Time to do a bit more threshold work and by way of a change I did 4x9' efforts at 100+% of FTP which, all things considered, went pretty well. I received a query from a mate of mine about my choice of the 9 minutes for the interval length and my reply is shown below for anyone that's interested:
I get a bit bored of 2x20s for one thing so yes, these are a bit of variety and also go above FTP at times. I also find that the hardest part of an FTP effort is the first part when HR is low and one goes into oxygen debt which then has to be repaid, and I think this is an excellent training stimulus. This 4x9' session means there are 4 such sections in the training session rather than the 2 you get with a 2x20' session and the recovery periods are only 3 minutes, so really quite a good "real life" session. Another factor is that for general road riding in the UK most climbs take less that 10 minutes so 9 minute efforts at or above FTP are ideal. Seem reasonable?
That's my rationale anyway, a change is as good as a rest, didn't feel like that though!
All in all the session went fine and delivered the kind of TSS I was looking for to maintain my steady progress.
To review the session data: click here.
ATL: 84.5 CTL: 76.1 TSB: -9
Showing posts with label Turbo Level 4. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Turbo Level 4. Show all posts
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
Thursday, 28 January 2010
Thursday Training
Hi
VeloTron
Yes, I'm afraid it's that time of year and the session I know and love has returned to take it's toll, the 2x20 threshold session at 91-105% of FTP. It's not the 100% parts of the session that are the fun and games, it's the 100-105% sections and then having to "recover" from them whilst still riding at above 90%
Anyhow, the session went well and this is without doubt the result of all that has gone before in terms of L3 and SST work, I'm making steady progress. Things are pretty difficult on the training front at the moment as I'm afraid my Mum is still in hospital but I'm just hoping for the best and doing what I can to help.
I continued my blood lactate studies today and recorded a benchmark figure for this L4 session. At the end of the 2nd 20 minute 91-105% effort my blood lactate reading was 5.8mmol/l which is where I would expect it to be, a little lower if anything.
This does at least confirm that I am working at the correct intensity for this session. Given the stochastic nature of the 20 minute efforts I would think for an isopower 100% 20 minute effort the reading may well be significantly lower, which is encouraging.
Average power for each effort around 300W.
To review this workout: click here.
VeloTron
Yes, I'm afraid it's that time of year and the session I know and love has returned to take it's toll, the 2x20 threshold session at 91-105% of FTP. It's not the 100% parts of the session that are the fun and games, it's the 100-105% sections and then having to "recover" from them whilst still riding at above 90%
Anyhow, the session went well and this is without doubt the result of all that has gone before in terms of L3 and SST work, I'm making steady progress. Things are pretty difficult on the training front at the moment as I'm afraid my Mum is still in hospital but I'm just hoping for the best and doing what I can to help.
I continued my blood lactate studies today and recorded a benchmark figure for this L4 session. At the end of the 2nd 20 minute 91-105% effort my blood lactate reading was 5.8mmol/l which is where I would expect it to be, a little lower if anything.
This does at least confirm that I am working at the correct intensity for this session. Given the stochastic nature of the 20 minute efforts I would think for an isopower 100% 20 minute effort the reading may well be significantly lower, which is encouraging.
Average power for each effort around 300W.
To review this workout: click here.
Sunday, 20 December 2009
Sunday Training
Hi
VeloTron
Started today's training of with a 10 minute warm-up as my plan was to try a 4km individual pursuit using the 3D software and see how I got on. The pursuit actually went prety well, I started from a standing start and managed to average about 357W which I was pretty pleased with in the depths of December.
I think if you have the facilities it is a very useful thing to do to regularly test yourself over various distances, albeit informally. It's only months or even years later that this data really comes into it's own and in any event little tests like these break the routine of Winter training, which can otherwise get pretty tedious!
After the pursuit I rode the same 25 mile 3D course I rode yesterday to give me a bit of an aerobic workout and to try to keep up the training volume in the face of the dreadful weather, which looks set to continue. Averaged just over 200W for about 70 minutes so even though I've not been able to get out safely I've kept up a reasonable training volume in spite of the weather and I remain on track after 3 weeks of my Winter training plan.
Onward to Paris! Must admit I'm already starting to get excited about the Tour de France ride, I think I've managed to find the flights I need for the trip for Lorena and I so plan to book up very shortly.
ATL: 63.5 CTL: 68 TSB: 5.6
[Uploaded 20/12/2009 19:57:31]
VeloTron
Started today's training of with a 10 minute warm-up as my plan was to try a 4km individual pursuit using the 3D software and see how I got on. The pursuit actually went prety well, I started from a standing start and managed to average about 357W which I was pretty pleased with in the depths of December.
I think if you have the facilities it is a very useful thing to do to regularly test yourself over various distances, albeit informally. It's only months or even years later that this data really comes into it's own and in any event little tests like these break the routine of Winter training, which can otherwise get pretty tedious!
After the pursuit I rode the same 25 mile 3D course I rode yesterday to give me a bit of an aerobic workout and to try to keep up the training volume in the face of the dreadful weather, which looks set to continue. Averaged just over 200W for about 70 minutes so even though I've not been able to get out safely I've kept up a reasonable training volume in spite of the weather and I remain on track after 3 weeks of my Winter training plan.
Onward to Paris! Must admit I'm already starting to get excited about the Tour de France ride, I think I've managed to find the flights I need for the trip for Lorena and I so plan to book up very shortly.
ATL: 63.5 CTL: 68 TSB: 5.6
[Uploaded 20/12/2009 19:57:31]
Saturday, 5 September 2009
Saturday Training
Hi
VeloTron
Just a very short L4 session this morning which is what I tend to do the day before an event. My belief is that a session like this (10 mins @ 305W) has the effect of stimulating glycogen storage and supercompensation which should enhance endurance performance during the subsequent event.
The session went well, I guess I never feel quite as good as I hope I will but I reckon that's just life. We always think we should feel better, or less tired, or stronger, or lighter, or just something other than what we do feel!
The fact of the matter is that you never know exactly how you are going to feel until the event itself starts and in a 5.5-7 hour event such as this what matters is how you feel between 4 hours and the finish and you can't predict that from a short turbo session when the turbo isn't fitted with a crystal ball!
Just the trip over to Brampton now and a relaxing evening and then we'll see what the weather is like and how things look in the morning, onwards and upwards!
ATL: 66.3 CTL: 83.3 TSB: +14
[Uploaded 07/09/2009 20:58:46]
VeloTron
Just a very short L4 session this morning which is what I tend to do the day before an event. My belief is that a session like this (10 mins @ 305W) has the effect of stimulating glycogen storage and supercompensation which should enhance endurance performance during the subsequent event.
The session went well, I guess I never feel quite as good as I hope I will but I reckon that's just life. We always think we should feel better, or less tired, or stronger, or lighter, or just something other than what we do feel!
The fact of the matter is that you never know exactly how you are going to feel until the event itself starts and in a 5.5-7 hour event such as this what matters is how you feel between 4 hours and the finish and you can't predict that from a short turbo session when the turbo isn't fitted with a crystal ball!
Just the trip over to Brampton now and a relaxing evening and then we'll see what the weather is like and how things look in the morning, onwards and upwards!
ATL: 66.3 CTL: 83.3 TSB: +14
[Uploaded 07/09/2009 20:58:46]
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
Tuesday Training
Hi
VeloTron
Time for the long L4 session of the week which was, as always, unpleasant. Rode for 30 minutes @ 315W and didn't really feel up to going for any longer as I reckon I still had some fatigue in my legs from the weekend.
Still, a perfectly good training session, do more if you can and if you can't, stop :-)
[Uploaded 13/08/2009 14:07:45]
VeloTron
Time for the long L4 session of the week which was, as always, unpleasant. Rode for 30 minutes @ 315W and didn't really feel up to going for any longer as I reckon I still had some fatigue in my legs from the weekend.
Still, a perfectly good training session, do more if you can and if you can't, stop :-)
[Uploaded 13/08/2009 14:07:45]
Thursday, 6 August 2009
Thursday Training
Hi
VeloTron
Having done about 25 miles on the tandem earlier today I knew this was going to be a struggle and it was, so I cut the session short. I do not subscribe to the flogging a dead horse school of training and if I feel the quality of my efforts is going to fall off I'm happy to cut a session short as I believe that pushing on just for the sake of it is counter-productive and likely to cause illness or injury.
Anyhow, this was still a very worthwhile session and I got through 2 of my 10 minute efforts at 320W so that was fine. Time enough for more of these, the last thing I want to do is push myself over the edge and end up feeling completely clapped out.
[Uploaded 06/08/2009 20:48:32]
VeloTron
Having done about 25 miles on the tandem earlier today I knew this was going to be a struggle and it was, so I cut the session short. I do not subscribe to the flogging a dead horse school of training and if I feel the quality of my efforts is going to fall off I'm happy to cut a session short as I believe that pushing on just for the sake of it is counter-productive and likely to cause illness or injury.
Anyhow, this was still a very worthwhile session and I got through 2 of my 10 minute efforts at 320W so that was fine. Time enough for more of these, the last thing I want to do is push myself over the edge and end up feeling completely clapped out.
[Uploaded 06/08/2009 20:48:32]
Tuesday, 4 August 2009
Tuesday Training
Hi
VeloTron
Definitely not my favourite session of the week but I have to be honest and say that I think it may well be the most productive. Riding at what I believe to be just above threshold indoors on an ergotrainer is hard work.
Today I did seem to start to feel, in a very small way, more in control of things at about the 20-25 minute mark and in the end I rode at 315W for 35 minutes. Including the warmup the average power for the 45 minute session was 293W with a normalised power of 301W. The good thing was that I could have continued after the 35 minute mark but I didn't feel that this would have been of any great benefit and my intention is to try to extend things very slowly.
It's been indicated to me that threshold training up in the 40 minute time range is the most beneficial so that's where I'm aiming. I have to admit to having been a bit taken aback to hear that 20 minute threshold efforts are probably long enough to maintain fitness but will probably not significantly improve it once they have been done for a while. I do feel now that if I were to do the session I would probably find my previous 2x20@300W pretty comfortable, maybe I'll do it in a few weeks time just out of interest.
There is no doubt that this training session results in a HR profile which has my HR firmly in the L4 band for a much greater percentage of the time than was the case with my 2x20@300W session.
[Uploaded 04/08/2009 20:51:38]
VeloTron
Definitely not my favourite session of the week but I have to be honest and say that I think it may well be the most productive. Riding at what I believe to be just above threshold indoors on an ergotrainer is hard work.
Today I did seem to start to feel, in a very small way, more in control of things at about the 20-25 minute mark and in the end I rode at 315W for 35 minutes. Including the warmup the average power for the 45 minute session was 293W with a normalised power of 301W. The good thing was that I could have continued after the 35 minute mark but I didn't feel that this would have been of any great benefit and my intention is to try to extend things very slowly.
It's been indicated to me that threshold training up in the 40 minute time range is the most beneficial so that's where I'm aiming. I have to admit to having been a bit taken aback to hear that 20 minute threshold efforts are probably long enough to maintain fitness but will probably not significantly improve it once they have been done for a while. I do feel now that if I were to do the session I would probably find my previous 2x20@300W pretty comfortable, maybe I'll do it in a few weeks time just out of interest.
There is no doubt that this training session results in a HR profile which has my HR firmly in the L4 band for a much greater percentage of the time than was the case with my 2x20@300W session.
[Uploaded 04/08/2009 20:51:38]
Thursday, 30 July 2009
Thursday Training
Hi
VeloTron
Ah the joys of the 4x10@320W session which is designed to get me up shortish (1+ miles) hills quicker than has been the case, along with my reduced body weight, he says optimistically.
This is never a comfortable session but today did I dare to imagine that it didn't feel quite as bad as it has done previously. There is no doubt that this was the case, the only question is why, could be so many things.
I think you can only be sure that something is becoming a bit more tolerable when it has felt "ok" for at least 3 sessions, there are many false dawns which are the result of something simple like better nutrition, hydration, sleep, etc.
[Uploaded 01/08/2009 18:55:09]
VeloTron
Ah the joys of the 4x10@320W session which is designed to get me up shortish (1+ miles) hills quicker than has been the case, along with my reduced body weight, he says optimistically.
This is never a comfortable session but today did I dare to imagine that it didn't feel quite as bad as it has done previously. There is no doubt that this was the case, the only question is why, could be so many things.
I think you can only be sure that something is becoming a bit more tolerable when it has felt "ok" for at least 3 sessions, there are many false dawns which are the result of something simple like better nutrition, hydration, sleep, etc.
[Uploaded 01/08/2009 18:55:09]
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
Tuesday Training
Hi
VeloTron
Continuing with my long L4 effort, this one done again @ 315W for 30+ minutes, felt hard but managed it. Hoping this will be preparing me well for longer climbs in the future.
[Uploaded 01/08/2009 18:38:40]
VeloTron
Continuing with my long L4 effort, this one done again @ 315W for 30+ minutes, felt hard but managed it. Hoping this will be preparing me well for longer climbs in the future.
[Uploaded 01/08/2009 18:38:40]
Thursday, 23 July 2009
Thursday Training
VeloTron
Hard work today, I find generating a TSS of 100+ on the turbo hard graft but that's what this session does. This was back to the training session I introduced last week where I started some 10 minute efforts on the boundary between L4 and L5, doing them at 320W, I'm calling it Sour Spot training :-)
As last week this was very hard work but I felt not quite as bad as last week. This was supported by my HR data which was slightly lower than for the same session last week. As we all know this could be for all sorts of reasons but it didn't feel quite so bad which is what matters.
So I think I'm pretty settled for a few weeks with 2 core threshold sessions per week, this one and my Tuesday session doing the critical time work. I'll give all this a little time to see if it yields anything and if not I'll think again!
HR distribution from today's session:
HR distribution from identical session last week:
[Uploaded 24/07/2009 08:16:47]
Hard work today, I find generating a TSS of 100+ on the turbo hard graft but that's what this session does. This was back to the training session I introduced last week where I started some 10 minute efforts on the boundary between L4 and L5, doing them at 320W, I'm calling it Sour Spot training :-)
As last week this was very hard work but I felt not quite as bad as last week. This was supported by my HR data which was slightly lower than for the same session last week. As we all know this could be for all sorts of reasons but it didn't feel quite so bad which is what matters.
So I think I'm pretty settled for a few weeks with 2 core threshold sessions per week, this one and my Tuesday session doing the critical time work. I'll give all this a little time to see if it yields anything and if not I'll think again!
HR distribution from today's session:
HR distribution from identical session last week:
[Uploaded 24/07/2009 08:16:47]
Tuesday, 21 July 2009
Tuesday Training
Hi
VeloTron
Today's session was the next in my series of revised L4 training which I'm calling a critical time session. The session is really straightforward and really unpleasant, it involves just riding continuously at a wattage which is at or slightly above threshold wattage and stopping when it really starts to get too much or when my HR enters and remains in VO2 max territory. I reckon this is harder to do indoors so the wattage is a touch lower than might be achieved outdoors. I think the main reason for this is the huge heat buildup when working really hard without any recovery periods indoors in spite of a fan etc.
Legs were somewhat fatigued before I started this session but I rode for 31 minutes @ 315W which I was very happy with. The plan is when I do this session (once per week) I'll always at least try to improve on my previous time at that wattage. The hope is that I'll slowly be able to go for longer and I can then increase the load a bit and start the process again. I reckon if after say 6 weeks of this I'm still riding for the same duration I must be at about my physiological FTP limit.
I'm hoping that I might be able to reach an FTP of about 325W by next Spring which if I weighed 77kg would see me @ 4.22W/kg @ threshold. This would be a huge improvement since Spring 2009, time will tell, but I'm going to give it a go.
[Uploaded 21/07/2009 21:18:36]
VeloTron
Today's session was the next in my series of revised L4 training which I'm calling a critical time session. The session is really straightforward and really unpleasant, it involves just riding continuously at a wattage which is at or slightly above threshold wattage and stopping when it really starts to get too much or when my HR enters and remains in VO2 max territory. I reckon this is harder to do indoors so the wattage is a touch lower than might be achieved outdoors. I think the main reason for this is the huge heat buildup when working really hard without any recovery periods indoors in spite of a fan etc.
Legs were somewhat fatigued before I started this session but I rode for 31 minutes @ 315W which I was very happy with. The plan is when I do this session (once per week) I'll always at least try to improve on my previous time at that wattage. The hope is that I'll slowly be able to go for longer and I can then increase the load a bit and start the process again. I reckon if after say 6 weeks of this I'm still riding for the same duration I must be at about my physiological FTP limit.
I'm hoping that I might be able to reach an FTP of about 325W by next Spring which if I weighed 77kg would see me @ 4.22W/kg @ threshold. This would be a huge improvement since Spring 2009, time will tell, but I'm going to give it a go.
[Uploaded 21/07/2009 21:18:36]
Saturday, 18 July 2009
Saturday Training
Hi
VeloTron
Ouch! As part of my plan to continue to try to elevate my threshold power as well as lose weight in my 4.0W/kg @ threshold quest I'm reintroducing a session where I ride just above my last tested threshold for an extended (30+ mins) period.
For me at present the wattage I need to ride at is about 315W so I set up a .erg file and got going. For this session (first of these for a while) I had decided to ride for 30 minutes and then stop and that's what I did and it was far from comfortable.
I'm hoping that a combination of doing this session and my 4x10 @ 320W session regularly will further improve my FTP, time will tell but I'm going to give it a chance over the next few months and see where I get to.
This session did however give my my best 30 minute power at 315W for a very long time, it sure was uncomfortable though! NP for the 40 minute session which included my warmup was 299W.
[Uploaded 19/07/2009 21:06:42]
VeloTron
Ouch! As part of my plan to continue to try to elevate my threshold power as well as lose weight in my 4.0W/kg @ threshold quest I'm reintroducing a session where I ride just above my last tested threshold for an extended (30+ mins) period.
For me at present the wattage I need to ride at is about 315W so I set up a .erg file and got going. For this session (first of these for a while) I had decided to ride for 30 minutes and then stop and that's what I did and it was far from comfortable.
I'm hoping that a combination of doing this session and my 4x10 @ 320W session regularly will further improve my FTP, time will tell but I'm going to give it a chance over the next few months and see where I get to.
This session did however give my my best 30 minute power at 315W for a very long time, it sure was uncomfortable though! NP for the 40 minute session which included my warmup was 299W.
[Uploaded 19/07/2009 21:06:42]
Thursday, 16 July 2009
Thursday Training
Hi
VeloTron
I still intend to try to raise my FTP a little if I can and I'm going to try doing some shorter intervals (10 minutes) at a wattage somewhat above my last tested threshold to try and "pull" things up a little. I believe that this will also have a +ve impact on my VO2 Max which should show eventually in an improved MAP test result. I'm hoping this, coupled with weight loss, will help me climb shorter (1-2 mile) climbs a little better than I presently do.
What I did for this session was 4x10 minute intervals at 320W (with 5 minute recoveries) which I know to be about 10W above my threshold. I wasn't expecting to enjoy the session which was fortunate, because I didn't. I didn't know whether I would get to the end of the session, but I did :-)
In summary I ended up working for a total of 40 minutes at a level at least 20W higher than I would normally do my L4 work and in overall terms my 60 minute average wattage during this session was 276W, that's a hard 60 minutes for me, especially when 40 minutes of it is at 320W.
My plan is to try to do this session once per week as well as my other work and replace an existing SST session with it. The longer term plan is to continue in the medium and longer term with this type of work and see where it takes me.
This 75 minute session yielded the following:
TSS: 101.5
IF: 0.901
NP: 282W
[Uploaded 16/07/2009 19:18:09]
VeloTron
I still intend to try to raise my FTP a little if I can and I'm going to try doing some shorter intervals (10 minutes) at a wattage somewhat above my last tested threshold to try and "pull" things up a little. I believe that this will also have a +ve impact on my VO2 Max which should show eventually in an improved MAP test result. I'm hoping this, coupled with weight loss, will help me climb shorter (1-2 mile) climbs a little better than I presently do.
What I did for this session was 4x10 minute intervals at 320W (with 5 minute recoveries) which I know to be about 10W above my threshold. I wasn't expecting to enjoy the session which was fortunate, because I didn't. I didn't know whether I would get to the end of the session, but I did :-)
In summary I ended up working for a total of 40 minutes at a level at least 20W higher than I would normally do my L4 work and in overall terms my 60 minute average wattage during this session was 276W, that's a hard 60 minutes for me, especially when 40 minutes of it is at 320W.
My plan is to try to do this session once per week as well as my other work and replace an existing SST session with it. The longer term plan is to continue in the medium and longer term with this type of work and see where it takes me.
This 75 minute session yielded the following:
TSS: 101.5
IF: 0.901
NP: 282W
[Uploaded 16/07/2009 19:18:09]
Wednesday, 15 July 2009
Wednesday Training
Hi
VeloTron
Just a steady L3 session today @ 255W which felt surprisingly comfortable and passed without problems. Going to be starting a different session tomorrow which I'm not looking forward to too much.
I'm planning to start doing some 10 minute L4/L5 boundary efforts which I think will be very challenging but I'm hoping they will fill what I feel is a bit of a gap in my training. Planning to try doing 4 of them with 10 minute efforts but am not sure if I'll make it, we shall see.
If it goes Ok that would give me 40 minutes of training at upper L4 which would I am sure have a +ve impact on performance. My weight continues to fall very slowly, it's a long hard job.
[Uploaded 16/07/2009 10:01:47]
VeloTron
Just a steady L3 session today @ 255W which felt surprisingly comfortable and passed without problems. Going to be starting a different session tomorrow which I'm not looking forward to too much.
I'm planning to start doing some 10 minute L4/L5 boundary efforts which I think will be very challenging but I'm hoping they will fill what I feel is a bit of a gap in my training. Planning to try doing 4 of them with 10 minute efforts but am not sure if I'll make it, we shall see.
If it goes Ok that would give me 40 minutes of training at upper L4 which would I am sure have a +ve impact on performance. My weight continues to fall very slowly, it's a long hard job.
[Uploaded 16/07/2009 10:01:47]
Wednesday, 17 June 2009
Wednesday Training
VeloTron
Reintroduced some L4 work today to maintain this all important level of training. I was quite surprised how I felt, better than expected. Anyway, completed the efforts @ 300W without undue problems so was quite encouraged. Mind you, I guess that means I've got to keep doing them now ;-)
[Uploaded 18/06/2009 21:03:04]
Reintroduced some L4 work today to maintain this all important level of training. I was quite surprised how I felt, better than expected. Anyway, completed the efforts @ 300W without undue problems so was quite encouraged. Mind you, I guess that means I've got to keep doing them now ;-)
[Uploaded 18/06/2009 21:03:04]
Tuesday, 5 May 2009
Tuesday Training
VeloTron
The last training session is done and I'm glad I did what I did. I find that more than a couple of days of no training and I feel that my entire system is starting to go to sleep and this short L4 session was just what was required to wake things up and hopefully leave me ready to roll on Thursday morning.
Tomorrow will be pretty much taken up with travelling and I arrive into Ireland early so will have some time to kill before we get collected and taken to the start of the tour route in Lisburn.
I guess the only downside to things (apart from the weather which looks as if it will be "interesting") is that my CTL will be lower than it might have been after my enforced lay-off at the end of March but that can't be changed so there's no point in dwelling on it, could have been far, far worse.
Felt good on the VeloTron today even though it was just a short session and I've now got about 36 hours of recovery time which will see my TSB rise to 9.9 on Thursday morning. If the data in Andy Coggan's graph below is anything to go by that should be just about right, rest assured I'll be letting you know!
[Uploaded 05/05/2009 16:06:35]
The last training session is done and I'm glad I did what I did. I find that more than a couple of days of no training and I feel that my entire system is starting to go to sleep and this short L4 session was just what was required to wake things up and hopefully leave me ready to roll on Thursday morning.
Tomorrow will be pretty much taken up with travelling and I arrive into Ireland early so will have some time to kill before we get collected and taken to the start of the tour route in Lisburn.
I guess the only downside to things (apart from the weather which looks as if it will be "interesting") is that my CTL will be lower than it might have been after my enforced lay-off at the end of March but that can't be changed so there's no point in dwelling on it, could have been far, far worse.
Felt good on the VeloTron today even though it was just a short session and I've now got about 36 hours of recovery time which will see my TSB rise to 9.9 on Thursday morning. If the data in Andy Coggan's graph below is anything to go by that should be just about right, rest assured I'll be letting you know!
[Uploaded 05/05/2009 16:06:35]
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
Tuesday Training
VeloTron
Good L4 session doing 2x20 @ 305W which went well, still feeling good and feel that I am on top of my training. Starting to look forward to Ireland now, just hoping for some good weather.
[Uploaded 30/04/2009 07:17:37]
Good L4 session doing 2x20 @ 305W which went well, still feeling good and feel that I am on top of my training. Starting to look forward to Ireland now, just hoping for some good weather.
[Uploaded 30/04/2009 07:17:37]
Tuesday, 21 April 2009
Tuesday Training
Hi
VeloTron
Ah well, having taken the decision not to make the 80+ mile round trip to the TLI race the forecast rain didn't arrive. I decided instead to plough on with my threshold work and to raise the bar slightly based on how my last couple of L4 sessions had gone, I ended up doing a session I was pleased with and which I am sure was productive.
Opted for 2x20 @ 305W and would probably have been Ok @ 310W. The session was as always uncomfortable but perfectly manageable. I feel that as things are going at the moment I'm doing something right. Last week was a very solid week for me covering 225 miles with a TSS of 756 but I seem to have recovered well from it which is encouraging.
Some while since I did this session and my HR data were good and slightly better than the last identical session, which was done the week before the FTP test where I tested at 313W. On this basis I believe my current FTP to be at or slightly above that level.
The most encouraging thing at the moment is how well I seem now to be recovering and that I seem to have shaken off that leaden legs feeling. I'm hoping that I've got my CTL build plan about right and that the Tour of Ireland will round that off nicely. Shame my CTL took a dive when I had that episode but it now seems to be in "controlled ascent" ;-)
[Uploaded 21/04/2009 19:01:38]
VeloTron
Ah well, having taken the decision not to make the 80+ mile round trip to the TLI race the forecast rain didn't arrive. I decided instead to plough on with my threshold work and to raise the bar slightly based on how my last couple of L4 sessions had gone, I ended up doing a session I was pleased with and which I am sure was productive.
Opted for 2x20 @ 305W and would probably have been Ok @ 310W. The session was as always uncomfortable but perfectly manageable. I feel that as things are going at the moment I'm doing something right. Last week was a very solid week for me covering 225 miles with a TSS of 756 but I seem to have recovered well from it which is encouraging.
Some while since I did this session and my HR data were good and slightly better than the last identical session, which was done the week before the FTP test where I tested at 313W. On this basis I believe my current FTP to be at or slightly above that level.
The most encouraging thing at the moment is how well I seem now to be recovering and that I seem to have shaken off that leaden legs feeling. I'm hoping that I've got my CTL build plan about right and that the Tour of Ireland will round that off nicely. Shame my CTL took a dive when I had that episode but it now seems to be in "controlled ascent" ;-)
[Uploaded 21/04/2009 19:01:38]
Thursday, 16 April 2009
Thursday Training
Hi
VeloTron
Back to L4 20 minute efforts and back up to 300W, the first time I've done this session for a little while, it went well :-) Never easy of course but my HR was back at the sort of "pre-problem" levels as was the RPE and I could definitely have continued.
Particularly pleased that once again my HR levels were virtually identical for both efforts (data below) suggesting to me that the degree of physiological strain was very similar for both efforts rather than the situation where effort 2 is clearly more of a CV challenge. I think 305W is looming for these sessions.
So, I think at any rate that I've pretty much regained lost ground and my CTL is slowly but surely starting to climb again. I now have a little under 3 weeks until I set off for the Tour of Ireland (riding starts 3 weeks from today) so I'm hoping to gain about 6 or 7 CTL points before I set off as I still have 3 weekends to go. If this goes according to plan I should be starting the tour with a CTL of 85-90 which should be fine and I'm sure after over 500 miles in 5 days it will be well over 100, it may be the highest I've ever had, a brave new world!
Keep plugging away...
[Uploaded 17/04/2009 00:36:57]
VeloTron
Back to L4 20 minute efforts and back up to 300W, the first time I've done this session for a little while, it went well :-) Never easy of course but my HR was back at the sort of "pre-problem" levels as was the RPE and I could definitely have continued.
Particularly pleased that once again my HR levels were virtually identical for both efforts (data below) suggesting to me that the degree of physiological strain was very similar for both efforts rather than the situation where effort 2 is clearly more of a CV challenge. I think 305W is looming for these sessions.
So, I think at any rate that I've pretty much regained lost ground and my CTL is slowly but surely starting to climb again. I now have a little under 3 weeks until I set off for the Tour of Ireland (riding starts 3 weeks from today) so I'm hoping to gain about 6 or 7 CTL points before I set off as I still have 3 weekends to go. If this goes according to plan I should be starting the tour with a CTL of 85-90 which should be fine and I'm sure after over 500 miles in 5 days it will be well over 100, it may be the highest I've ever had, a brave new world!
Keep plugging away...
[Uploaded 17/04/2009 00:36:57]
Thursday, 9 April 2009
Thursday Training
Hi
VeloTron
Ok, here we go, time to find out what's really going on. I reckon you don't really know where you stand in terms of fitness when coming back from a problem period until you start trying to ride at threshold intensity, so that's what I've been doing today.
Nothing too drastic, just a couple of 15 minute efforts to start with but back at 300W where I left off with my L4 work. This is never comfortable but I was happy with how the session went. I held the load perfectly well and at no point did my HR get up into L5 territory so I was very happy with the outcome. HR somewhat higher in the 2nd effort than the first so I'll be looking for that to start coming down as I continue with the L4 work now that I have re-introduced both it and the SST work.
So, the plan is to move back up to the L4 2x20s in the next little while and to continue recovering my aerobic conditioning with my L3 and SST work. The Tour of Ireland should give me a nice CTL bump before doing some structured L5 work though I'm planning to mix in a little L5 before the ToI.
[Uploaded 09/04/2009 18:57:20]
VeloTron
Ok, here we go, time to find out what's really going on. I reckon you don't really know where you stand in terms of fitness when coming back from a problem period until you start trying to ride at threshold intensity, so that's what I've been doing today.
Nothing too drastic, just a couple of 15 minute efforts to start with but back at 300W where I left off with my L4 work. This is never comfortable but I was happy with how the session went. I held the load perfectly well and at no point did my HR get up into L5 territory so I was very happy with the outcome. HR somewhat higher in the 2nd effort than the first so I'll be looking for that to start coming down as I continue with the L4 work now that I have re-introduced both it and the SST work.
So, the plan is to move back up to the L4 2x20s in the next little while and to continue recovering my aerobic conditioning with my L3 and SST work. The Tour of Ireland should give me a nice CTL bump before doing some structured L5 work though I'm planning to mix in a little L5 before the ToI.
[Uploaded 09/04/2009 18:57:20]
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