advice on my training regime

[jazzkat]

Hi,
I asked this question on another cycling forum and got no constructive answers - hope fully you lovely people can be more accommodating.

This summer just gone I got into time-trialing. I've really enjoyed it as its given a new focus for my cycling. I'm 42 yo and so I'm never going to be the fastest there, however I would like to get faster. I'm already pretty fit and over the last few months have been using the turbo for my workouts. I have very little time and so most of my cycling is first thing in the morning before work.

I've been doing the following routines using my hrm for guidance

A) 1 hr turbo session consisting of 5 mins warm up, 15 mins in z1, 15mins in Z2, then 20 mins at lactate threshold (z3), 5 mins warm down

B) the classic 2x20 i.e. 5min warm up, 20min lactate threshold (Z3), 5min catching my breath, 20 min Z3, 5min warm down.

My week goes something like

Mon - A)
Tues - B)
Wed - rest
Thurs - A)
Fri - B)
Sat - long ride, yesterday did 65 miles including some big lakeland climbs (did it in 4hrs 15min

)
Sun - rest

I know I'm getting fitter, but my question is...does this routine look ok or is there anything else I could think of changing? Am I doing too much of the 2x20?

So what do you guys think??

 

[jimboalee]

Have a look at pponline.co.uk

 

[jazzkat]

Thanks for the link, theres a lot of information on there

 

[amaferanga]

It looks okay, but you need a bit of progression in there otherwise you'll reach a plateau. Look to slowly up the intensity and/or the duration of your turbo sessions.

 

[jazzkat]

Thanks amaferanga.
What do you mean by increasing the intensity? Higher HR? longer in the zone? or just more repeats?
How often should I look to increase? every month? six weeks?
I've read quite a bit thanks to the links provided and a bit of googling. It all gets very complicated very quickly for a newby amateur like me

 

[accountantpete]

Personally I'd suggest using some more basic goals.

Speed derives basically from cadence(turns of a pedal in 1 minute) and strength(how big a gear you are turning at the back).

You should be looking at a cadence in which you can comfortably pedal for 20 mins of around 80rpm.

Then take a realistic look at your legs - if you have sparrow like legs then you are never going to compete on strength so a higher cadence is required (100+) -on the other hand if you have tree trunk legs then settle on the 80 mark and work on increasing the resistance on the turbo.

I'd then cement in some stamina by doing a road work out at 133% of your tt distance.

 

[jazzkat]

That all makes sense.
I can easily turn the pedals at 85-90 RPM for 20 mins during the turbo sessions and hold 20mph. My 10 mile TT times are faster than this and I put it down to being harder on the turbo than on the road (it certanly feels like it!)
My legs are more tree trunks than sparrows and I really struggle to get my cadence above 95rpm without bouncing about, although I know that is a technique thing. I feel more comfortable pushing a higher gear at 85 rpm than at 90 and can usually go faster. So I guess I should concentrate on increasing strength at this cadence point than trying to get a better technique so I can go at a faster cadence?

 

[accountantpete]

That all makes sense.
I can easily turn the pedals at 85-90 RPM for 20 mins during the turbo sessions and hold 20mph. My 10 mile TT times are faster than this and I put it down to being harder on the turbo than on the road (it certanly feels like it!)
My legs are more tree trunks than sparrows and I really struggle to get my cadence above 95rpm without bouncing about, although I know that is a technique thing. I feel more comfortable pushing a higher gear at 85 rpm than at 90 and can usually go faster. So I guess I should concentrate on increasing strength at this cadence point than trying to get a better technique so I can go at a faster cadence?

There's a guy round here who can average 30mph(way faster than me!) over a 10 but has awful technique.

Personally I concentrate more on pedalling technique which is 80% pedalling in circles for power and 20% foot position/giving the cranks a good squeeze in order to help cadence. That'll stop you bouncing around!