Sufferfest: Local Hero

I really enjoy Local Hero. For me it has the right balance of achievable and challenging and it just keeps taking and taking until you're empty. The last 3 hard days combined with a poor night's sleep meant I was expecting it to be quite hard today and I wasn't sure if I could complete it.

Red = HR, black = power.

After a longish warm-up to clear the last 3 days I quickly settled into the first proper interval at around 30 minutes which felt very comfortable with a nicely settled HR. On the third interval I realised that I was sweating more than usual (although it was quite warm) and my HR was quite high and approaching my Lactic Threshold Heart Rate (purple line), which was annoying as it was about 10 bpm above my normal HR for this workout.

After the third big interval the shorter intervals kicked-in, and on each and every one I was suffering and determined that it would be my last; I'd think about finishing it and having a shower and a bun. But during each recovery interval I had second thoughts, I'd think I was doing OK again and get ready for the next interval. The workout was just hard enough that I hated each interval from about a minute in, but it never beat me so that I couldn't finish an interval or felt that I had to stop. I wanted to, but I didn't have to.

As a result I stayed on the turbo until the end but I was unable to complete the hardest part of the last 4 intervals which required 380W+ but I didn't have enough in my legs to get that power while seated. On the road this would be quite easy by standing, but seated it was beyond me.

In the last 4 days I have done just under 5 hours of workouts and I am feeling the effects of it now. I have tired legs and a slight niggle in my right knee so I am going to have a proper rest day tomorrow.