April progress, Zone 2 plateau’s and a surprise Vo2Max increase

My April Zone 2 project metrics show some good progress, with another step up in Vo2Max. You can find the details of my training plan here, my goals and metrics here.

• My volume was consistent with March in terms of hours of training. I did some hiking to replace some of my low intensity training and longer sessions to give me some variation. Cycling mileage was down due to this, but I feel its been beneficial to get some variation in. I also did my second endurance event, a 300km Audax. As I’d found in March, I benefited from a couple of rest days before the event and gave myself plenty of time to recover afterwards. This has all meant that my average weekly mileage is reduced on last month..
• My Zone 2 has improved slightly with another slight reduction in heart rate. I’ll be increasing this power again in May now that my average heart rate is sitting at the bottom of zone 2.
• My VO2Max increased again in February, again unexpected. The measurement is based on the estimate in Garmin Connect, so not completely scientific. The combination of consistent zone 2 sessions, increasing power as fitness improves alongside interval sessions at hardest effort over 4 min intervals to push the heart rate as high as I can seems to be increasing my Vo2Max to an unexpected level and a surprise it increased again on last month’s improvement.
• I got back into strength training in April. The lower weight and increased volume (reps of 12 to 15 per set) seems to be working better for me as I feel I’ve made some gains in volume per session and estimated 1 rep max.
• My weight was maintained at around 94 Kg. I’m speculating due to muscle gains as I don’t have accurate measurements for body fat or muscle density.

April was low on total miles but a good month overall for volume of hours. Vo2Max increased to unexpected levels and I’ve peaked my Zone 2 at current power levels so need to push on again in April. All in all a another good month for me.

In May I have my first 400 km endurance ride. It will be interesting to see if the reduced cycling miles in April will affect performance.