Inspiration Saturation

[CPT_A]

So looking to tomorrow and - surprise! - my base blocks plan scheduled me for Half the Road…again. Would be my third viewing in a month.

Curious what people do when the inspirational videos no longer inspire, aka “how many times am I going to watch this video”? I decided to review for similar distance/effort endurance rides and am going to sub in Cobbler tomorrow instead (no offense, ladies!). Since I started with Sufferfest when I moved indoors last fall, I’ve watched a number of the inspiration videos, so would imagine this will come up more and more moving forward?

[kevcronin]

Often there are recommendations at the bottom of the pre-ride “coach talk” that says “if you liked this, then…” But not on all rides tho.

[titanicus]

Always the option to turn the video off and watch what you want, or sub in an open video and, in the case of Inspiration, keep it Zone 1 or 2.

[Peteski]

You could search in the workout library for alternative inspirational/endurance videos. Cobbler is a much harder workout than Half the Road (0.81 vs 0.67 IF). Moon Rider looks like a better match and is quite an interesting story. Or you could do a couple of the shorter videos of the same intensity.

My other approach is to do a Zwift group ride at a similar pace.

[CPT_A]

That’s kind of along the lines of my thought. Though not Moon Rider. Oy. Already shared my thoughts on that one…

Moon Rider

Sorry, was a joke. Non joking: Quaade’s story was a(nother) tragedy about someone gifted immense (600W+ ftp!!!) talents who for whatever reason lacked the “intangibles” to translate his world-class physical ability into world-class results. He was young during the film, so gets all the benefit of the doubt youth and inexperience deserve, but after winning the Danish U23 national TT and getting an invite to the national training program, refused to listen to coaching or engage with his teammat…

[adcords]

Ive personally found substituting for races or docos on GCN+ as a supplementary source pretty good

[CPT_A]

@kevcronin @titanicus @Peteski @adcords Good thoughts, all. And thanks for the feedback. I went ahead and rode Cobbler - working on base miles so it’s been awhile since I suffered.

I LOVE/HATE Cobbler so much! Especially on fresh numbers, and ESPECIALLY since I realized half-way through that I’d last ridden it in the TOS at 90%. Whew what a gasser!

I for one find that the time flies much quicker in the structured workouts — even the long ones. You suffer, then you’re done. (And hoisting the cobble!)

[alchurch]

I play some fav music and stay focussed on cad box. I pretty well focus on this during most videos anyway. The inspirational vids are a nice change but after viewing them once, that is often enough for me.

[emacdoug]

Some of the inspiration videos I can ride multiple times. Others are one and done for me. But, there is a badge for riding them all, and then I’ve heard mentions here and there that a new set of inspiration videos will be making its way into the app at some point. So, the turnover should keep them fresh when we get a whole set of new ones. Otherwise, they could get dull to repeat over again.

Tho, they did fix the problem of riding the standard SUF workouts at reduced intensity. That was a whole different can of worms that I’m glad is closed. I’d much rather ride the Inspiration videos multiple times and choose to watch races or youtube videos (or Z^^^ting) with SUF running in the background.

[Heretic]

Here is a suggestion from one of the coaches. Do Elements of Style instead of an inspiration video:

Repeating Elements of Style

Thanks for pointing this out. This was one of our earlier videos before training plans got into full swing. We will have a look and review this but in the meantime if you want to ride Elements of Style more frequently, I recommend repeating it during your recovery week in place of an inspiration ride.

[CPT_A]

@Heretic

Here is a suggestion from one of the coaches. Do Elements of Style instead of an inspiration video:

Repeating Elements of Style - #3 by Coach.Rupert.H

Oh absolutely, I love EoS…I ride it regularly to practice my pedal stroke (which still sucks, but is improving!). I would readily sub-in EoS for any 30-45 minute ride, little hard for 1:45 though!

I rode Cobbler, 100%, embraced the suck. Definitely was not a 1-for-1 swap, though.

[CPT_A]

@emacdoug

Some of the inspiration videos I can ride multiple times. Others are one and done for me. But, there is a badge for riding them all, and then I’ve heard mentions here and there that a new set of inspiration videos will be making its way into the app at some point. So, the turnover should keep them fresh when we get a whole set of new ones. Otherwise, they could get dull to repeat over again.

Yes, this. I’m a race nerd, so can watch any of those anytime (Wolves, Colombians, etc. NOT Moon Rider), but most of the rest I will likely get through once and call it a career. Though I swear I’m never going to make it through the whole Earth Cycle series unless I swap them out - I think I’ve seen the first two episodes about four times, but my plan never calls for the others.

I did figure they regularly release new inspiration videos, so that’s great. I’ll take all I can get.

[Heretic]

I rode Cobbler at 100% during the last ToS, but then again I would never confuse that workout with an Inspiration ride.

[way9e0]

I’ve been doing quite a bit of swapping of Inspiration videos to try to work through as many as I can. I’ll look at the duration, TSS, and IF and try to find something as close as possible when making the substitution.

[alchurch]

EOS is a much harder workout than the inspirational videos. Although it contains lots of drills, it is still fairly tough, particularly the standing bit near the end.

[JSampson]

@alchurch True but I think the overall impact on fatigue is similar as the efforts in EOS don’t last very long. I am still working my way through the inspirational videos - need to get that badge - but I like the idea of substituting EOS as it really helps me maintain the fundamentals.

[Holger1980]

I just started a new training plan and was wondering why there are Inspiration videos I already watched on a previous plan. I think the training plan builder should consider if an Inspitration video is marked as viewed or not. I e.g. have already watched “A Dog’s life” pts 1 to 3 on several plans but the new plan put pt. 1 up for next week.
I don’t mind to do the SUF workout videos several times because that’s what they are made for. But the documentaries in the Inspiration section are one time views for me only. And since the Inspiration section was implemented with the intention to get in new videos frequently I think there is no point in suggesting the same videos over and over to us.

[mhr518]

Now that the weather is nicer, I will be able to just ride outside. But barring that I usually substitute another documentary-style video(s) that I haven’t seen, or I do a Zone 2 (or whatever) workout in another app like Zwift or RGT, and check it off as done in my Sufferfest calendar. I need to prepare better so I can do these workouts during long work meetings when I don’t have to be on camera.

[emacdoug]

I wish I could easily use a mouse and keyboard while I rode like Z1/Z2 efforts. But I’m afraid I would also sweat everywhere and take 10 times as long to complete my projects. Sounds like a glorious use of time. If I did it right, I could Everest a short climb while working my day job.

If only.

[Martin]

Just use any video I feel like for Z1/Z2 now. Sometimes just running the video only to ‘log’ the effort in the diary as much as anything.

Some folk stream TV shows - I think I re-watched Star Trek episodes for a while the other year.

Though I’ve not yet tired of the earth cycle and brendog videos.