Zwift Academy 2019 - Finished

Yesterday, 20th Aug 2019 - I completed my first ever Zwift Academy...

Since my last post, I have completed all the necessary workouts and group rides.

Monday 12th Aug - Workout #4 
Anaerobic Power Development - After the high of Workout #3 with sprints, this one was prob one of my least favourite rides...the intervals consisted of a few rides > 90rpm hitting the high power zones. Great for 30sec - 1min but when you have to do 2 x 3min, it was hard especially as the aim is to ramp up rather than to start out too strong.

Tuesday 13th Aug - Workout #5
I have always been curious about this test as it is the means of assessing which power level you needed to work at for those spin classes I used to do at Art of Cycling. I used to base my power zones at 280W+ MMP. Having finally done this test, my MMP is 320W but this is prob not something I would use as a guide if I am to go back to Art of Cycling as 320W would be too high for the general workouts especially when I do double sessions.

Wednesday 14th Aug - Social Group Ride
This is my fave session of the week as it is like a recovery ride after two days straight of workouts. It is led my ladies who lead the AHDR Tuesday evening rides (they live in Adelaide I believe) and the pace is nice. This week, they didn't put up the fence as the glitch occurs where people who have been dropped are also kicked out of the session which is not the point of these fences - they are to keep the group together at the front. What ended up doing was a dozen or so went off the front and they were well ahead - we are talking 9min ahead of the group and were not interested in slowing down at all.

Thursday - Rest Day. I just did Pilates in the afternoon.

Friday - Rest Day. Another one....I needed it as the Pilates session was hard work.

Saturday 17th Aug - Workout #6
This one is called Chase the Breakaway and it consists of many quick sprints, surges, 10min ftp and more surges. I have a love/hate relationship with is workout as I love long sprints but I don't enjoy long durations....I have started to "count" during the sessions but it is mind numbing.

Sunday 18th Aug - Workout #7
After so many days of putting the hard yards on my legs, the VO2 Max development workout was hard. My legs didn't want to turn anymore so I tested out two modes of hitting those power zones. With ERG mode - you either hit those power zones by spinning hard or when you spin slow, the trainer will get harder so that when you turn at that speed, you will be hitting those power targets. I have noticed that my heart rate likes the slow pedals better but I could not sustain it as my muscles fatigued out. I have really started to learn how to appreciate what the ERG mode does now and will not stuff it up on my normal workouts.

Monday - Rest Day - got a massage afterwork to flush out stiffness

Tuesday 20th Aug - Workout #8
4min Power Duration - I thought I would love this session but I have underestimated how my body can sustain high power outputs. The workout started out similar to previous workouts with some intervals and ramp work before the 4min power test...I started out too strong but I am guessing that I am using my strength as I am not a ramp person....I realised that I was exerting my body over it's limit as I started to have a nosebleed half way...yikes..

Having done 8/8 Workouts and 4/4 Rides/Races, I have graduated from the Academy. I will continue with the workouts as I would like to cycle through them all to see if I am able to improve especially now I am aware of how the sessions are. I am also looking forward to do another ramp test (for ftp) to see if I have gained any strength from 163W but I will need to do this session with fresh legs and not so soon after a workout.

Here are a few interesting stats/data from Zwift Academy - downloaded from Today's Plan:

This image below shows that my strength is above the average of 30-39 females but way below the "best" within my age group - no brainer....you can also see my strength is in the sprints and very much close to the average after 4min...

The second image shows the different workouts and how it helps to "fill out the power curve"....we did the Sprint and Thresehold work within week 1 and you can see where the dark green is covered within week 1. Week 3 is where the VO2 development and fills out the 1-8min curve. 

The graph below shows where my strengths and weakneses are - great at sprints, terrible at endurance....hahhahaha....I can't believe I did two Ironman races but it makes sense that I did them so slowly!

Zwift Academy 2019 - Within the first week

For the first time since the launch of Zwift Academy in 2016, I signed up to do this as a challenge. We finally bought a smart trainer for ourselves which we have set up in the garage. Previously, we had a mid-range smart trainer which we borrowed from the shop to use at home.

We bought the top of the range Tacx Neo2 around April but didn't set it up until the last week of June. Since then, I have been the most consistent in my training during winter since the dawn of time. I am still doing reformer Pilates but have reduced the frequency to 2-3 times a week rather than 5. I have also taken a break from Lead Out as they put training on hold during July as the coaches went to Europe for the TdF and I haven't been able to ride at high intensity outdoors due to my weak lungs and the cold/dry air. I have been doing quality indoor sessions since the trainer has been set up, riding over 5 hours (>100km) per week.

I won't go into what Zwift Academy is about here and how the 2019 differs from the previous programs but the 2019 one started on the 5th Aug and will run until for 8 weeks until the end of September. Before the program, I needed to find out what my FTP is. I have written about my FTP before and how relatively low it is but I really wanted to gauge how I am. Instead of doing the standard FTP test, I opted for the Ramp Test instead. The difference between the standard test which can be 45min from start to finish with the 20min free ride test in the middle, the ramp test is much more shorter and mentally more interesting. You start out with a warm up and then go straight into the ramp which starts out at 120W for a min and goes up 20W every minute. The average W will go up (or down) based on how high you go in the test. I stopped at the 320W mark as I couldn't push anymore for that minute and my average W was hovering around 163W - my FTP. I think my FTP was at this 163W from the test I did at SpinLabs. I adjusted it to 160W on Zwift so my workout targets will be whole numbers - I like my targets to end in 5 or 0.

For 2019, the Zwift Academy requires that you finish the 8 Workouts and 4 Rides/Races.

So far I have done 3 Workouts and 3 Rides/Races all scheduled since Monday 5th. You can do the Workouts at your own time but I am enjoying doing it during set times so I am committed to them.

Week 1 - 5th Aug - 11th Aug
Monday 5th Aug - Workout #1
This session worked on threshold and pushing above and below. I found this session relatively easy to finish but found the 10min mentally challenging. I also found the high spin challenging in not going above my target power range.

Tuesday 6th Aug - Race - TT
I raced the TT race for the first time on Zwift. It was the Bologna route which is only 8km but it took me 26 or so to finish. The first 5 km or so was pretty easy to ride. The gradient was pretty easy with a few false flats but at the 6km mark, the gradient went nuts and it took forever to ride each 1km. I was exhausted at the end and my legs were so restless overnight. I actually want to do this TT again in the future now I know what the gradients are and how much I need to pace.

Wednesday 7th - Social Ride
This ride was wonderful especially 24 hours after the TT race which ripped my legs apart. The pace was lovely and I could message as part of the chat throughout.

Thursday 8th - Workout #2
This session worked on race practise. It included intervals of surges, sprints and a 10min (below FTP) range. Once again, loved the interval work, hated the 10min endurance.

I took a break on Friday as I have been doing Zwift for 7 days straight and I am glad I did as my legs were stuffed.

Saturday 10th - Workout #3
This was one of my favourite sessions as it worked on fast twitch power muscles. Lots of sprints at power range beyond FTP with a good break and the session ended with 2 x 25sec free ride which I loved. Maximum power and trying to hold it over the 25sec period to fill out the power curve. I hit max power at 648W, my 20sec was 556W. I know I can hit a higher power range if I was to do this workout on a stable Wattbike as I have hit near 900W before as max.

Sunday 11th - Social Ride
Another social ride for the week but the pace was much higher than one I did on Wednesday. The pace is often set by the Pace Leader and this one was someone I have not ridden with before. She kept the pace at 2W/kg but I found myself pushing beyond that just to keep up as people's weight varies. Compared to the social ride I did on Wednesday at which I finished the hour ride with 32km, this one ended up being 36km. It felt like a mixed grade social ride and a race rather than a social ride. You know it was a fast paced ride if in accordance to Today's Plan, I achieved a PR in average speed for Zwift.

In summary, I have done 3/8 Workouts and 3/4 Races/Rides which is equates to 50% of the Zwift Academy.

Next week, I am planning on doing Workout #4 and #5 on Monday and Tuesday respectively and will play by ear on the rest of the week as I have two full days of meetings back to back for work. If Workout #6, #7 and #8 are scheduled for the rest of the week, I will have Zwift Academy finished in 2 weeks.

What happens after this? I will continue joining the sessions to see if I have improved compared to the previous sessions or I will go back to training with Lead Out when the weather gets better.