Day 7 of SufferFestukah: The First Rule of Fight Club is ...

Look at all of those candles...

... oh, we're gonna talk about it.

THE WORKOUT: Fight Club
Power intervals. 5 times. Time trial efforts followed by climbs. With attacks coming at any and all times. Basically, intervals within intervals.

Webb: I entered the 53t fighting ring and almost didn't come out.

Elle: OK, so this may be my favorite SufferFest workout. The attacks are killer. I love riding with Cadel "Don't touch my lion" Evans, and this is the funniest so far (the little joke at the end is just evil). And I love the 'basket' ride in the beginning.

Webb: Earlier I wrote some workouts have a purpose in not letting you fully recover. Unbeknownst to me, Fight Club is one of those workouts. Sure each interval has a recovery, but it is the lack recovery after the attacks that are key. Whether you are in a cycling race or racing against the clock in a triathlon, there will be times when you need to drop the hammer for even a few seconds to close a gap or to pass someone. In those races, you will need to return to your pre-sprint effort (i.e., don't let up) so as not to undo what you just did.

Elle: Just the type of workout that I like! However, around the 4th interval, the vomit fairy was threatening to pay me a visit...

Webb: This workout must improve your power output. I am no physicist or engineer, but I seem to recall that power is the product of speed and force. For those of you who know what I am talking about, skip ahead. When it comes to power in cycling speed is not measured in mph/kph but in RPM. Force, then, is how much you put into your pedals. Fight Club starts each interval in time trial mode where you are essentially doing cadence work, working on your speed (i.e., high RPMs). The second part of the interval then has you climb in a low gear/high resistance, thus improving you strength to apply more force to the pedals. Put the two together and blammo! Power!

Elle: With legs screaming, face grimacing, vomit fairy circling, I fought through this workout and came out the other end a stronger cyclist, I'm sure of it. With the celebration of SufferFestukah, I feel that I've really got a sense of the Sufferlandrian motto, IWBMATTKYT (I Will Beat My Ass Today To Kick Yours Tomorrow). If this sh*t doesn't prepare me to kick some serious cycling butt in the spring, I don't know what will...