2025

 

Hooray for random cosmetic unlocks....

These 'back to Zwift' posts are starting to become a habit as I ride a bit and then suffer a setback.  Let's see if I can break this particular cycle.

Catching up the timeline...

Since November -- I recovered reasonably quickly from my hernia surgery last fall, and got back on Zwift a little over a month later.  My power was waaaay down, less than my power when I started Zwift in 2021.  I had great plans of making a grand return, but as these things go a) work kicked into overdrive and b) I discovered the excruciating pain of a herniated disc in my neck at C6-C7 in early December.

The burst disc was the single most painful thing I've ever experienced, and it took weeeeeeks to get doctors to take me seriously, get clearance for an MRI, and finally get some attention.  Christmas was a bah humbug of pain and discomfort and by mid January I had mostly self-healed.  Of course, that's when I could finally get in to see a specialist and get a script for drugs and a visit to a PT.  The PT sort of laughed at me; I was displaying full range of motion and felt pretty good, but my visit was over 2 months late for him to do anything helpful.

Today....

Fast forward and it's late March. I am (finally) back on Zwift and attempting to recover from a lack of structure for 20 months.  That means I'm biting the bullet and getting up at 0430 to ride a couple of times a week, and want to see gains in my power/ftp to where I was in 2023.

THE GOAL:  Festive 500 this holiday season (500km between Christmas Eve and NY Eve).  I hope to be in good enough shape to do this via Pace Partners vs. solo grinding.

Meanwhile, Zwift dropped the biggest of big patches with the frame upgrades feature.  The nerd in me can't help but min-max the experience.  I have the Tron bike unlocked and I want to unlock the ability to upgrade the crap out of it, then work on the other Halo bikes.  This means I need a lot of kilometers and a helluva lot of drops.

Today, I did a Zwift Big Spin route and unlocked the BMX Bandit on the first try.  I didn't expect to do this, but do want to kick over the other 3 ZBS routes before the event ends in early April.  Cosmetic unlocks are my kryptonite.

The Plan....

Lastly, I know that I need structure to keep myself consistent.  "Just go ride" will result in me hitting snooze and avoiding the bike.  Holding myself accountable to a plan is where I know I need to be. 

Trouble is, most of the Zwift built-in plans assume far more time to ride than I currently have.  

So, I worked with ChatGPT a bit to build out a simple plan that I can follow. It is nothing fancy and still requires me to build out the specific workouts in the Zwift custom workout editor.  I've completed the first two rides of Week 1 and will kill another ZBS ride for my long ride on Sunday.

Weeks 1-2: Get back into the habit and rebuild your base.

• Tuesday/Thursday: 30 minutes at an easy pace, aiming for 60-70% of your max heart rate (or a pace where you can talk comfortably).
• Weekend Long Ride: 45-60 minutes at a steady, comfortable pace.

Weeks 3-4: Start adding some variety.

• Tuesday: 35 minutes, with 3x 3-minute intervals at a moderate effort, 2 minutes easy between intervals.
• Thursday: 40 minutes steady, aiming for a slightly higher effort than before (70-75% of max heart rate).
• Weekend Long Ride: 60-75 minutes at a steady pace, pushing a little harder for the last 10 minutes.

Weeks 5-6: Increase intensity and endurance.

• Tuesday: 40 minutes with 4x 2-minute intervals at a hard effort, 3 minutes easy between intervals.
• Thursday: 45 minutes steady, with a 10-minute push at a higher effort in the middle.
• Weekend Long Ride: 75-90 minutes, adding in short bursts of higher effort every 10-15 minutes.

Weeks 7-8: Push yourself and see your progress!

• Tuesday: 45 minutes with 5x 2-minute intervals at a hard effort, 2 minutes easy between.
• Thursday: 45 minutes steady, aiming for a consistent higher effort throughout.
• Weekend Long Ride: 90+ minutes at a steady pace, with a final 15-minute push at the end if you’re feeling strong.