Tonight’s Zwift Group Workout: Kyle Smith’s Over/Unders

TRI247 Workout Series #166 – ‘Kyle Smith’s Over/Unders’

Wednesday, 31st March 2021 – 7.05pm UK time on Zwift

(ZWIFT LINK >>> https://www.zwift.com/events/view/1958580)

Join us on tonight on Zwift for the latest edition of the Tri247 Workout Series. Free to join and open to ALL abilities, enjoy an hour of structured training with the added motivation of a virtual group training environment.

If you are new to Zwift and are not sure how it all works, it’s well worth checking out our articles archive 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
• Kick-Start your Cycling year with Zwift

Kyle’s Over/Unders session

This is a brand new session to the TRI247 Workout Series, courtesy of Kyle’s coach, Tim Brazier (www.fitter.co.nz). Tim says of this session:

“This is a shorter version of a workout we use to build aerobic capacity and strength endurance. Typically this set is performed lots in the early season, and we will build the total volume of it over time.

“The long intervals alternate between high Zone 2 (Unders) and low Zone 3 (Overs). Feel free to select your preferred cadence – lower cadence is suggested for the strength building Overs.”

There’s no ‘big’ power tonight (four days after an IRONMAN, Kyle will likely be grateful for that!), but sustained blocks of effort that will help achieve the objectives set by Tim – and also giving an insight into the actual training undertaken by one of triathlon’s fastest emerging stars and top cyclists.

Ride Leader: Kyle Smith

Still just 23 years of age, New Zealand’s Kyle Smith (https://www.instagram.com/kylesmithnzl) is showing all the potential to be a key feature in the next generation of world leading long-course triathletes.

His five race middle distance career to date, consists of five wins… all in course record times:

1^st – Challenge Wanaka 2021 – Course Record (3:50:15)
1^st – Tauranga Half 2021 – Course Record (3:39)
1^st – Tauranga Half 2020 – Course Record (3:42:07)
1^st – PTO Rotorua Suffer 2020 – Course Record (3:45:42)
1^st – IRONMAN 70.3 Taupo – Course Record (3:49:24)

On Saturday, Kyle made his full distance debut at IRONMAN New Zealand in Taupo, finishing in third place, sub 8:10 finishing time and securing a Kona slot at the first attempt. Very impressive!

Kyle is also going to be working very closely with HUUB’s Fellowship of Speed and aero guru Dan Bigham – so there’s surely even more speed to come.

Join us to tonight for an hour of quality training, top banter and congratulate Kyle on his progress so far.

Free (Virtual) Kit!

Every rider who completes a TRI247 ride (including our weekly Manic Monday Time Trial), will now unlock the bespoke TRI247 kit to their Zwift garage, to wear online whenever they choose!

[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/1958580]

Joining Instructions:

The workout will begin promptly at 7.05pm UK time, Wednesday 31st March 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.