I created my Zone 2 Training plan for 2023, you can read about it here.
I’m now two weeks into this training. I mentioned in my training plan article that I’d be doing a sense check of progress every two weeks and adapting the next two weeks based on this.
My two weeks training looks like this:
| Session | Week 1 | Week 2 |
| Zone 2 Training | 5 sessions (83%) | 4 sessions (80%) |
| VO2Max Intervals | 1 session (17%) | 1 session (20%) |
| Weights | 1 session (1 hour) | 2 sessions (2 hours) |
| Long ride | None | None |
| Totals | ||
| Cardio hours | 5 hr 45 min | 4 hr 40 |
| Cardio work | 2,800 Calories | 2,300 Calories |
| Weights work | 400 Calories | 800 Calories |
As you can see form the above. I did at least 80% of my cardio sessions as Zone 2 during this block as planned. I also did one session on VO2Max intervals as planned. I increased the number of weights sessions in week 2. This replaced a Zone 2 session. I don’t think this had a negative effect on my Zone 2, but it did mean I was quite tired later in the week. For the next training block I’m going to go back to one weights session to see how this progresses.
Zone 2 sessions
Over the two week training block my average heart rate seems to have dropped. This is good as it’s showing that my body is adapting to the sessions and finding them easier. It’s not possible to say if that means I’m getting the overall benefit of increased aerobic capacity and fat burning. At this early stage I’m taking it as an indicator we’ve set off in the right direction.
Each session was a 1 hour turbo trainer session. I used the same course with my own custom workout. This workout has a 10 minute warm up which takes me slowly up to the desired power. This is followed by the main stage of the session, a 45 minute workout at 155 Watts steady. I’ve chosen 155 as it’s the power level where I could initially keep my heart rate below 125 bpm. This took a little bit of trial and effort which I’ll write about in another article. Once the main Zone 2 stage is complete the session completes with a 5 minute warm down. You can find an example of one of my Zone 2 sessions here on Strava.
Initially my average heart rate in these sessions was roughly 118 bpm. That’s over the whole session, including the warm up and warm down. The most recent sessions have seen my heart rate average drop to 114 or 115 bpm. In some cases I’m 20 minutes in to the session before my heart rate gets to the bottom of my Zone 2. If that continues next week I may tweak my power up to get the heart rate in Zone 2 earlier.
VO2Max Intervals
These sessions are also done on a turbo trainer, which makes it easier to measure performance and keep the intervals consistent. I will move some of these outside when the weather is better and I’ve got a route where it’s safe to do them on the road. I live in London where that’s generally difficult but not impossible if you go to places like Richmond Park or Regents Park early in the morning.
An example of one of sessionsI recently listed to a podcast where the Olav Aleksander Bu, the coach of triathletes Kristian Blummenfelt Gustav Iden, mentioned that VO2Max closely correlates with 5 minute power. So I’ll make this change in order to use 5 minute power progress as a proxy for VO2Max progress.
Strength training
Weight training isn’t new to me, but I haven’t done it for a long time. My primary driver of doing is to improve bone density (as my results show that it could be better) and to help reduce fat.
The last two weeks have been a bit trial and error on this front. I enjoy mostly the big compound exercises. After a few different sessions I’ve decided that my weights session will consist of squats, bench press, dips, pull ups and either bicep curls or seated rows. I’ll be aiming for 5 sets of 5 reps for each. after each session I’ll be pretty tired and will be exercising the major muscle groups. I’ve set a baseline for this in my last session. So will measure progress against that benchmark from the next two week block.
Long rides
I haven’t done any long rides yet. As we are in the first block, it’s very early days. I’m not concerned by this at all as at this time of year in UK it’s not unusual to not get out much on the bike. I’ve also got a decent volume going indoors for this early in the year which will stand me in good stead when I do get out on the road.
Summary
It’s very early days. I’ve used the last two weeks to work a couple of things out, particularly in the weights sessions and will tweak my training in the next two weeks to adapt, test and learn some more.
I’m feeling very positive overall as it feels like the training plan is a good foundation to move forward with.
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