I love to race on Zwift and thats also a goal in itself for me during “off season”/winter. I do want to pace myself though, and not go over board like i have before. Last winter I could race twice, maybe three times a week but it wasnt sustainable…
Any thoughts on how to balance racing and training with IRL season in mind during winter? I guess its individual but i think i could need some perspective what a hard race of 60 minutes actually translates to terms of impact… this is probably a very big topic but i would love to have a discussion about it.
Hi @Silje thanks for posting this! It’s a great one for discussion and very timely. Would you mind giving us more information as to why it wasn’t sustainable for you (I think I know why, but am curious to hear from you)?
I will start with the bottom line:
Racing isn’t training, it’s execution (a chance to apply what you have been training). Racing won’t make you stronger/faster as you hear almost everyone say in Zwift.
It is possible to balance racing in Zwift and training, but it probably means racing less than what you might want to… if your goal is to continue to progress/grow as a cyclist.
Considerations:
Races are not workouts. They are an opportunity to practice your skills and put your training to work in a competitive scenario. Sure, you work hard, but they do not replace training sessions because there is no focus or targeted stimulus in the way that workouts do. This applies to all races, indoors and outdoors.
Be cautious about racing weekly for several months in a row and/or year-around. Doing so can result in chronic fatigue and likely compromise the quality of your training sessions (in addition to missed training sessions). This is when riders start to see a plateau in performance.
You might need additional recovery time after races, so your training schedule will need to be adjusted for this.
Lastly, know that racing in Zwift is not the same as racing “in real life”. Zwift’s algorithms are not able to accurately replicate what happens outdoors when you and your bike interact with the elements, terrain, and riders around you.
@Silje now for the practical application of the above… Using your current training plan as an example (Women’s Cycling Challenge), a race replaces a workout. So ideally, you would race no more than once a week if you want to continue progressing in your training, taking one week off racing every 3 weeks to honour a recovery week.
Then you would have to pay careful attention to how you are feeling after a few weeks. Are you still able to perform well on the workouts? Are you seeing improvements in your cycling/fitness? If the answer is yes, great, keep going.
I used to race in Zwift often - for a period of time I raced weekly. Then one day I decided to analyze the data files from my Zwift races. What I saw was in line with what my coach at the time told me: my efforts were almost identical, in every race - regardless of the course. The main reason for that is… your body gets used to that type of effort, and you end up producing almost identical power as a result. This is possible because racing in Zwift is not like outdoors. There is very little that matters in Zwift other than producing power constantly. No bike handling, no aerodynamics, no coasting, no gravity, no wind, no other riders… There ARE skills you can use to conserve and be more efficient such as cadence and body position (seated/standing), but that’s about it.
long between those lovely days with happy legs and punch… i found replacing training with races. Basically no plan
I still want to race but i want to know my legs and form agree with me and i would like to progress.
Makes sense to reduce the amount of races and plan them into a training plan, not the other way around. I will be a little bit picky with the races i choose to ride and pace myself.
Hey T is been a while. I have to say the same applies to out of control group rides my pet peeve. My local group rides very often and much too hard on Sundays when many of us just want a nice enjoyable endurance ride. Nothing wrong with a couple of sections that are tough intervals but often my group does not know how to chill out. It often seems like every hill is a race to the top. As much as I like my friends I will often sit 20 yards back from a group ride like that and just do SST power and mostly ignore them.
Excellent podcast discussing indoor training and Zwift races. Great discussion on the impact of racing on training/performance. Plus insights from Jennifer Real and her teammates from Saris-The Pro Closet. Worth a listen.
I started cycling 6 months ago – I tried Catrina’s Ladies Social Ride on Sunday morning at 7:30 am central – I went about 1.5 w/kg the entire time and this was like a 1 hour sprint for me, not a ‘social ride’ b/c of that. I was mostly in the back and really didn’t find anyone to group up with. I realize I might not be ‘there’ yet…does anyone know of a similar social event, but maybe not so fast, or where the speed is between 1.0 - 1.5 – I can look on Zwift, but just wondered if anyone knew of a good one! Thanks!
REVO has a few. Friday is the 30’ slow roll (1.5 or less, nice chill ride), Sunday is the sub 2.0 social (when I lead I average 1.6-1.7), and there are a few others (I think the Saturday sub 2 is coming back). Also the climbers series including the new Athena and Clydesdale climbers on Sunday.
What I did was go out on the hour long rides and hold on as long as I could. A lot of them have sweeps or, if it’s a large group, you can form a smaller pack in the back. Each week you will get stronger and be able to hang longer. Don’t get discouraged.
@mapmeister Sun’s ride was really pushing the pace - there were some that flew off the front right away and doing way above the advertised pace - but it gets really tough once you get dropped hard to get back. -
I forget what time zone you are in, but REVO social sub 2 rides are good - i also ride lead (Tues AM one) and like @vivian.a.workman my lead pace tends to be around 1.7-1.8 - part of what happens with group rides is you can only see the 100 closest to you, so the larger the ride, the likelihood it will get spread out and then add in course dynamics - i will say that the sweeper for Catrina’s sun ride tends to stick wiht the yellow beacon until people say hey we need help where the sweep team i have on my Tues sub 2 automatically without me asking lingers to gather those in the back - you just need to find a group ride that works for you
@mapmeister you could also try the 1.5 w/kg pace bot to work on group dynamics - 15-20 min at a time. Another good ride is the PACK sub 2 rides. Very well organized, and their groups are typically huge (300-400), so you can really benefit from the draft.
Thanks everyone for the suggestions! I have yet to feel the draft…although I have tried to do it several times with just various people I encounter when free riding…I will try some of these group rides!
I finally got a chance to listen to this, thanks for sharing it @Coach_Theia! Nothing was really new, except my ears did perk up when they mentioned a 24 hour zwift time trail. How could I have possibly missed that event? It is right in line with the crazy events I like to do! I even thought for a second, maybe I could do my own personal challenge?!
I don’t remember who it was, but the one guy who doesn’t train and just does zwift races 5 days a week surprised me. I really appreciated Jennifer’s comment that women’s races are really different than men’s races and that we put out so much more effort overall. It’s really an interesting difference I think. Why do women race harder than the men I wonder?
@mapmeister also doing banded meetups. It doesn’t matter your output. You stay together. That’s the only way I was able to ride with coach Theia last week!
– I tried Catrina’s Ladies Social Ride on Sunday morning at 7:30 am central – I went about 1.5 w/kg the entire time and this was like a 1 hour sprint for me, not a ‘social ride’ b/c of that. I was mostly in the back and really didn’t find anyone to group up with. I realize I might not be ‘there’ yet…does anyone know of a similar social event, but maybe not so fast, or where the speed is between 1.0 - 1.5 – I can look on Zwift, but just wondered if anyone knew of a good one! Thanks!