Zwift Academy Semi-Final Workout #1 Recap (from Cali!) – 2 x 12 min Test

First Semi-Final Workout is in the books, and it was a DOOZY! It started out with a bit of stress, as my Kickr was reading low again, and I had to do a few spindowns to get it properly calibrated, but despite being a tad frazzled, I took a deep breath, centered myself, and jumped on to knock it out on my lunch break 🙂

Today’s workout was the 2 x 12 minute test, and I did mine without ERG mode on also, as I’ve always trained on “dumb” trainers in the past, and didn’t want to throw something new into the mix with so much at stake. Just like Siri, I “failed” the 3 x 30 second spin-up intervals b/c the Kickr flywheel simply wouldn’t slow down enough after 30 secs at 355 to allow me to pedal at 75W, when not in ERG mode. Also like Siri though, I didn’t stress it, as the purpose of that section was simply to prime the legs for the “real” work to come!

The first 12 minute interval, I started out a tad too hard. I felt great, and thought I could hold it, but faded a bit to the end, despite pushing so hard I literally had to ask my hubby to go grab me a trash can. . 🤢 When this interval finished, I remember thinking to myself “how on earth am I going to do that AGAIN in 15 minutes?!?”

I was feeling pretty recovered by the start of the second 12 minute interval though, and I started out more conservatively, and was able to “flat-line” the effort much better than the 1st, which definitely trended down. The second interval was ~20W lower than the first, but that was to be expected.

There is a bit of a discrepancy between my Kickr/Zwift Readings, and my Crank based PM readings, but if I believe my Crank based PM readings (which I KNOW are accurate due to extensive testing), I set a HUGE 12 min Power PR with the 1st interval, and was only 2W off my best 12 min Power with the second, so I’m a happy camper!

I totally second Siri’s suggestion – this is a good one! I’d definitely recommend it – but maybe have a trash can handy “just in case” 🤣