Wednesday’s Zwift Group Workout: ride with Nikki Bartlett

The TRI247 ERDINGER Alkoholfrei Pro Series

Wednesday, 3rd February 2021 – 7.05pm UK time on Zwift

(ZWIFT LINK >>> https://www.zwift.com/events/view/1638439)

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.

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.

Nikki Bartlett

For week one, we are thrilled to welcome Nikki Bartlett (https://www.nikkibartlett.com) to lead the ride as your guest coach. One of the most improved British athletes over the past few seasons, Nikki turned podiums into race wins in 2019 at both IRONMAN Lanzarote and IRONMAN 70.3 Dun Laoghaire.

Despite the COVID-impacted 2020 season, she won again at the tough Helvellyn Triathlon and then finished second at the Outlaw X, both PTO-supported events. That progress, combined with her infectious enthusiasm and energy, attracted the attention of the ERDINGER Alkoholfrei Elite squad, who signed her up for 2021.

The Session: Nikki Bartlett’s Tough 10’s

For your enjoyment, Nikki has set a session which we’ve called the Tough 10’s. The main at its core is 4 reps of 10 minutes each, with a decent recovery period in between. However, for each 10 minute block you will be alternating for short periods (20-40 seconds) at VO2 Max effort (> FTP), and then short recoveries (or between 10 and 40 seconds), for the full duration. Nikki confirms that the second set is the toughest!

It’s fair to say that as well as training hard, Nikki also loves to chat… so join us on Wednesday for a great combination of training, motivation and laughs online.

[To set your reminder, click here: https://www.zwift.com/events/view/1638439]

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/1638439]

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.