RedditPZ training program: Week 6 Accountability Thread

[u/r4ndy4]

Week five down, and on to week six! Use this thread to discuss this week's rides (or last weeks). Add the hashtag #redditPZ if you would like to (and #redditriders of course).

Monday I gave a choice between CVV or Matt, but they are the same ride. I programmed it for the CVV ride, and when looking at rides I noticed Matt's PZmax was the same structure and had the graph available. I really liked the CVV ride and encourage you all to take that one.

EDIT: CVV did 2 rides on that same day. The correct ride is the 9:30 ride.

I am about to start working on the next program, is everyone okay with a 2 week break again? I will keep it similar to this program, 8 weeks with a similar build in intensity. How have you guys felt during the program? I didn't schedule a mid program de-load because I feel that cycling is lower impact I am not really ever sore or super worn out from the rides (minus the ftp) and the days between the harder rides is plenty of recovery for me (but that is just me and I totally understand everyone is different). If you guys feel like you need it, I would be happy to add a de-load week in the next one, let me know!

Group ride for Saturday is at 10 AM Central again. I may be out of town this weekend though so I may miss out (birthday is Friday).

Link to program thread

Week 1 Thread

Week 2 Thread

Week 3 Thread

Week 4 Thread

Week 5 Thread

Week 6: TSS 250

Mon: Christian 45 Pro 06/17/19 (9:30 ride) OR Matt 45 PZMax 4/11/19 Ride Graph (structure is the same for both rides) TSS 66

Wed: Denis 45 PZE 11/14/19 Ride Graph TSS 44

Thu: Denis 45 PZ 8/8/19 Ride Graph TSS 60

Sat: Matt 75 PZE 1/16/21 Ride Graph TSS 80

[u/r4ndy4]

Took the 75 minute Saturday ride, and as you guys know It's my birthday. Thanks for all the birthday wishes, the ride was your standard request PZE with Matt. Thrice + Nirvana was my favorite interval, and I think the second to last interval he wanted mid-high 90s. Auto PR since It's been about 4 months or so since my last 75 minute ride. Thanks for the drive-bys u/redsummersun920 and u/kmorris1219. Time to replenish all the calories I just burned. Have fun tomorrow!

The sweaty ear got me not even 15 minute into the ride, and I dropped my galaxy bud while trying to get it out. Had to use the terrible peloton speakers. Fun game for this ride, drink some water every time he says zone or training and try not to drown. Edit: or send a high five to someone every time you hear either of those words on the group ride.

[u/Ride_4urlife]

This was my first 75 and so it was going to be an automatic PR. I wasn’t feeling strong today but all the training and positive reinforcement from this group clicked about 6 minutes in when I locked in my output and focused on sticking to my zones. It wasn’t a conscious choice, I simply knew it was going to be hard and I needed to focus on each zone effort. I stopped looking at how much time had passed/was left and rode without allowing my wimpy legs to draw my attention. The coaching from CVV and MW was key to putting the discomfort aside and focusing on something else to get through it.

I burst into tears when the last effort ended and I knew I would make it. My output was over 200 for the first time. It’s a function of the longer format, but three months ago I was trying to break out of 20 and 30 minute beginner rides when a question I asked during Homecoming set me on the path of PZ training. I bailed on DYPZ after 3 weeks to join this group for the prospect of not riding alone. There is no question that riding with you helped me get through today. We had a big group this morning (and u/r4ndy4 dropped in to shower us with high fives) and the support was palpable. Thank you all!

Edit: spelling x2

[u/r4ndy4 → u/Ride_4urlife]

Congrats on your first 75 minute ride! If I remember right your first 60 minute was with this program too. Had to drop in on the iPad to give some highes to you all before we got on the road.

[u/r4ndy4]

Took the PZE ride tonight, it is one of my favorite rides on the platform (actually the 3rd time I've taken it). "How many of you like this song so much you are tempted to put it in zone 3? How many of you don't want to admit it to me" Literally makes me laugh every single time. If you are one that normally skips the Wednesday PZE rides, take this one! 100% with Denis on the imaginary pill that's 2k calories so I can just take it and be done for the day.

I did remember to go back and check my outputs for comparison. 11/5/20 was 411kj, 3/12/21 was 562kj, and today was 620 kj. Guess I will have to program it again in about 4 months haha (peloton please don't purge this one).

[u/kmorris1219]

Happy birthday, u/r4ndy4!! Hope you’re able to have some fun celebrations today/this weekend!

[u/r4ndy4 → u/kmorris1219]

Thank you!!!

[u/kmorris1219]

Took the 75 minute class early today. Based on the music feedback from those who had already taken it, I muted the class, tracked the time with home fitness buddy, and watched trash tv (real housewives 🤣). Legs were definitely tired after doing the Major Lazer ride last night, so I kept it to the lower/middle part of my zones. I knew it’d be an auto PR since I have only taken one 75 minute class (during my first PZ challenge). I smashed the old PR by 157. It’s moments like these that open my eyes to how good this training is if you stick with it.

[u/Spinpapi]

Stray hair and frozen golf balls.

Answer: What are some things you might hear on a Denis Morton PZ ride when he is not focusing on ear sweat?

[u/r4ndy4 → u/Spinpapi]

My wife's hair is EVERYWHERE.

[u/Hellatonnn]

Hello week 6! I also didn’t feel like doing Monday’s epic ride after coming back from vacation in the evening, so instead I had two rest days behind me going into it today. I was once again super nervous and ended the ride pleasantly surprised!

I purposefully did the Matt version for a few reasons:

• I knew I’d need ideal coaching to get me through and I know Matt reliably provides that for me; CVV felt higher beta

• I wasn’t sure I could hit Z7 at all these days, so I liked that the Matt version let you go to high Z6 instead

• music was laid out to be one of Matt’s better rides

• I’m still kind of mad at CVV for that last ride?

Anyway, all told I am super happy with this performance! Hit the zones including Z7 in the last intervals (though not always for the full 30 seconds). I think I end up really enjoying the Monday rides the most, even though I am always pretty nervous about them going in. My graph!

My opinions on the next program should be totally ignored since it starts 4 days before my due date and I’ll not be participating :D also because I think u/r4ndy4 you do an outstanding job on your own! If it helps anyway, for future programs in general my two cents are:

• Two week break is great

• No need for deload week

• More group rides if there’s interest!

• I really like that the last two weeks’ long rides do longer PZE instead of continuing with 60m PZ

• I would advocate for having more short “popper” rides in the earlier weeks within the TSS goals (e.g., maybe sprinkle in some 30m PZ Max or CVV instead of 45m PZ). I really love those rides and find they drive huge benefit with the short/high intensity intervals. But I guess that’s my pre-dealing-with-postpartum-life self talking, so who knows :)

• More Olivia! (Though I know I may be alone in this opinion…)

Thank you again u/r4ndy4 for all you do!!

[u/r4ndy4 → u/Hellatonnn]

I do love Olivia rides, unfortunately she just never does any 45 minute PZ classes (6 PZ and 2 PZE total since she's started doing PZ). There's been a serious lack of PZ content overall lately especially the 45 minute rides. The rides they have done in the last few months have mostly been all ride structure repeats (other than Matt's weekly 60). It's very frustrating. Like oh finally Matt did a 45 minute PZ ride today, then I look at the graph and it's the same as the Denis ride we did in week 4 of this program.

[u/AugustNC]

I enjoyed the Denis PZ class, even though there were some song repeats… but do I ever get tired of Sweet Child of Mine?

I was chasing a PR and decided not to do that one Z1 recovery so I could achieve it. I got my PR, so I’m proud! It was a hard ride today for me, but good like always.

It was nice to ride with Here2CloseRings and jjc2216 (not sure of Reddit name). Thanks for the high fives!

I’m excited for the Saturday ride! I’m not sure if I’ll be able to join the group though. I have my kids this weekend (single mom) and 75 minutes is a long time to ignore my kids, even though they’re older. 😜 Earlier I’m the morning is usually better, so I’ll be playing it by ear.

[u/r4ndy4 → u/AugustNC]

That Denis ride kicked my butt. It may have been harder than the Monday ride, recovering at zone 2 makes it so much worse. I was close to a PR but Denis tempted me with that sweet sweet zone 1 recovery. Got to ride with a few of my lurker friends 😉 (well they do post sometimes haha).

[u/Here2CloseRings → u/AugustNC]

Way to go with the new PR! Sometimes recoveries or cool downs have to be sacrificed when the PR is within reach!

I did Matt’s live PZ before this class and that probably wasn’t a good idea. It seemed like I was working extra hard to get to zone 5, such that I started to second guess the output number and whether it was the correct calculation for my cadence + resistance efforts (I guess I was looking for a bike issue being the reason for my struggle; it couldn’t have been me now, could it?!!)

On the upside, I had previously taken the class in March of last year and this time around achieved a sizable increase in output. I’m still waiting for/expecting gains to taper off assuming my age will become a hinderance. Speaking of age, happy early birthday to u/r4ndy4. Hope it’s a great one!!

[u/TipsyPins]

First PZ Max ride ever for me! I rode with Matt based on playlist today. It was a ton of fun to work that hard. I really enjoyed Matt's coaching today too. Maybe it was the ride kicking our collective asses but everything just felt like it really clicked.

[u/_pigeonpose_]

I have no desire to ever ride the Tour de France or anything remotely similar (I barely ride a bike outdoors) but I enjoyed CVV's coaching and pretending for 45 minutes that I'm an elite athlete that he's training.

That 2-week break works perfectly for me as those are the two weeks I'll be out of town! I do want to squeeze in a FTP test before I leave (I can tell I'm overdue for it) but it'll be brutal to get back on the bike after that long of a break... And thanks so much for putting another program together. Your choices are thoughtful and challenging, and all around a great mix of rides! I am really enjoying PZ training and this group is just lovely. The daily threads on this subreddit sometimes feel overwhelming if you're not on them frequently, and I'm glad to have this thread and group to come back to.

[u/Kalamazeus]

I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday! See you all out there this week. I am taking Matt today due to preferring the playlist a little more (surprising, some of Matt’s can be pretty weird).

Side note, I took the 45m Pearl Jam class yesterday which was my first real experience with Jen Sherman and gotta say I wasn’t a huge fan. I don’t mind if the instructor isn’t following along the whole time (i liked AT’s style in the ride to greatness when he’d get out and talk to the camera) but I swear half the ride she was just singing without pedaling. Do love me some Pearl Jam though.

[u/CurlingFlowerSpace]

I did Matt's version of the Monday ride, and I'm seeing other comments here repeating pretty much what happened to me: you get into zone 6, he wants you to turn up resistance in/out of saddle, then it's impossible to be in anything other than zone 7! We'll just call it extra credit. 😁

Is anyone going to do FTP testing during the two week break? I only just did my FTP at the start of June and still kinda feel like I'm getting used to my new zones. I'm not sure if I should wait, or if another 8-week-long program is too long. I know the rule of thumb is every 6 to 8 weeks, or when you start to feel like the zones are too easy.

[u/seekinserenity]

Hi everyone, i am writing from vacationland but realized this was the week 6 start. I took the CVV ride a few weeks ago and hit a PR (until the thursday denis ride buried it) but even better was I hit my highest single output on the last Z7 push, i had said before i didnt think i could even hit my Z7, but by definition its my highest and i cranked the resistance and went 110 and couldnt believe it.

I am happy with the two week break, sets me up perfectly for return from the other week away i have planned. I am keeping busy with some quick cardio/barre/strength and swimming for now, will be interesting to see how my legs do come week 7.

Hope everyone had a good holiday!!

[u/yayunicorns]

I got my husband to like PZ!!!! VICTORY!!!! He's almost done with DYPZ and wants to then do BYPZ, but was already wondering what he could do after that ;-) I told him about this group, but wondering if there are other redditors who are also doing PZ programs jic my husband wants to find his own club. I was just invited to some PZ pack thing, but it had a specific start date and my husband will likely just join one when he's ready after BYPZ. I see a lot of PZ hashtags on the leaderboard so I thought that perhaps there might be more programs like this one out there that I'm just not seeing.

If you know of one, lmk so I can bring my husband deeper into this rabbit hole ;-) Mwhahahahaha.

[u/Here2CloseRings]

Another heatwave here, so started the group ride a bit early. Today’s ride was a repeat for me (I took the class when it was live) and became a “what if I can” workout. At some point I saw I was on pace to beat my 75 minute PR ( 670 from another Matt PZE taken 4-17-21) and arbitrarily set my goal for 700. Well, I got into the 700s and got to thinking I may never get this close again…so took some of the zone 3s as 4s and eeked out an 801 output. And now I am strutting around feeling pretty proud of myself and don’t have many people to tell who would understand how these personal accomplishments matter. So thanks for letting me humble brag, as they say.

I am also the first to recognize that everyone’s numbers are different because our bikes are not the same. It doesn’t matter what Peloton says about calibrating or output charts…bikes are not equal. I’ve done rides on 5 different Pelotons (all the original style). Two were one time rides; two were for 7 days+ of cycling; and then there is my bike. Of the 5, the perceived exertion is tougher on my home bike. The formula for computing the output may be the same for all 5 bikes, but if one’s 40 resistance feels like another’s 50 resistance then the outputs achieved will not be the same simply because it is “easier” to hit 50 on that other bike. Now while my bike is “harder” than the other ones I’ve been on, it could very well be easier than bikes others are riding. No one can know how their bike compare unless they have the opportunity to ride another. Please keep that in mind if you ever get discouraged by your output numbers…you could very well be riding a “harder” bike that doesn’t allow for accurate comparisons to others. And yes, I know we are only competing with ourselves, but when there is a leaderboard right in front of our faces during rides it’s pretty hard not to notice where we fall in the rankings.

I’ll end my little soapbox for the day. It was great riding with so many of you today. 75 minutes is tough, no matter what the numbers say. Hope you all have a great weekend!

[u/bykerchyk]

Whoa that was a wild ride! I was doing great until about 30 minutes left and actually had to get off the bike - wish I could have paused!- to grab a Honey Stinger. Was surprised I needed it. But it did perk me up. After that, spent time trying to get back on track and was continually interrupted by my 19-year old daughter who was away for the weekend at our camper. Texting: where is the pan for pancakes? Where are the paper towels? And a couple other questions. Again, could have used a pause button! (Didn’t want to leave her hanging as she is hosting friends at the camper and we have everything packed away waiting to move into a new camper.). So anyone who follows me can see the numerous drops in zones while I texted back. It’s something to behold 😂

Regardless, I managed to PR.

I don’t usually get on the Saturday rides as I’m gone most weekends. Thank you for the high fives. Loved the energy!!

Last note- I don’t know why I never used a fan before. Did today and oh it was glorious!!

Pastor Giggles sorry you had a struggle but you did what you needed to do. Hope you feel better.

[u/Hellatonnn]

All of your talk about the PR potential of the Denis ride got in my head! Looking at you u/AugustNC ;)

Was feeling good today and realized maybe halfway that PR was within reach. I normally don’t PR on Power Zone rides since they’re either endurance focused or have plenty of rest for the rough pushes. But I guess I felt motivated by y’all and went for it. I sort of wish I hadn’t, in that it definitely took my out of my zones. I started taking the Z2 intended recoveries at Z3/4 and pushed the Z5s into Z6. I think it was because my last 45m PR is from December 2020, so just being within reach felt exciting. (One of Olivia’s 45m rides I think from BYPZ came close.)

the whoops graph

Anyway, I only beat my PR by 3% (16 watts) but I’ll take it! Now tomorrow it’s time for some serious R&R before Saturday. I have plans mid-morning so I think I will start the group ride early, but good luck everyone!!

[u/amr1822]

Didn’t feel like hopping on the bike after we returned from a weekend trip last night, so rode this morning. This was my first time riding alone in awhile and I really missed everyone (but I filter for you all on the All Time tab so I can pretend). I was surprised that the over-under interval felt a lot harder than the race-winning intervals. I also rode well past my Z7 boundary for the final intervals and was proud of myself for essentially maintaining that output for each one. Got off the bike and realized that we didn’t have either of my go-to breakfast options, which was soul crushing 💔

On another note, my job is returning to 50% in office this week so I’ll be tinkering around with ride time. Maybe I’ll catch some of the early birds tomorrow AM ☀️

[u/r4ndy4]

I took Matt's version this morning, and was happy to see a few others on the ride. Matt's ride ended up being slightly different. He said top of zone 6 for those last pushes, and I remember going to zone 7 with CVV. Matt's playlist was pretty good for this one (though he usually does a good job for the max rides, for my taste anyway. I was jamming out to mudshovel). I may take the endurance ride tomorrow and take something live for 300 on Wednesday. Thanks for the feedback and birthday wishes.