# Did I ruin my main workout?



## kilgoretrout (Dec 16, 2013)

I'm new at this and learning how to set up training plans as well as daily workouts. So my goal is to raise my FTP and also my 2 minute power (the largest hill we have in the area takes 2 mins to go up, and I'm weak at 2 min power). 

Today I have the most time to ride, so I went out and did 2 x 20:00 of Sweetspot intervals. I was done with only an hour into my ride so I went to that 2 min hill and did 5 repeats, starting at my FTP power and each interval after I added about 10 watts of effort, so each effort was harder when I was more fatigued. I recovered, then rode Tempo for 15:00 just because it actually felt pretty good, in a painful way. After that I rode home pretty slow.

My question is, can you mix up different efforts in a workout, like I did, and expect the same results as if you just did one type of effort? Should I have just did Sweetspot and went home to get the max result toward raising my FTP? Should I just do FTP workouts only during one ride and then do VO2/Anaerobic type intervals on another ride?


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## DMH2979 (May 24, 2011)

It is fine to do more than 1 type of workout during a ride. Think of a race or hard group ride. You will have 1 minute bursts, cruising time at SS, and everything inbetween. 

But a the real answer is it depends. It depends on what you had scheduled for the next day and days after. It also depends on the goals of your workouts.

If you had another hard workout scheduled for the next day, you may struggle to get the quality out of it that you need, especially as you said you were "new" to all this (after a few years of heavy training, quality back/back workouts are not as tough, until you hit 40 . 

One other consideration is that you may not have gone "hard" enough on your 2 minute intervals. If you really want to make the most out of improving that side of your riding, the rides you do those on should be focused on just 2 minute efforts. You can add time via endurance, but you need to keep the quality of those 2 minute efforts really high. 

Personally, if I did 2 minute efforts and started at FTP and increased 10 watts for 5 repeats, that would barely get me into VO2 territory - which is not even close to where I need to be for a 2 minute effort in a race. In a race type situation, those efforts are easily 50-70 watts above my VO2, so doing 5 below my VO2 wouldn't really do me any good. You should aim to make these supra-VO2 efforts.


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## runabike (Jun 18, 2013)

Yep. Might as well quit cycling now. It's all over.


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## kilgoretrout (Dec 16, 2013)

Thanks for the advice. As I was doing the 2 minute efforts I thought I was too low. I should have just done some longer tempo riding instead. I didn't have time to recover as much on the 2 minute efforts, it was basically 2 minutes up the hill, then 2 minutes rest. I usually will do the hill, then repeat about 5 to 8 minutes later after I recovered. I can hit higher wattages that way, which is what you are saying is key.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

kilgoretrout said:


> I can hit higher wattages that way, which is what you are saying is key.


That's the thing - in a race situation you'll be full gas, so that's what you want to train.

I agree there's value in sometimes doing shorter recoveries, but if you're looking to raise your all-out capacity then you want to go for a fuller rest.


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