Hi
VeloTron
Time for one of the regular higher intensity sessions included in the winter plan. Today I had scheduled a mini interval session made up of 15 30 second efforts at 128% of FTP split into a block of 5 and then a block of 10. I had 5 minutes recovery between blocks and 30 second recoveries between individual efforts.
These sessions are never easy particularly as they begin with about 45 minutes at around 200W to take away the initial freshness. However, once I got into the meat of the session I felt I coped very nicely with the efforts and could definitely have continued. I'm pretty confident now that I could complete a session like this made up of 2 blocks of 10 and there is a .erg file for this purpose in the library, I'll have to dust it off :-)
So, all very satisfactory. I took another baseline blood lactate measurement at the end of the last of the efforts and the reading today was 4.9 mmol/l which I had expected to be higher and which was again very encouraging. I suspect that the training I've been doing has certainly improved my lactate clearance capability as at one time after a session like this the reading would have been well over 6mmol/l.
After today the rest of this week is not too taxing and I'm feeling good, certainly less tired than at the same time last year, not digging a deep TSB hole for myself at this time of year seems to be working well for me.
Onward to Paris.
To review this session: click here.
ATL: 60.2 CTL: 64 TSB: 4.6
[Uploaded 19/01/2010 15:19:39]
Showing posts with label Turbo Level 6. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Turbo Level 6. Show all posts
Tuesday, 19 January 2010
Thursday, 24 December 2009
Thursday Training
Hi
VeloTron
Not a session I generally look forward to too much but they've got to be done! Determined to maintain some higher intensity training over the Winter to avoid a nasty shock in the Spring and today's plan included 10 30 second efforts at 128% of FTP, they always sting the legs a bit, especially the last few!
Anyway, the session went fine and it's another one in the bank :-)
ATL: 58 CTL: 66.3 TSB: +8.9
VeloTron
Not a session I generally look forward to too much but they've got to be done! Determined to maintain some higher intensity training over the Winter to avoid a nasty shock in the Spring and today's plan included 10 30 second efforts at 128% of FTP, they always sting the legs a bit, especially the last few!
Anyway, the session went fine and it's another one in the bank :-)
ATL: 58 CTL: 66.3 TSB: +8.9
Monday, 9 November 2009
Monday Training
VeloTron
In spite of my falling training volume I am trying to keep some higher intensity work going and this is certainly high intensity work! Was happy with the way the session went which was good, not experiencing any problems completing these 15 30 second efforts at around 400W so that's encouraging.
ATL: 53.3 CTL: 74.2 TSB: 22.8
[Uploaded 15/11/2009 17:31:33]
In spite of my falling training volume I am trying to keep some higher intensity work going and this is certainly high intensity work! Was happy with the way the session went which was good, not experiencing any problems completing these 15 30 second efforts at around 400W so that's encouraging.
ATL: 53.3 CTL: 74.2 TSB: 22.8
[Uploaded 15/11/2009 17:31:33]
Tuesday, 27 October 2009
Tuesday Training
Hi
VeloTron
The second HIT/L6 session of the week and as always this was no picnic!
When I started I did have thoughts in my mind that I'd possibly not finish the session but as time went on things seemed to be going Ok and with a bit of determination the end of the efforts came.
My gut feeling is that if my legs were fresh I'd now be able to get through a 2x10 session of these efforts which is my objective but I'll give it another week or so and let the HOP workout bed in as I don't want to be increasing things on several fronts as once.
Pleased that our little group has expanded with 2 new members but at the same time I'm concerned that our scheduled meetings are very infrequent and probably insufficient to really get the group to build up a head of steam. Such is life, we can do what we can do, I'll keep bashing on, just got to keep working away through the Winter, difficult time of year.
ATL: 74.8 CTL: 82.3 TSB: +7
VeloTron
The second HIT/L6 session of the week and as always this was no picnic!
When I started I did have thoughts in my mind that I'd possibly not finish the session but as time went on things seemed to be going Ok and with a bit of determination the end of the efforts came.
My gut feeling is that if my legs were fresh I'd now be able to get through a 2x10 session of these efforts which is my objective but I'll give it another week or so and let the HOP workout bed in as I don't want to be increasing things on several fronts as once.
Pleased that our little group has expanded with 2 new members but at the same time I'm concerned that our scheduled meetings are very infrequent and probably insufficient to really get the group to build up a head of steam. Such is life, we can do what we can do, I'll keep bashing on, just got to keep working away through the Winter, difficult time of year.
ATL: 74.8 CTL: 82.3 TSB: +7
Monday, 26 October 2009
Monday Training
Hi
VeloTron
The first L6 session of the week rolls around again. Wasn't looking forward to this too much after yesterday's Hour of Power and with good reason as it turned out, this was hard work.
After the introductory 5x30 second efforts I'd started to have serious doubts about whether I'd get to the end. However, once I'd got half way through the 10x30 second efforts I'd rallied a bit and I got through to the finish line Ok.
This was a tough session which I guess is why they are supposed to be effective, hopefully come the Spring it will all have been worthwhile. This Winter is going to have a very strong high intensity rather than endurance focus, it's not going to be fun, I hope it's going to be effective.
I'm expecting my CTL to fall somewhat over the Winter and with that I'll be training with a generally +ve TSB which should allow me to keep doing this higher intensity work without significant problems. I'll not be doing anything hard if my TSB goes much below about -10, that's the plan anyway.
To review this session click here.
ATL: 75.7 CTL: 82.6 TSB: +6.3
[Uploaded 27/10/2009 12:31:48]
VeloTron
The first L6 session of the week rolls around again. Wasn't looking forward to this too much after yesterday's Hour of Power and with good reason as it turned out, this was hard work.
After the introductory 5x30 second efforts I'd started to have serious doubts about whether I'd get to the end. However, once I'd got half way through the 10x30 second efforts I'd rallied a bit and I got through to the finish line Ok.
This was a tough session which I guess is why they are supposed to be effective, hopefully come the Spring it will all have been worthwhile. This Winter is going to have a very strong high intensity rather than endurance focus, it's not going to be fun, I hope it's going to be effective.
I'm expecting my CTL to fall somewhat over the Winter and with that I'll be training with a generally +ve TSB which should allow me to keep doing this higher intensity work without significant problems. I'll not be doing anything hard if my TSB goes much below about -10, that's the plan anyway.
To review this session click here.
ATL: 75.7 CTL: 82.6 TSB: +6.3
[Uploaded 27/10/2009 12:31:48]
Tuesday, 13 October 2009
Tuesday Training
Hi
VeloTron
Day two of this week's L6 block today. Added an extra effort to the first block which took it up to 3, so 3 30 second efforts followed by a five minute recovery, followed by the 10 30 second efforts block.
During the earlier part of this session I had mentally convinced myself that my chance of getting to the end was low. my legs felt tired and for a while I felt as if I was working my way through treacle. However, I pushed on and after about 25 minutes things started to feel a whole lot easier and I really started to look forward to the efforts starting. All a bit worrying really! ;-)
Anyway, the efforts came and went and I got through them certainly as well as I have ever done, particularly as I am now doing more than double the number of efforts I started off with 4 weeks ago. There is no doubt at all that I could have continued and done at least several more efforts but always better to quit whilst you are ahead and end on a positive note, rather than grind to a halt.
I'm not sure why the session went as well as it did but I'm not complaining. I guess I'm making some progress and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens when testing time arrives. I'll be happy with a modest MAP gain and then I can start working again on my FTP to take advantage of the little bit of "headroom" I'm hoping I will have developed.
Easy day tomorrow and hopefully my increased sleep will be helping my recovery from these sessions, feels good so far, long may it continue.
To review this workout click here.
ATL: 80.4 CTL: 85.6 TSB: +3.7
[Uploaded 14/10/2009 21:23:00]
VeloTron
Day two of this week's L6 block today. Added an extra effort to the first block which took it up to 3, so 3 30 second efforts followed by a five minute recovery, followed by the 10 30 second efforts block.
During the earlier part of this session I had mentally convinced myself that my chance of getting to the end was low. my legs felt tired and for a while I felt as if I was working my way through treacle. However, I pushed on and after about 25 minutes things started to feel a whole lot easier and I really started to look forward to the efforts starting. All a bit worrying really! ;-)
Anyway, the efforts came and went and I got through them certainly as well as I have ever done, particularly as I am now doing more than double the number of efforts I started off with 4 weeks ago. There is no doubt at all that I could have continued and done at least several more efforts but always better to quit whilst you are ahead and end on a positive note, rather than grind to a halt.
I'm not sure why the session went as well as it did but I'm not complaining. I guess I'm making some progress and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens when testing time arrives. I'll be happy with a modest MAP gain and then I can start working again on my FTP to take advantage of the little bit of "headroom" I'm hoping I will have developed.
Easy day tomorrow and hopefully my increased sleep will be helping my recovery from these sessions, feels good so far, long may it continue.
To review this workout click here.
ATL: 80.4 CTL: 85.6 TSB: +3.7
[Uploaded 14/10/2009 21:23:00]
Tuesday Training
Hi
VeloTron
Day two of this week's L6 block today. Added an extra effort to the first block which took it up to 3, so 3 30 second efforts followed by a five minute recovery, followed by the 10 30 second efforts block.
During the earlier part of this session I had mentally convinced myself that my chance of getting to the end was low. my legs felt tired and for a while I felt as if I was working my way through treacle. However, I pushed on and after about 25 minutes things started to feel a whole lot easier and I really started to look forward to the efforts starting. All a bit worrying really! ;-)
Anyway, the efforts came and went and I got through them certainly as well as I have ever done, particularly as I am now doing more than double the number of efforts I started off with 4 weeks ago. There is no doubt at all that I could have continued and done at least several more efforts but always better to quit whilst you are ahead and end on a positive note, rather than grind to a halt.
I'm not sure why the session went as well as it did but I'm not complaining. I guess I'm making some progress and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens when testing time arrives. I'll be happy with a modest MAP gain and then I can start working again on my FTP to take advantage of the little bit of "headroom" I'm hoping I will have developed.
Easy day tomorrow and hopefully my increased sleep will be helping my recovery from these sessions, feels good so far, long may it continue.
ATL: 80.4 CTL: 85.6 TSB: +3.7
[Uploaded 14/10/2009 21:23:00]
VeloTron
Day two of this week's L6 block today. Added an extra effort to the first block which took it up to 3, so 3 30 second efforts followed by a five minute recovery, followed by the 10 30 second efforts block.
During the earlier part of this session I had mentally convinced myself that my chance of getting to the end was low. my legs felt tired and for a while I felt as if I was working my way through treacle. However, I pushed on and after about 25 minutes things started to feel a whole lot easier and I really started to look forward to the efforts starting. All a bit worrying really! ;-)
Anyway, the efforts came and went and I got through them certainly as well as I have ever done, particularly as I am now doing more than double the number of efforts I started off with 4 weeks ago. There is no doubt at all that I could have continued and done at least several more efforts but always better to quit whilst you are ahead and end on a positive note, rather than grind to a halt.
I'm not sure why the session went as well as it did but I'm not complaining. I guess I'm making some progress and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens when testing time arrives. I'll be happy with a modest MAP gain and then I can start working again on my FTP to take advantage of the little bit of "headroom" I'm hoping I will have developed.
Easy day tomorrow and hopefully my increased sleep will be helping my recovery from these sessions, feels good so far, long may it continue.
ATL: 80.4 CTL: 85.6 TSB: +3.7
[Uploaded 14/10/2009 21:23:00]
Monday, 12 October 2009
Monday Training
Hi
VeloTron
Yes, it's that day again which means it's time to begin week 4 of my HIT programme. The plan today was to add another pair of 30 second L6 efforts in front of the existing set of 10 efforts as a start to building towards 2x10 30 second efforts over the forthcoming weeks.
Set up the session as usual using ERG+ and away I went. Found this pretty tough but got to the end Ok, the 2 veloTron sessions over the weekend certainly hadn't left my legs feeling fresh and the 2 minutes @ 100% just before the first pair of efforts all added to the entertainment.
Anyway, it's done and I'm getting to the point now where I believe if this training is making a difference it should be making a measurable difference, to my MAP at least. Another couple of weeks including this week will have seen me doing these sessions for 5 weeks which will be 10 HIT sessions over 5 blocks. According to the literature this should be enough of these sessions to induce a measurable adaptation, the MAP test will reveal all!
To review this workout click here.
More L6 tomorrow, could get messy!
ATL: 82.3 CTL: 86.1 TSB: +1.9
[Uploaded 14/10/2009 08:18:06]
VeloTron
Yes, it's that day again which means it's time to begin week 4 of my HIT programme. The plan today was to add another pair of 30 second L6 efforts in front of the existing set of 10 efforts as a start to building towards 2x10 30 second efforts over the forthcoming weeks.
Set up the session as usual using ERG+ and away I went. Found this pretty tough but got to the end Ok, the 2 veloTron sessions over the weekend certainly hadn't left my legs feeling fresh and the 2 minutes @ 100% just before the first pair of efforts all added to the entertainment.
Anyway, it's done and I'm getting to the point now where I believe if this training is making a difference it should be making a measurable difference, to my MAP at least. Another couple of weeks including this week will have seen me doing these sessions for 5 weeks which will be 10 HIT sessions over 5 blocks. According to the literature this should be enough of these sessions to induce a measurable adaptation, the MAP test will reveal all!
To review this workout click here.
More L6 tomorrow, could get messy!
ATL: 82.3 CTL: 86.1 TSB: +1.9
[Uploaded 14/10/2009 08:18:06]
Tuesday, 6 October 2009
Tuesday Training
Hi
VeloTron
The second of my 2 day block of L6 training, repeating yesterday's session. No major breakthroughs but no major setbacks, just good solid training and the more I read the more I think I'm on the right track with this.
Now that I have completed the set of 10 two days in a row I feel ready to introduce my second set which at first will just have 2 efforts in it with a 5 minute recovery before the set of 10. I don't plan to do more that 10 minutes in total in L6 in any one session and even that is a pretty intense dose. By way of comparison I was out on the road in the hills on Sunday for a bit under 4 hours and the total L6 component of that ride was 16 minutes so 10 minutes in a one hour session is more than enough!
The above example is I reckon another good example of what an efficient training tool the indoor trainer is, if used in this way, soon be doing half the volume of L6 training in one hour as in just under 4 hours on the road on a hilly ride.
I'll get this week over with and then at least another 2 weeks and then I think it will be time for some testing. My guess is that I may have stimulated a small MAP increase by then but my FTP will probably have either fallen slightly or remained the same, but my power to weight ration is definitely up! :-)
Recovery spin tomorrow. If you would like to review today's data click here.
ATL: 87.1 CTL: 83.2 TSB: +1.9
[Uploaded 06/10/2009 22:38:42]
VeloTron
The second of my 2 day block of L6 training, repeating yesterday's session. No major breakthroughs but no major setbacks, just good solid training and the more I read the more I think I'm on the right track with this.
Now that I have completed the set of 10 two days in a row I feel ready to introduce my second set which at first will just have 2 efforts in it with a 5 minute recovery before the set of 10. I don't plan to do more that 10 minutes in total in L6 in any one session and even that is a pretty intense dose. By way of comparison I was out on the road in the hills on Sunday for a bit under 4 hours and the total L6 component of that ride was 16 minutes so 10 minutes in a one hour session is more than enough!
The above example is I reckon another good example of what an efficient training tool the indoor trainer is, if used in this way, soon be doing half the volume of L6 training in one hour as in just under 4 hours on the road on a hilly ride.
I'll get this week over with and then at least another 2 weeks and then I think it will be time for some testing. My guess is that I may have stimulated a small MAP increase by then but my FTP will probably have either fallen slightly or remained the same, but my power to weight ration is definitely up! :-)
Recovery spin tomorrow. If you would like to review today's data click here.
ATL: 87.1 CTL: 83.2 TSB: +1.9
[Uploaded 06/10/2009 22:38:42]
Monday, 5 October 2009
Monday Training
Hi
VeloTron
Here we go again, it's Monday so it's into week 3 of my micro-intervals training scheme. Approached this session with some trepidation for two reasons. The first is that yesterday's ride was very hilly and may have left me a bit fatigued, the second is that today my plan was to complete a set of 10 by doing 10 repetitions of the 30 second 128% effort. Only way to find out was to give it a go!
Very pleasantly surprised, I think I may be getting somewhere. The efforts of course felt hard, they always do, but towards the end I wasn't hanging on for grim death and could have continued. The other important thought is that it's only 2 weeks ago that I started these and I started by doing 5 repetitions. I didn't feel any worse at the end of ten than I did at the end of five.
The plan is to repeat this again tomorrow with a recovery ride on Wednesday. Next week I'll introduce a second set of repetitions starting with just 2 efforts in the first set and ten in the second with a five minute recovery between sets. When I'm up to doing 2x10 in a session that will be 10 minutes of L6 work and I'll then slowly start to increase the %FTP I'm working at over the forthcoming months. For the rest of the week I'll continue to develop and maintain my aerobic capacity as without that the whole thing comes tumbling down.
My CTL is slowly dropping but that's fine as it isn't my priority at this time of year, that will rise in the Spring ready for my 3 weeks in July :-)
ATL: 85.9 CTL: 87.8 TSB: -0.9
[Uploaded 06/10/2009 11:50:22]
VeloTron
Here we go again, it's Monday so it's into week 3 of my micro-intervals training scheme. Approached this session with some trepidation for two reasons. The first is that yesterday's ride was very hilly and may have left me a bit fatigued, the second is that today my plan was to complete a set of 10 by doing 10 repetitions of the 30 second 128% effort. Only way to find out was to give it a go!
Very pleasantly surprised, I think I may be getting somewhere. The efforts of course felt hard, they always do, but towards the end I wasn't hanging on for grim death and could have continued. The other important thought is that it's only 2 weeks ago that I started these and I started by doing 5 repetitions. I didn't feel any worse at the end of ten than I did at the end of five.
The plan is to repeat this again tomorrow with a recovery ride on Wednesday. Next week I'll introduce a second set of repetitions starting with just 2 efforts in the first set and ten in the second with a five minute recovery between sets. When I'm up to doing 2x10 in a session that will be 10 minutes of L6 work and I'll then slowly start to increase the %FTP I'm working at over the forthcoming months. For the rest of the week I'll continue to develop and maintain my aerobic capacity as without that the whole thing comes tumbling down.
My CTL is slowly dropping but that's fine as it isn't my priority at this time of year, that will rise in the Spring ready for my 3 weeks in July :-)
ATL: 85.9 CTL: 87.8 TSB: -0.9
[Uploaded 06/10/2009 11:50:22]
Tuesday, 29 September 2009
Tuesday Training
Hi
VeloTron
The second and last of the week's HIT training sessions, as yesterday I did 8x30 second efforts @ 400W and also as yesterday it wasn't very comfortable! It is still very noticeable though how after a session like this, even though I can feel the effort that has been done in my legs, in general terms my physiology still feels very settled and my HR does not remain elevated after this type of training, so far.
In all honesty I would be quite surprised if this type of training had much of an effect on my FTP or even my MAP but I'm going to stick with it. Why? Because I think this sort of training will train me very well for the demands of riding on the road, particularly in a fast moving group, where sudden bursts of power are the norm.
It's very easy to become a slave to L4 training and very easy to become a slave to the CTL line on the performance management chart but I'm moving away from that at the moment. I KNOW that with a CTL of above 80 I can ride well and that I can ride over 100 miles per day for day after day with that CTL.
What I think I have done in the past is perhaps neglect some areas of my performance and suffered because of it so I'm going to try to correct the balance. I'll be using the PMC as an overview of my current training and fatigue state rather than set quite arbitrary CTL "targets" and next year's form will be the measure of this revised approach, good or bad.
All that said I will still be very interested to see how I fare in my upcoming MAP and FTP tests ;-) I'm continuing with my "on the drops" training which seems to be going well, if I can gain some free speed or use less power for the same speed through this approach then that's great. It's certainly starting to feel more natural and in fact I'm starting to feel less powerful when not on the drops now, interesting.
ATL: 86.0 CTL: 88.9 TSB: -0.2
[Uploaded 29/09/2009 19:21:31]
VeloTron
The second and last of the week's HIT training sessions, as yesterday I did 8x30 second efforts @ 400W and also as yesterday it wasn't very comfortable! It is still very noticeable though how after a session like this, even though I can feel the effort that has been done in my legs, in general terms my physiology still feels very settled and my HR does not remain elevated after this type of training, so far.
In all honesty I would be quite surprised if this type of training had much of an effect on my FTP or even my MAP but I'm going to stick with it. Why? Because I think this sort of training will train me very well for the demands of riding on the road, particularly in a fast moving group, where sudden bursts of power are the norm.
It's very easy to become a slave to L4 training and very easy to become a slave to the CTL line on the performance management chart but I'm moving away from that at the moment. I KNOW that with a CTL of above 80 I can ride well and that I can ride over 100 miles per day for day after day with that CTL.
What I think I have done in the past is perhaps neglect some areas of my performance and suffered because of it so I'm going to try to correct the balance. I'll be using the PMC as an overview of my current training and fatigue state rather than set quite arbitrary CTL "targets" and next year's form will be the measure of this revised approach, good or bad.
All that said I will still be very interested to see how I fare in my upcoming MAP and FTP tests ;-) I'm continuing with my "on the drops" training which seems to be going well, if I can gain some free speed or use less power for the same speed through this approach then that's great. It's certainly starting to feel more natural and in fact I'm starting to feel less powerful when not on the drops now, interesting.
ATL: 86.0 CTL: 88.9 TSB: -0.2
[Uploaded 29/09/2009 19:21:31]
Monday, 28 September 2009
Monday Training
Hi
VeloTron
Monday comes around again which at the moment can mean only one thing, the first day of my 2 day block of L6 HIT training :-) Wasn't sure how this was going to go after the weekend but stuck to my plan and increased the number of 30 second 400W efforts by another one up to 8, soon be up at 10, I hope!
Going to be an interesting experiment this rather than keep banging out L4 sessions which I did last year. They certainly improved things but I think I need now to switch to a more mixed and varied approach to things whilst still retaining some structure.
The interesting thing I think about these sessions is because of the HR lag and the 30 second recovery period I never end up with a really high HR for a long period. With this in mind I think it may be a way of really stressing the muscles and forcing them to adapt without simultaneously thrashing the CV system which can leave me pretty drained.
I reckon CV wise the other work I do does the job nicely and I'm hoping this might be a way of stressing either muscles OR CV at any one time rather than just wrecking everything all at once!
Anyway, the session went fine, certainly not comfortable at the end but bearable and I did find on Saturday that it was nice to have a 400W surge in my legs when I needed it and to be able to get over it without any great damage long term. Hopefully more of this work will yield real benefits, if my legs don't drop off.
More L6 tomorrow...
ATL: 89.9 CTL: 89.8 TSB: -3.7
[Uploaded 29/09/2009 12:01:40]
VeloTron
Monday comes around again which at the moment can mean only one thing, the first day of my 2 day block of L6 HIT training :-) Wasn't sure how this was going to go after the weekend but stuck to my plan and increased the number of 30 second 400W efforts by another one up to 8, soon be up at 10, I hope!
Going to be an interesting experiment this rather than keep banging out L4 sessions which I did last year. They certainly improved things but I think I need now to switch to a more mixed and varied approach to things whilst still retaining some structure.
The interesting thing I think about these sessions is because of the HR lag and the 30 second recovery period I never end up with a really high HR for a long period. With this in mind I think it may be a way of really stressing the muscles and forcing them to adapt without simultaneously thrashing the CV system which can leave me pretty drained.
I reckon CV wise the other work I do does the job nicely and I'm hoping this might be a way of stressing either muscles OR CV at any one time rather than just wrecking everything all at once!
Anyway, the session went fine, certainly not comfortable at the end but bearable and I did find on Saturday that it was nice to have a 400W surge in my legs when I needed it and to be able to get over it without any great damage long term. Hopefully more of this work will yield real benefits, if my legs don't drop off.
More L6 tomorrow...
ATL: 89.9 CTL: 89.8 TSB: -3.7
[Uploaded 29/09/2009 12:01:40]
Tuesday, 22 September 2009
Tuesday Training
Hi
VeloTron
More microintervals today. Increased the number of intervals to 7 with a 30 second recovery between intervals and did the efforts at 400W as previously, I'm increasing the number of intervals before trying to increase the wattage.
My plan is to do 2 lots of these at the beginning of each week which will give me a block of high intensity training which I'll then follow with a recovery day before moving onto the lower intensity training later in the week and over the weekend. I've no real idea whether this will deliver any improvements but I'm currently planning on doing this for a couple of months and then re-evaluating things for the rest of the Winter, now is the time to experiment!
I managed the efforts Ok, didn't feel as bad as yesterday, and did the efforts at the end of the one hour session having ridden at 200W for 40 minutes before the efforts started, I was well and truly warmed up! It's surprising during the repeated efforts how one's HR climbs quickly at first as expected but peaks at around 150BPM and then remains fairly stable. This suggests to me that the recovery periods are about right as I'm getting in some good high intensity work without completely trashing my CV system in the process, this should allow me to keep this up as long as my legs recover Ok.
The background to this is that high intensity training has the effect of increasing the muscle mitochondrial density which in theory should mean that the muscle can use more oxygen, and I'll either go faster or go at the same speed with less apparent effort. I reckon all this coupled with my ongoing "on the drops riding" training will give me the equivalent of another 20W by next year which would be great if it happened! If it doesn't happen at least I'll have tried something different as if you keep doing the same thing you get the same results.
ATL: 86.9 CTL: 89.7 TSB -0.5
[Uploaded 22/09/2009 20:51:48]
VeloTron
More microintervals today. Increased the number of intervals to 7 with a 30 second recovery between intervals and did the efforts at 400W as previously, I'm increasing the number of intervals before trying to increase the wattage.
My plan is to do 2 lots of these at the beginning of each week which will give me a block of high intensity training which I'll then follow with a recovery day before moving onto the lower intensity training later in the week and over the weekend. I've no real idea whether this will deliver any improvements but I'm currently planning on doing this for a couple of months and then re-evaluating things for the rest of the Winter, now is the time to experiment!
I managed the efforts Ok, didn't feel as bad as yesterday, and did the efforts at the end of the one hour session having ridden at 200W for 40 minutes before the efforts started, I was well and truly warmed up! It's surprising during the repeated efforts how one's HR climbs quickly at first as expected but peaks at around 150BPM and then remains fairly stable. This suggests to me that the recovery periods are about right as I'm getting in some good high intensity work without completely trashing my CV system in the process, this should allow me to keep this up as long as my legs recover Ok.
The background to this is that high intensity training has the effect of increasing the muscle mitochondrial density which in theory should mean that the muscle can use more oxygen, and I'll either go faster or go at the same speed with less apparent effort. I reckon all this coupled with my ongoing "on the drops riding" training will give me the equivalent of another 20W by next year which would be great if it happened! If it doesn't happen at least I'll have tried something different as if you keep doing the same thing you get the same results.
ATL: 86.9 CTL: 89.7 TSB -0.5
[Uploaded 22/09/2009 20:51:48]
Monday, 21 September 2009
Monday Training
Hi
VeloTron
Normally today I would have an easy recovery spin but today there were a couple of things I wanted to use today's training time for. One objective was to burn a few calories and the other was to establish a rough intensity level at which to do some L6 work, which I intend to start soon and to continue with throughout the Winter.
This may sound odd but based on quite a bit of reading I've been doing this is something I want to try this Winter. The main purpose is that I believe, particularly as one ages, that adaptations take a long time. With this in mind I think it may well not be a good thing to leave a lot of higher intensity work to be introduced in the Spring and early Summer as it is very fatiguing if one isn't used to it, I intend to be used to it!
I decided to do some 30 second L6 intervals with 30 seconds recovery between them after a lengthy calorie consuming ride at 175-200W and see how it went. Opted to do the efforts at around 128% of FTP as 400W is a nice round number to start at!
All went well but was amazed how short a recovery time 30 seconds is, hardly any time at all! I think if I can get used to them these sessions should prove to be a powerful training stimulus.
Did 5x30 second efforts and the plan is to increase this in a stepwise fashion until I'm completing 10 of them in the set. Once I get to this point I'll start nudging the wattage up by maybe 5W at a time and see where I get to, and see what effect regular training like this has on FTP etc.
In the longer term, maybe by the Spring, I'll be doing 2 sets of these (10 efforts per set) at a decent wattage which should set me up really well for the stochastic nature of road cycling. Fun experiment anyway!
ATL: 91.1 CTL: 90.6 TSB: -4.7
[Uploaded 22/09/2009 09:16:31]
VeloTron
Normally today I would have an easy recovery spin but today there were a couple of things I wanted to use today's training time for. One objective was to burn a few calories and the other was to establish a rough intensity level at which to do some L6 work, which I intend to start soon and to continue with throughout the Winter.
This may sound odd but based on quite a bit of reading I've been doing this is something I want to try this Winter. The main purpose is that I believe, particularly as one ages, that adaptations take a long time. With this in mind I think it may well not be a good thing to leave a lot of higher intensity work to be introduced in the Spring and early Summer as it is very fatiguing if one isn't used to it, I intend to be used to it!
I decided to do some 30 second L6 intervals with 30 seconds recovery between them after a lengthy calorie consuming ride at 175-200W and see how it went. Opted to do the efforts at around 128% of FTP as 400W is a nice round number to start at!
All went well but was amazed how short a recovery time 30 seconds is, hardly any time at all! I think if I can get used to them these sessions should prove to be a powerful training stimulus.
Did 5x30 second efforts and the plan is to increase this in a stepwise fashion until I'm completing 10 of them in the set. Once I get to this point I'll start nudging the wattage up by maybe 5W at a time and see where I get to, and see what effect regular training like this has on FTP etc.
In the longer term, maybe by the Spring, I'll be doing 2 sets of these (10 efforts per set) at a decent wattage which should set me up really well for the stochastic nature of road cycling. Fun experiment anyway!
ATL: 91.1 CTL: 90.6 TSB: -4.7
[Uploaded 22/09/2009 09:16:31]
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