WORKOUT ANALYSIS: MATT TANNER

DATE	2026-08-19
WORKOUT	RF Amplify - Interval Surf
DURATION	2:21
DISTANCE	43.5 miles
ROLLFAST FTP	400W
AVG POWER / NP	190W / 239W
TSS / IF	84 / 0.598
AVG HR / MAX HR	136 / 158 bpm
AVG CADENCE	82 rpm
DEVICE	Garmin Edge 530
Coach Note
“Good workout! Felt good today like the blood dump worked. More snap and response. Last 2 surf intervals were in traffic then a neighborhood due to liv golf detour. Frustrating bc the first 7 went well holding the recovery too. Started getting a bonk in the last 15min tempo. Stopped in Carmel less than 2 miles from home for red bull and snickers.”

Executive Summary

Seven clean surfs, two traffic-wrecked ones, and a fueling wall in the final block — that's the honest three-act story of today's Interval Surf.

The surf pattern held together through Rounds 1–7 with the right signature: Threshold on the Up and Down, a sharp Threshold+ spike over the top, and recoveries that mostly stayed in range. Rounds 8 and 9 came apart — not from fitness failure but from a Liv Golf road closure that pushed you into a neighborhood and away from your rhythm. The coach's note confirms it: frustrating, external, not a fitness verdict. The bonk in the final 15-minute Flow block is worth flagging separately — you stopped for a Red Bull and a Snickers less than two miles from home, which means the engine ran low on fuel, not watts. Yesterday's Twelves probably had more to say here than today's legs.

The day-two question this workout was designed to answer: can the surf pattern survive The Twelves? For seven rounds, the answer is yes. Rounds 8–9 are noise. The pattern is real.

* Cardiovascular Efficiency graded on steady aerobic rides only

Interval Analysis

The three-phase surf signature showed up and held — the cadence contrast, the Threshold floor, the Threshold+ spike — across seven of nine rounds before traffic ended the experiment.

Tempo Openers (Laps 2 & 4)

Rep	Duration	Target	Avg Power	Power Quality	Avg HR	Std Dev	Status
Opener R1	6:00	268–284W	265W	Solid Control	144 bpm	22W	⚠️ 3W below floor
Opener R2	6:00	268–284W	269W	Solid Control	148 bpm	26W	✅ Held

Opener R1 landed 3W shy of the floor — marginal, but traffic extraction probably accounts for it. R2 sat cleanly in range. Both openers served their purpose: HR was primed and the legs were loaded before the first surf.

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Surf Rounds 1–9 (Laps 6–40)

The full surf grid — Up / Over / Down for all nine rounds:

Phase	Target	Avg Power	Max Power	Avg HR	Status
R1 Up	312–360W	313W	404W	143 bpm	✅ Held
R1 Over	364–400W	408W	473W	150 bpm	⚠️ 8W above ceiling
R1 Down	312–360W	331W	408W	154 bpm	✅ Held
R2 Up	312–360W	329W	376W	147 bpm	✅ Held
R2 Over	364–400W	394W	436W	152 bpm	✅ Held
R2 Down	312–360W	329W	395W	155 bpm	✅ Held
R3 Up	312–360W	341W	377W	147 bpm	✅ Held
R3 Over	364–400W	403W	452W	154 bpm	⚠️ 3W above ceiling
R3 Down	312–360W	333W	397W	156 bpm	✅ Held
R4 Up	312–360W	293W	436W	148 bpm	❌ 19W below floor — traffic stop mid-interval
R4 Over	364–400W	389W	453W	151 bpm	✅ Held
R4 Down	312–360W	337W	379W	155 bpm	✅ Held
R5 Up	312–360W	332W	368W	144 bpm	✅ Held
R5 Over	364–400W	381W	498W	151 bpm	✅ Held
R5 Down	312–360W	271W	437W	153 bpm	❌ 41W below floor — traffic stop mid-interval
R6 Up	312–360W	342W	412W	145 bpm	✅ Held
R6 Over	364–400W	393W	510W	152 bpm	✅ Held
R6 Down	312–360W	336W	384W	155 bpm	✅ Held
R7 Up	312–360W	312W	421W	145 bpm	✅ Held (floor)
R7 Over	364–400W	403W	487W	150 bpm	⚠️ 3W above ceiling
R7 Down	312–360W	351W	422W	155 bpm	✅ Held
R8 Up	312–360W	340W	491W	146 bpm	✅ Held
R8 Over	364–400W	406W	508W	152 bpm	⚠️ 6W above ceiling
R8 Down	312–360W	336W	388W	155 bpm	✅ Held
R9 Up	312–360W	331W	399W	142 bpm	✅ Held
R9 Over	364–400W	375W	519W	150 bpm	✅ Held
R9 Down	312–360W	265W	420W	153 bpm	❌ 47W below floor — traffic stop + neighborhood detour

Surf compliance summary: 24 of 27 surf phases hit target. The three misses — R4 Up, R5 Down, R9 Down — were all traffic/detour events confirmed by the coach's note. The seven clean rounds are the grade. The pattern held: Threshold on the Up and Down, a sharp Threshold+ spike over the top. The crest overages in R1, R3, R7, and R8 (3–8W above ceiling) are worth watching — the snap is real, but precise ceiling control on the "over the top" phase is the refinement available.

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Flow Block (Lap 42)

Segment	Duration	Target	Avg Power	Avg HR	Std Dev	Status
Flow	15:00	244–264W	239W	145 bpm	27W	⚠️ 5W below floor — fueling wall mid-block

Five watts below the floor on the Flow block. The coach's note tells the story: fueling hit a wall in the final 15 minutes, ended with a Red Bull and Snickers stop. That's not a fitness miss — it's a fuel miss. The engine was willing; the tank was empty.

Quadrant Analysis

The Q2 number — 15.6% — confirms the surf pattern did exactly what it was designed to do: load force, not just spin.

With the threshold cadence set at 85 rpm, Q2 captures the Up and Down phases of the surf — lower cadence, high force, muscle load. Fifteen-plus percent in Q2 on a ride that also includes warmup, cooldown, and recovery time is strong. That's where the terrain-surfing adaptation lives, and the data shows you were in it. The Q4 dominance (55.2%) reflects the high-cadence recovery and cooldown time, which is correct — you're not supposed to be grinding in recovery. Q3 at 25.7% is the coasting and traffic signature; on a 2:21 outdoor ride in Carmel with a road closure, that's expected, not penalized.

The narrow gap between Q1 (3.5%) and Q2 (15.6%) is worth noting. Q1 — high cadence, high force — represents the crest burst. It's a small slice of the ride by design (20-second efforts), but the ratio suggests the cadence shift at the crest was real and repeatable. That's the neuromuscular contrast the workout is training. Compare this to yesterday's Twelves when you have that data — the Q2/Q1 profile should look similar if the surf pattern is genuinely carrying over.

Power Precision (SD) Analysis

Across the steady work intervals, control was solid — tighter on the Down phases than the Up, with the crest efforts showing expected variability for short explosive segments.

Interval	Avg Power	Target	SD	Rating
Opener R1	265W	268–284W	22W	Solid Control
Opener R2	269W	268–284W	26W	Solid Control
R1 Up	313W	312–360W	31W	Solid Control
R1 Over	408W	364–400W	34W	Solid Control
R1 Down	331W	312–360W	20W	Solid Control
R2 Up	329W	312–360W	26W	Solid Control
R2 Over	394W	364–400W	22W	Solid Control
R2 Down	329W	312–360W	22W	Solid Control
R3 Up	341W	312–360W	18W	Solid Control
R3 Over	403W	364–400W	22W	Solid Control
R3 Down	333W	312–360W	14W	Laser Focus
R4 Up	293W	312–360W	38W	Some Scatter (traffic)
R4 Over	389W	364–400W	28W	Solid Control
R4 Down	337W	312–360W	15W	Solid Control
R5 Up	332W	312–360W	23W	Solid Control
R5 Over	381W	364–400W	45W	Some Scatter
R5 Down	271W	312–360W	37W	Some Scatter (traffic)
R6 Up	342W	312–360W	32W	Solid Control
R6 Over	393W	364–400W	48W	Some Scatter
R6 Down	336W	312–360W	15W	Laser Focus
R7 Up	312W	312–360W	36W	Solid Control
R7 Over	403W	364–400W	29W	Solid Control
R7 Down	351W	312–360W	23W	Solid Control
R8 Up	340W	312–360W	38W	Solid Control
R8 Over	406W	364–400W	42W	Some Scatter
R8 Down	336W	312–360W	20W	Solid Control
R9 Up	331W	312–360W	41W	Some Scatter
R9 Over	375W	364–400W	60W	Some Scatter
R9 Down	265W	312–360W	86W	High Variability (traffic/detour)
Flow	239W	244–264W	27W	Solid Control

The Down phases are consistently the tightest (R3 Down and R6 Down hit Laser Focus at 14W and 15W). The crest Over efforts show more scatter — partly expected given the short explosive nature and partly the outdoor environment. Traffic-affected intervals (R4 Up, R5 Down, R9 Down) explain the high-variability readings there.

Recovery Discipline

Recoveries were well-managed through seven rounds — the discipline held longer than yesterday's Twelves.

Recovery	Target	Avg Power	Avg HR	Status
Pre-Surf R1	180–200W	209W	143 bpm	⚠️ 9W above ceiling
Pre-Surf R2	180–200W	192W	144 bpm	✅ In range
Post-Surf R1	196–240W	213W	147 bpm	✅ In range
Post-Surf R2	196–240W	219W	147 bpm	✅ In range
Post-Surf R3	196–240W	222W	149 bpm	✅ In range
Post-Surf R4	196–240W	195W	146 bpm	✅ In range (traffic reduced avg)
Post-Surf R5	196–240W	192W	143 bpm	✅ Below range — free recovery from traffic stop
Post-Surf R6	196–240W	211W	147 bpm	✅ In range
Post-Surf R7	196–240W	208W	147 bpm	✅ In range
Post-Surf R8	196–240W	167W	143 bpm	⚠️ UNASSESSABLE — power drops flagged, likely neighborhood detour
Post-Surf R9	196–240W	202W	144 bpm	✅ In range

Eight of ten recoveries were in range or appropriately below (traffic). The one overage — Pre-Surf R1 at 209W vs. a 200W ceiling — is minor. Post-Surf R8 is unassessable due to the road closure disruption. Recovery discipline was meaningfully better than yesterday's Twelves; the legs were fresher heading into later rounds because of it.

Zone Breakdown

Final Word

Seven clean surfs on day two after The Twelves. That's the number to hold onto. The three that got swallowed by traffic and a Liv Golf road closure aren't data on your fitness — they're data on Carmel's road planning. The pattern was there: Threshold on the Up, a sharp Threshold+ snap at the crest, tension on the Down. No soft-pedaling the backside. The visualization the workout asked for showed up in the watts.

The fueling wall in the Flow block is the coaching note worth carrying forward. Two miles from home with an empty tank is a race-day scenario you don't want to rehearse. The engine had plenty left — you proved that by stopping for fuel and not the ride. That's the distinction.

Compare today to your last Interval Surf when you have that data. The B+ here on day two of a hard block, with a road closure in rounds 8 and 9 and a fueling miss at the end, is a better result than it looks on paper. Consistency is compound interest — and this block is stacking.