Hi all! I’m new to 360 Velo and very excited to get stronger, faster and climb better!
I got my weekly workout and wonder how to treat extra workouts that are fairly exclusively either easy rambler-pace rides or endurance group rides at moderate pace 28-32 km/h that I like to do for social reasons in real life and on Zwift. For example, I have a “threshold” workout this Tuesday that I’ll do in the morning but I also would like to join a 56 km group ride in the evening. I’d appreciate your thoughts!
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Hello and welcome to the party @ChaCha!
To answer your question, it all depends! It’s always a balancing act between workouts, fun rides, life, and rest days. How you decide to balance things is up to you and your priorities. I personally prioritize my training because it supports the fun stuff. And yes, there has been some fun stuff I have had to pass up and/or let go of.
You could, for instance move workouts around. Or, as in your Tuesday example, do your workout in the morning, your group ride in the evening (marking it as the midweek endurance ride on your calendar) and then take Wednesday off as a rest day. I’m sure @Coach_Theia could give you even more advice based on what you are used to and what your goals and events are. Just be sure you get plenty of rest–rest is harder than the hardest workouts and one of the most important parts of training. This is coming from someone who used to think that more was better and resting meant a 50 mile ride instead of 100 miles. 
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Welcome @ChaCha!!! I am going to say well said @Stefanie!!! I too have struggled to justify doing everything, training and the fun stuff, and then I wondered why i wasn’t doing as well as i thought i should. While I’ve been good about not overtraining or over FOMO recently, I also realized that sometimes you have to give yourself permission and grace to take that break for recovery. I for one am feeling a ton better, physically and mentally, for doing that.
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Thank you @Stefanie and @PaleGail for your thoughts! Also @Coach_Theia’s articles have given me plenty of food for thought on group riding and recovery days. One of the reasons I sought out coaching in the first place was to bring structure to my cycling training so I’ll try to be disciplined about it and not go all gaga out of FOMO. It’s the summer vacation time that makes it very tempting to cram as much social cycling as possible into my schedule before work duties call again.
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Agree with @Stefanie’s and @PaleGail’s comments. Aim for 2 full recovery days/week (i.e., 2 days either off the bike or a very easy (no higher than 50% of FTP) recovery spin.
Group and social rides do not give you the specificity you get from workouts (i.e., time in zone/working the targeted energy systems), so doing a minimum of 2 workouts/week is highly recommended for progress.
Group and social rides can take place of “Endurance rides” on the calendar. However, hard rides and races replace a workout. You can double-up on a day if you want. In your example, how hard is the 56km group ride in the evening, and how long will that take you?