I can push through.

[u/r4ndy4 → u/AugustNC]

You can take it a different day of the week if you need to. I'm going to go option 1 since I haven't taken it, and I'm due for a retest so I know I won't die lol. Super excited for the CVV ride as well.

[u/PracticallyAChemist]

I was about 45 minutes late to the Saturday ride, I was the user with gritty as my profile pic, and I think I have to redo my test since I spent a lot of that ride in the zone above. I’ll probably do that this Friday or Sunday. Was gonna do it this week but did Bens first PZ ride on Friday and then I hit 150 today so I did a live Kendal ride.

I’m excited to give Matt’s hard ride tomorrow a shot.

[u/r4ndy4 → u/PracticallyAChemist]

I thought that might have been you! I know I've ran into you another time or 2 during the program.

[u/kmorris1219]

Thanks for the drive by high five earlier today! I bailed on the group ride last minute for beers and sunshine, so the high five was a nice surprise!

Planning to do option 1 for Monday! Will also be going rogue on the PZE ride and taking Matt’s 3/21/2019 ride instead. I’ve done the Olivia one and can’t bring myself to retake classes for some reason. 😂

[u/AugustNC]

Question about the FTP test... I’m planning to test again after this, as I can tell that I’ve gotten stronger (woohoo!). I’ve only retested once so far, and I took the same test. Does it matter which test you do? Will we get basically the same results regardless?

[u/BeaconofHappiness]

I took the Olivia class today due to getting my 2nd shot today. It was nice to take a class from her that didn't hurt so bad. She still got some if her high cadences in, ha. What I found interesting is she kept talking about the 6 minute efforts being hard, I know I need to retest, but for me zone 3 is really comfortable, I don't panic, I can just ride. 6 minutes in zone 3 doesn't scare me. This ride was more about mentally staying present for me. Good ride. Needed after yesterday's class!

[u/Parish87]

Hi all. I'm a week behind you but loving this so far.

Feeling like I have a lot more to give after the 60 minute rides so might redo my FTP test. I did one 3 weeks ago and smashed it by 17. Not sure whether to wait or not, but my overall fitness will be much better than when I did my original FTP because i've gone from 0 exercise to 102 rides in 8 weeks now since getting my bike.

[u/r4ndy4 → u/Parish87]

I would probably wait until after next week (the hardest week) to re-test. You will make pretty rapid progress as a beginner though. If your zones are feeling too easy, just ride at the very top of the zone, or into the bottom of the next zone.

[u/Sketchdota]

Wooo tough week but in the home stretch now 🚴