Wednesday’s Zwift Group Workout: ride with Tom Davis

The TRI247 ERDINGER Alkoholfrei Pro Series

Wednesday, 10th February 2021 – 7.05pm UK time on Zwift

(ZWIFT LINK >>> https://www.zwift.com/events/view/1688874)

Our popular Wednesday group workout series on Zwift will have a different feel each week during the month of February, for a special series of Pro athlete lead workouts, as we’ve linked up with ERDINGER Alkoholfrei. Every Wednesday this month, one of their sponsored elite athletes will set and lead the session on Zwift.

As an extra incentive, each week two riders, at random, will win an ERDINGER Alkoholfrei bandana. Oh, and there might be a case of ERDINGER going too… but you’ll have to be on the ride to have a chance of winning!

Not only that, every rider who completes a TRI247 ride, will now unlock the bespoke TRI247 kit to their Zwift garage, to wear online whenever they choose!

As always, the sessions are free to join and open to ALL abilities. Enjoy an hour of structured training with the added motivation of a virtual group training environment.

Tom Davis

Following in the footsteps of Nikki Bartlett last week, the second Team ERDINGER Pro of February, leading the way as your guest coach will be Tom Davis.

Tom has been making rapid progress since he switched to middle-distance racing a couple of years ago. While 2020 may have impacted his ability to race frequently, when he did get the chance, he made it count. His second place at IRONMAN 70.3 Gdynia in August included pushing twice IRONMAN World Champion – and also a Team ERDINGER Alkoholfrei athlete – Patrick Lange, into third. He followed that up with another second place at the PTO-supported Outlaw X.

His most memorable race of the season didn’t result in a podium finish, but few, if any, had predicted that Tom would be leading the run midway through the PTO 2020 Championship at Challenge Daytona. He may have finished 12th, but his impact provided significant proof and validation that his training and dedication was being rewarded. We feel, his best is still to come!

Join Tom, along with athletes joining us virtually on Zwift from around the world, for an hour of quality training and chat – and you may win a prize too

The Session: Tom Davis – Over/Unders

At first glance this session might not look that tough – we spend zero time at or above FTP efforts for example. However, don’t get too complacent!

The main set comprises of eight sets (back-to-back) a total of 48 minutes, as:

• 3 minutes at Sweetspot effort (approx 90% FTP)
• 3 minutes at Level 2 effort (approx 75% FTP)

As such, you’ll be working over and under a level which, for many, will be approximately equal to middle distance / 70.3 intensity. To add a twist, the ‘over’ efforts will be strength based (cadence in the 60-70 range), with the L2 pieces in a relatively high cadence (90-100). This is great insight into the type of session that Tom will regularly include within his training plan, under the guidance of Matt Bottrill.

[To set your reminder, click here: https://www.zwift.com/events/view/1688874]

If you are new to Zwift and are not sure how it all works, it’s well worth checking out these recent articles we’ve published to find out more:

• Getting started with Zwift Cycling
• Five ways to train on Zwift
• Using Zwift for iron-distance training: what do Pro athletes do?
• Zwift RUN: It’s not just cycling…!
• My Zwift Experience: Laura Siddall

[TIP – It is always worth having the (free) Zwift Companion app to hand on your mobile device. Within the workout screen you can toggle your FTP by +/- 10% ‘on the fly’, which will immediately change your power targets during the session. Legs feeling heavy, can’t quite hold your power targets? It happens! Rather than can the session, how about moving your targets down 5% first, before giving up completely? Alas, the body isn’t a machine and can’t always deliver as you hope/think it should, so a bit of flexibility and not getting too obsessed with the numbers can be a good thing!

On the flipside, perhaps you are having a good day or increasing the overall training stress of the session better meets your own training goals for that day? In that case, you have the option of nudging your baseline up in the same way.]

The session is genuinely open to everyone of ALL abilities. Group workout mode works fantastically in Zwift and ensures that the power targets are tailored to YOUR level. It makes no difference if your FTP is 400 watts or 100 watts, the targets you see will be specific to you – all while being part of the on-screen group.

[To set your reminder, click here: https://www.zwift.com/events/view/1688874]

Joining Instructions:

The workout will begin promptly at 7.05pm UK time, Wednesday 3rd February 2021. It is worth logging in 5 or 10 minutes before the session to make sure you are set up and ready to go, where you will be able to warm up in the virtual ‘holding pen’.

Look for the TRI247 Workout Series event in the list on the right of the screen once you have paired your sensors. Click to JOIN and you will be taken to the start line ready to begin the workout.

Make sure you have set your FTP level correctly before you join the workout as all the intervals are based on a percentage of FTP so it is important to get that right. If in doubt, dial the FTP number down 10 or 20 watts as it is better to finish the session than to feel like it is too challenging.

If you have never used Zwift before but don’t want to miss out, head to the Zwift support page for tips on how to get the most out of your setup.

After the session head over to the TRI247 Facebook page for some post ride chat.

Zwift Group Rides: TRI247 Workout Series

The cool thing about a group workout on Zwift is that varying levels of ability can ride together in a group and all finish the session together having done the same relative effort, even if the actual watts are significantly different. It is not a race, but a shared goal to get a good session in the training log.