TRI247 Workout Series #137 – The Dragon
Wednesday, 9th September 2020 – 7.00pm UK time on Zwift
(ZWIFT LINK >>> https://www.zwift.com/events/view/1053300)
Ok, so triathlon racing might limited currently, but that doesn’t have to stop all of your training, particularly cycling from the comfort of your own home / pain cave! Thanks to Zwift, you can self-isolate, train hard (or, as hard as you want), and get your fix of social interaction all in one, thanks to the TRI247 Workout Series!
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…!
The Session
This past weekend, should have seen the 10th edition of the iconic IRONMAN Wales take place in Tenby, Along with many other events this year, that was unable to happen.
For this week, we are going to revisit ‘The Dragon’, a session that was inspired by one of the most popular events on the UK calendar.
The course in Tenby is rightly-regarded as being one of the toughest on the IRONMAN circuit. With a wide range of hills in both steepness and length, it is a 112-mile ride that will leave even the best challenged and rewards a rider who can do more than sit at a constant wattage in the aero position! This session has been created to touch many of those aspects and this includes a range of wattages and different blocks to target different skills. These include:
- A three-part, progressive warm-up
- An extended sub-threshold block with short periods above FTP
- Some short, but high power surges to reflect the increased wattages you may be forced to use on some of the steeper Tenby hills, and finally
- Two ‘over-under’ blocks to challenge you ability to deal with variability – which you have no choice about on the Tenby course!!
Tonight’s ride leader: Gary Craig
This week’s session has been set by TRI247 Editor, John Levison.
With John away, he’s called upon his good friend, club mate and regular TRI247 Wednesday night rider, Gary Craig, to lead the session tonight.
Gary is known as ‘Keen as Mustard’ at his club, Hillingdon Triathletes, such is his passion for all things Triathlon. He’s a regular at the Blenheim Palace Triathlon ‘Weekend Warrior’ event (back-to-back Sprint triathlons for two days), and completed IRONMAN Wales in 2018 and 2019. He would have been heading for Tenby again for a third attempt, but for the worldwide pandemic curtailing his plans.
‘Mr Mustard’ is as keen as anyone to get back to racing, so tonight’s session will help you (and him), keep ready for when the all clear comes and racing can resume. Enjoy!
Join Gary at 7p.m. on Wednesday 9th September 2020 (UK time) on the virtual roads of Watopia. Set your reminder now on the link below or via the Zwift Companion app.
[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/1053300]
Joining Instructions:
The workout will begin promptly at 7.00pm UK time, Wednesday 9th September 2020. 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.
