The best of zwift academy workouts

The 2016 and 2017 women's zwift academy's had real training blocks. The past few years are basically just all out efforts for 5, 30, 60 seconds, 4 minutes, 8, 12 and 20 minutes. That is testing, not training.

I will update as done:

2016 #3 Cadence: These were done hard in increasing gears. I found gear 8 was tough. I plan to revisit shorter segments in this gear. PS I call it 8 gear as first gear is the easiest. My husband says that is backwards but I don't care. So it is a 50 by 13. It makes fifth gear feel easy by comparison.

2016 #8 Over under. This was two 12 minute efforts. I strove for about 230 in-between efforts at 270-275 watts for 30 seconds. The second effort felt much harder but I never doubted I could see it through. A good workout.

2016 #18 Threshold Pulling. I did 4 x 4 at 268 avg...261, 266, 270, 277

2016 #26 Capacity Pyramid. A scale up and down 1,2,3,4,5,(4), 3, 2, 1 I bailed on second 4

               298,282,277,264,259 all to plan then 3-272, 2-299, 1-368

               I like this as it prepares me for the huge threshold pulling semi-final workout.

2016 Map 30/30 and second set at 10/45 avg 300 watts for 30 seconds and 546 for 10 seconds.

                Interesting 10 seconds at 546 averaged 300 watts for 30 second time. cool.

Break" Long effort on Alp at 235 watts. Pretty much my ftp right now. But I bet I can hit 260 rather than                      247 for 20 minute effort. Coming soon.

2 X 12 I did 251 and 263 = 257. I need to repeat and do 260 the first time and see if I can do the second one                   over 250.

Threshold Intervals - done in the three biggest gears. 

Over Under for twenty minutes at 2 minutes of 235 and 30 seconds at 270. It went great finishing strong for                   257 average and ftp of 245.

Threshold Intervals made as hard as possible. A 4, 3, 2, 1 with a total of 30 minutes average of 275.

Extra Extra over unders: Done in 3 minute intervals for 254 over 20 minutes. Very hard. I was really                               suffering the last five minutes or so, but finished.

I did a ramp test after finishing all assigned workouts. The 285 result indicates I should aim at around 260. I                   will do a full ftp soon.

                                  

Zwift Women's Series Final Results

 Below is my own version of the points race series on Zwift:

I made top ten! Very hard series.

(Track style point system over all 6 races)

(edit...apologies lara meyer stats added)

1. Kristen Kulchinsky   17 points

2. Josie Rawes (zone 1) 21 points

3. Gabriella Guerra        24 points

4. Cassandra Rush         25 points

5. Liz Van Houweling    29 points

6. Johanna Tidholm        32 points

7. Zee Kryder (zone 3)    34 points

8. Kristen White (zone 3) 35 points

9. Tiffany Penner (zone 3) 39 points

10. Asa Fast-Berglund    56 points

11. Heather Shanks         63 points

12. Amanda Wendorff     66 points

13. Signe Klinting           67 points

14. Lara Meyer                71 points

15. Louise Gamst            74 points

16. Maria Marb               79 points

17. Heather Tamminen    84 points

I am still fighting Women's Six Race Series

Well, it is time for another challenge. A new women's series of races. I was all set to do all of the races. I really only wanted to try some point races. But, why not do them all. I only realized last minute that it was impossible for me to run the first race. Solution? I did the time trial later (not in the AE event).

Round #1 Bologna Time Trial

Kulchensky....15:13 (how is that possible?)

Kryder ...........18:55 (overall 39th of 45 and 5 of 6 in AE)

I don't think there is a fair way to access 45 riders over 4 time zones. CVR tried it and it was a failure. The problem is numbers. 7 in first division, then 29 in Europe, 6 in AE, and 3 in AW (3? We know the podium already?)  A lot of riders in division 2 will be lucky to score any points.In 4, I could probably win or take second, if I were to race really really late at night.

If we go by race times and fastest through segments, division 2 will probably have the advantage. But, here goes nothing as I will try to do my best.

Round # 2 Innsbruck Short Race - Scratch

I did really great here, taking second but first among contenders.

Very hard climb with just enough energy to keep up in a group of three. 

Had a pretty good sprint, losing by 0.1 seconds. Next time!

Round # 3. I know I am not a climber. I got under 26 for the epic, which was a great workout for me.

It would have been great if I could keep up with the three leaders. But they were tearing it up. Congrats.

Round #4

I passed on the first long hill of Richmond reverse. Won the 23rd Hill easily, then took all five sprints from a fairly strong field. I took second overall but more importantly, finished ahead of my two rivals Penner and White. I just felt that hitting the first hill hard would ruin the next climb anyway. 1:13 over 1:17-1:22. I did 1:15 in practice. 430 watts. Most of my sprints were done at 600 watts, reaching 10 w/kg.

There are only twenty riders left now. With a win, I am sitting at 11th place of twenty. The next two races are tough, one is 16 laps and the other is a lot of climbs. But I am fighting for my spot. I want to be top ten. The top 8 are way ahead of me.

Round #5

The race didn't go as planned. I stuck with the group for 8 of 16 laps. I lost four of them to KW and TP, which was terrible for me. I was not getting a power up on a lot of laps. I won a few sprints. In the second part of the race, I also won several sprints, but I was pretty tired and I passed on 2 or 3 laps, saving my energy for the following time up. I was most disappointed on the first prime that I came in third, as it looked like I won but took third by a fraction of a second on time. So, good but disappointed.

Overall, there are just 18 people doing all of the races. I will post my version of the overall points after tomorrow's races. I have myself at about the middle overall. I basically need to outright win this last race, which means I will have to contest the dreaded North Sgurr. It will definitely sap my strength for the three remaining sprints. But, the way the points are set up and no points for the last sprint, means I will need to win all six efforts. The Sgurr will be my win or lose scenario.

Round # 6

Hit out hard and just barely won the first sprint. Then, I lost contact well before I planned to split the group. I ran the Brae reverse hard and won by a good margin. I was hurting now but knew I needed the North if I was going to win. I hit out harder than practice, aiming at 320 watts which wavered a little. I was dying at the finish and barely able to lift my watts toward the end. I pushed so hard just to keep steady with over a minute to go. Bam! I had it with a few seconds to spare. The Brae went well too. The South was looming ahead. I just kept it over 300. My legs were tying up with 30 seconds to go. I almost quit a hundred meters from the line, but again, I had it. ( 1:43 to two minutes, wow) Only the Clyde remained. I had to climb off the bike to prevent my legs from cramping. I got back on to face the last sprint. Again, I hit it very hard at the start. My wattage was suffering but my speed held up. I had all six sprints. I couldn't do the math. I had to wait until the next morning to find out that I had won this race. I paid the price for all my efforts, not the next day but after the workout, I was so depleted that I passed out for a few seconds onto the floor.

I need a break from racing to go into a training block or so. I haven't done any workouts probably since the Academy. Lol. It is going to hurt.

2023 World Championship

 First, a precursor. I saw the World's three courses the weekend before the championships race and it was laden with heavy hitters. I knew I couldn't keep up, so I just raced the first part of the second race up to the top of the Sgurr. I was drafting the elite men, used an anvil on the uphill to get to the front again. (The anvil will work on the two negative stretches if you time it right.) I lost the draft then attempted to sprint to the line. I passed Ed Laverick and finished in 9th place. (I watched it on his youtube channel). I did enter the third race but was too tired, I decided to just have fun and run the sprint through the pack. I got the QOM for the Champions Sprint. It wasn't a great sprint and I slowed before the line and no power up. But I hit the start line at a very fast speed and it carried me through. Pack dynamics 4 should make this much slower. 

 I watched part of the men's races on replay. The first two were sprint finishes. The third race saw the winner shoot clear of the pack, come back to within one second, then extended to about 15 seconds. (Sorry, but I like Crit City better.)

 The women's races were pretty good. The first race was mostly a sprint finish. The secret? You have to stay in the draft. Hit the front and the pack will fly past you. It is similar with the second race. You need the draft to keep your speed up. On the first climb, Tanya Erath lost the draft and tried to regain the pack with a short sprint but she missed and gave in. More on her ride later. The anvils were a factor. You must use it to keep up with the others or you will fall off. Brooke put in a sprint toward the bottom. Godbe had to sprint to latch back onto the leaders. As the line approached, there were 14 riders shooting for the ten spots open. Van Houling beat Brooke for the tenth spot. I kind of trust the final numbers, but it gets confusing when you watch the timer in slow motion.

LVH  1.45   1.68  1.74  1.72  1.74  1.74 F

LB     1.52   1.65   NA   NA   1.73  1.77 F

These are the numbers shown in a two second window of time. Brooke is in the lead by 0.03 then not on the board at all, then ahead by 0.01 but finally off by 0.03. This seems confusing as all of these numbers are shown on the board after they cross the line. Why did Brooke's number change? I realize there are 30 racers all sending data from all around the world. But it seems like something that is too fast for anyone to double check. "You have to trust the computer." I don't. 

Here's one more reason. Watching Tanya's finish, she hit the finish line, the segment timer popped up and showed her finish Sgurr segment at 399.06. How did her finish line come before the end of the Sgurr? I saw several others finish and that did not happen to them. The Sgurr timer finished before or at the same time as they crossed the finish line. I had a race in New York that ended at the sprint line. I had a great sprint time but it didn't show on Zwiftpower. Why? Because the finish line came a fraction of a second before the end of the sprint segment. Is this something similar. How accurate is the actual finish line? Does the end of the segment and the finish line match exactly? Is it exactly the same for each individual?

On to race three. What happened now? In the beginning of the race, Lou Bates is in the pack and suddenly disappears. I thought Zwift was at fault. What really happened was Lou's heart monitor was not getting picked up by Zwift (an Ant signal). They tried to restore the signal and the officials waited a short while. At the point she disappears from the screen, the officials pulled her out of the race. It was sad but accurate in accord with the rules. As soon as she is removed, her on screen wattage reads zero, just like the elimination races in the Crit City qualifiers. 

Here's another glitch. When Godbe crosses the line, it tells her she finished in second place. But then Zoe's finish time comes in a moment later, and Zoe's time is less. So Zoe takes second and Godbe's screen changes to third place. It has happened to me and others. It just takes a few moments for another rider's data to register. The times are accurate, they just don't get processed at the exact same millisecond. Godbe has the screenshot showing her second but Zoe's finish hasn't come through yet. The new screenshot auto took the photo. But then I think Godbe knew she was in third. 

Overall, the course was interesting and fun. But it never separated the riders as the reverse Innsbruck climb did in qualifiers. I understand that is not as exciting to many others. But watch Bates take control in that race. I was amazed at her long power.

It's Been a Long Time

...since I rocked the bike. Sorry I haven't been keeping up. There hasn't been much to write about. I won one week of the ZI Tiny Race series. ( I don't count any races unopposed as wins). I just fall apart after the first race it seems. I did the new time trial series and came in 11th place after three A's. Next time I will just be the slowest in the A cat. But, It is a five week commitment and time and training is precious. I just can't skip the Tour de Zwift, even without a working gc chart. The tiny races are short and fun, so I will probably keep doing them too.

What else can I say? I'm getting older and slower. It's a bit depressing. I wanted to ride the ten world challenge before Scotland is released. But I am very busy lately. Who knows, some day. Let's hope Scotland is fun. 

2022 Zwift Academy Winners

 This is not an official Zwift Headquarters list. Winners have not been verified at this time.

Women's Sprint Winners:                                    Men's Sprint Winners:

1 Zee Kryder               22.552                             1. Paul Baker          19.576

2. Liz Van Houweling   23.060                              2. Pete Murray         19.774

3. Tilly Field                 23.242                             3. Jun Kamotora  (*) 20.186 

Women's Short Climb Winners                            Men's Short Climb Winners (4 way tie)

1. Alex Morrice (*no strava) 1:23                        1. Ramses Brito        1:13 (no strava)

2. Liz Van Houweling           1:24                     1. Cooper Sayers      1:13 (no strava_

3. Cat Ridgway                      1:25                     1. Mihael Stanjnar     1:13 (pro rider)

                                                                       1. Cyril Grangladen  1:13 (no strava)

Women's Long Climb Winners                             Men's Long Climb Winners

1. Madi Roberts                   6:35                         1. Deino Cratis (no strava)     5:43

2. Alex Morrice (*)               6:37                           2. Cris (no strava)                  5:49

3. Cat Ridgway                    6:43                          3. Marc Mading                    5:51.29

Zwift Academy 2022 Second Place Sprint...No Wait..First Place !

      First, I entered with overall poor fitness. ( I finally took off some weight, but I lost a lot of power, a whole lot of power. My ftp went from 260 to 230, seriously.) I was only practicing my sprint. I had a good sprint while training...23.23. In my baseline attempt, I did a 23.191 with 9 w/kg in the sprint section. I started super early and coasted the last 100 meters. Consider this; someone beat me with a 23.060 with over 12 w/kg. That means they started the section at a much slower speed. (42 kph vs. 50 kph) So, I'm still sitting in second place after two weeks. Kudos to Lisa Houweling for being in first place... I Rod is in third at 23.278.

News Flash.....

Currently in third place... Tilly Field at 23.243

In Second Place ..............Lisa Houweling at 23.060

In First Place....................Zee Kryder at 22.552

It was on my third attempt in a 3R Race on my tt bike. I had a 23.4 then 23.2 and I almost quit. But instead I just tried to do my 10 second sprint and see if I could hit a good speed before the start line. Then I hit the big gear and tried to mash it and of course, I was flailing with 100 to go but somehow hung on. I was shocked because I thought I lost too much time at the end. This was the culmination of three weeks of training and attempting that sprint forward too many times to count. It helped having three chances in a row to hit my mark. It is good to know that I recovered well from the first two attempts. Now I can sit back and hope that nobody outdoes me in the last two days of the academy. What a rush. I was thinking about this sprint all day. I drank four cups of coffee. I was so disappointed to only hit 23.4 on my first attempt. I'm so glad I didn't give up then.

Now, maybe I will try to crack the top ten on Titan;s Grove before the ZA closes. There are some serious fast times this year.