The other day I didn’t think I’d make it through the first interval of my workout. It was 2 minutes in Zone 3 (between 180-200 watts for me) with 15 seconds bursts in Zone 5 (about 245 watts for me) repeated six times before a six-minute break. Then you repeated it another two times for a total of three separate efforts.
I figured since I’m done with training for Leadville and most of that was aerobic, I need to work on my anaerobic work because I always lose in a sprint finish. Most recently, it happened in Tour de Boudicca during the second stage. I was outsprinted up a kicker of a hill by five other racers and came in 6th. It happens in real life. And if I’m/we’re not racing this year, I’m taking it as an opportunity to work on my weaknesses.
As I clicked on the workout from my custom menu on Zwift, I grimaced and tried to find a way to stall. And after I organized my dumbbells I wasn’t planning on using and after I moved a set of wheels I still need to return to a friend and after I installed updates on my computer, I finally said to myself, “just fucking do it.”
No, this isn’t a sponsored blog post for Nike.
This is to remind you, reader, to just do the things without overanalyzing. I don’t know if it’s anxiety or just my personality, but I really like to analyze everything. I like to overanalyze. It’s like having a zit. We all know we’re supposed to leave them alone, right? But I’m the person who messes with it until it’s become a giant hole in my face. That’s my brain. That’s also how I handle zits.
So when I saw this workout on my TrainingPeaks app, I started thinking of all the ways I couldn’t do it. That sounds really hard. I haven’t done aerobic work for months, I won’t be able to do this. This is gonna suck. Even when I started the 15-minute warm-up, I kept looking at the green and red blocks following it, wishing it was a recovery day instead.
I chose to stick around 180 watts so I didn’t blow up too fast. I’d complete the 15-second burst and settle back into Zone 3 pedaling. I got through the first block and felt fine. I realized I overthought this workout for no reason even though I still had two blocks to complete. By the last one, sure, I was sweating and a little fatigued, but it went nothing how I thought it would go.
I imagined having to give up halfway through the first block. Or, watching my power decrease with each interval, unable to hold the same amount of power until the end. I hate when I can’t complete a workout and I don’t get the stars on Zwift (I have no idea why I care about that).
I think a lot of us overthink a workout and trick ourselves into think we can’t do it or we won’t be able to do it. Instead, I invite you to not organize your weights or shuffle bike parts between rooms in an effort to stall. Get on the bike, load the workout, don’t think about it, and just get it done.
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