Training plan help.

[willhub]

I'm just going to have to ride for now and do intervals and think nothing more, I cannot afford to pay for coaches or training plans, I dont like it when people tell me that I am going to have to pay my own way in life eventually, no ****? I do know that, I dont have a job, it's very hard to get one at the moment.

I'll try find some info of this Peter Read but I'm guessing he'll cost an arm and a leg.

 

[screenman]

I am very suprised seeing as he is on your door step you have not heard of him, certainly if you belong to a local club most of your team mates would have done so. He is not normally very expensive if you are willing to show you will stick to his plans. Try buying one of his black or red books they are both very helpful.

 

[willhub]

ignore this post.

 

[Bill Gates]

Before embarking on a training plan there are a few things that need due consideration

* No rider reaches their full potential until they have trained and raced for at least 3/4 years.

* To win you need speed (fastest rider), endurance (make the distance), skill (pedalling and pace judging), strength (body holds up, back etc.)

All fairly obvious stuff but most riders will just ride very hard over all distances each time they sit on the saddle. So make your endurance rides steady but make them hilly. Make your fast rides very very fast but short so you don't overdo it. Have at least one day off a week doing absolutely nothing. Most importantly take notice of your body, i.e. how you feel. If you don't feel up to it then ride slowly with a high cadence and get home. There's always tomorrow.

Oh and work towards a target race so that you taper off your training to get the performance you want. No one performs to their highest level all the time. I found that I peaked three or four times a season.

 

[I am Spartacus]

I hope I wasnt unduly too unkind in my figurative kick up the arse...but if you do want to race be prepared for some un PC comments, I'm afraid, and thus develop a thicker skin.
How this country has lurched into namby pandiness and lets not upset people 'cos it violates their 'uman rights.... you get the picture

 

[screenman]

I know I do

 

[willhub]

I'll read that in a sec, but to avoid any confusion I'm not a loony but I've noticed my last post is in the wrong thread O_o


Anyway, this is what I have being doing regular, have being taking plenty of rest too.

I do the intervals, I was doing 10x3mins but I changed it to 6x4mins, so I do them, I think that I should be doing them about 90% as I find I can sustain 90% heart rate for a long period, but maybe that means I should push to 190?

When I do shorter rides, 20-50 miles, I push, recently I've noticed an average speed jump up, so I used to be doing good to do 19.4, well I'm doing between 19.5 and 21mph avg over these distances now.

I do the long rides, I basically commute to the start of the long ride which is 10 miles, I tend to aim to keep my heart rate below 170, but when on the ride up hills and on fast sections I tend to just let rip.

So I'm doing 3 things, my current cycling is really none existant of slow steady rides, I just rest off the bike, sometimes I might go for a a short 3 or 4 miles loop taking it really steady to free up my legs etc..

 

[Bill Gates]

I'll read that in a sec, but to avoid any confusion I'm not a loony but I've noticed my last post is in the wrong thread O_o


Anyway, this is what I have being doing regular, have being taking plenty of rest too.

I do the intervals, I was doing 10x3mins but I changed it to 6x4mins, so I do them, I think that I should be doing them about 90% as I find I can sustain 90% heart rate for a long period, but maybe that means I should push to 190?

When I do shorter rides, 20-50 miles, I push, recently I've noticed an average speed jump up, so I used to be doing good to do 19.4, well I'm doing between 19.5 and 21mph avg over these distances now.

I do the long rides, I basically commute to the start of the long ride which is 10 miles, I tend to aim to keep my heart rate below 170, but when on the ride up hills and on fast sections I tend to just let rip.

So I'm doing 3 things, my current cycling is really none existant of slow steady rides, I just rest off the bike, sometimes I might go for a a short 3 or 4 miles loop taking it really steady to free up my legs etc..

Heart Rate isn't an ideal way of measuring effort as for a given output of power it can vary from day to day. There is also a time lag of 30/45 seconds for the heart rate to catch up. Better and to learn the skill of pace judging is to do long intervals on the road.

Find a 10 mile TT course and use it to ride at just above 10 mile TT effort for 7/8 minutes and then recover for about 3/4 minutes and repeat. Do as many as possible until the effort cannot be maintained. Once a week is enough.

On the turbo do full out 100% effort sprints for 20/30 seconds and recover for rest of that minute and repeat. Sets of 5 with 2 minute rests between sets. as many as possible. Forget Heart Rate monitor for efforts but worth looking at for recovery between sets. Once a week or every two weeks.

During racing season if racing once or twice a week no need for fast training rides (tempo) as racing fast on race day is your aim. This is your problem area. You are riding too fast on your long rides which has the effect of blunting your top end speed as you are not recovering sufficiently. Forget average speeds for a training ride. They mean diddly squat!!!! What counts is performance in a race so IMO you should forget your computer as it's controlling you. Good luck.

 

[willhub]

I find my HRM has a couple of seconds lag, as when I really push the power it seems to be showing the correct heart rate what you'd expect in a couple of seconds.

If I do this 10mile TT effort, do I only do it aswell as the recovery for the length of that 10mile course then finish? And what would I class as not being able to maintain the effort? Effort after effort will be getting slower anyway.

Unfortunatly I dont have a turbo, if I did I was thinking of doing something called tabata or something? Go 100% true max for 20seconds, 10seconds rest, then 20seconds again and repeating, apparently it really improves lactate threshold or something and good for fat burning?

When I am on long rides I dont usually focus on average speed, I just seem to be abit competitive, the group leader I think trys to race me in a way so I let rip all the time to keep in front. I'm not going to race untill next year, well I hope to race next year anyway.

 

[Bill Gates]

I find my HRM has a couple of seconds lag, as when I really push the power it seems to be showing the correct heart rate what you'd expect in a couple of seconds.

If I do this 10mile TT effort, do I only do it aswell as the recovery for the length of that 10mile course then finish? And what would I class as not being able to maintain the effort? Effort after effort will be getting slower anyway.

Unfortunatly I dont have a turbo, if I did I was thinking of doing something called tabata or something? Go 100% true max for 20seconds, 10seconds rest, then 20seconds again and repeating, apparently it really improves lactate threshold or something and good for fat burning?

When I am on long rides I dont usually focus on average speed, I just seem to be abit competitive, the group leader I think trys to race me in a way so I let rip all the time to keep in front. I'm not going to race untill next year, well I hope to race next year anyway.

Re HRM reaction time, that is not my experience or what I've read of others. On the road you will no doubt be concentrating on riding rather than looking a HRM so may not notice the time lag. It's more noticeable on a turbo when doing intervals. I could go for the first flat out sprint and the HRM may reflect an effort of only 85% at the end of 30 seconds. Even in subsequent sprints the HR will only reflect the effort towards the end, so using it as a guide is totally useless.

When you first do long intervals, either as a beginner or as an experienced rider at the start of a training plan, then you may be only to complete 1 or 2 efforts. This is all about learning how to put out an effort (suffer), and finding a level that can be sustained and pushing the boundaries of fitness. You'll know if the effort can't be sustained, otherwise you're not riding hard enough.

If you aren't racing until next year then any benefit you gain from intervals now will be lost by then. IMO intervals are best done in 4-6 weeks prior to your first race and replace the longer base mileage rides you should have been doing. As you are not racing, then this time of the year I would just have fun with some tempo rides, as you seem to be doing already, and mixing it up with other rides enjoying the scenery.

You can get a lot of info on the training year; periodisation, i.e. what to do when by searching the internet.

 

[jimboalee]

Bill talks good sense.

Back in the day before HRMs, it took a season of riding to acquire accurate recognition of when you transit from aerobic to anaerobic by the feeling in your legs.

The 10 mile TT course is used to do a 'flat out' ride with the legs on the threshold.
It might start at 30 minutes. After a few weeks of weekly sessions, the time for the 10 miles will start to drop toward 25 minutes.

On another thread, I described the method to assess your power output without SRM or PowerTap ( as we did years ago ).

Your aim initially should be to increase your power/weight ratio.

 

[willhub]

Well what I am taking notice of when I am pushing is lactate build up, sometimes it happens at like 150, but last night I did a fast 21 miles for me, I did about 4 miles pushing around 24-26mph constant, I took note of my heart rate, was around 185-190 for most of the time, and I also took notice that lactate buildup was at a minimum then, weirdly I find the lactate to build up when I go up some gears (to bigger cogs on chainset) and end up spinning more, I was on the big ring and second to smalled cog on a 12-27 chainset and I kept the speed up with minimal lactate buildup.

So because of the 4 miles I sustained that and my heart rate never moved much apart from inbetween 180 and 190 I was sustaining around 90% according to that. All I look at is my current heart rate, I've never really bothered with averages and that.

I've also noticed whilst I am getting faster it appears I've put on half a stone .

I am having fun, intervals and all that are fun to me, I find pushing myself fun too, the 4 miles effort last night was so fun keeping that speed but after I was abit of a wreck, I managed abother 7 or so miles after it.

 

[willhub]

Guys.

Can being anemic slow you down? I notice it's a reduction in red blood cells or something? The doctors found out I am anemic and it appears to have being going on for some time, could this explain why sometimes I can go really well on the bike whilst other times I feel I'm not getting enough air in and are really sluggish?