The training thread: How was yours? (today/yesterday/etc)

[Cul]

I have 2 x 70 minute intervals at around 83% FTP and 96% FTP normalised, with a burger and some water in between at Maccas, and I don't feel like I could have done much better, does that sound reasonable to you? Sounds reasonable to me?

Digesting the Macca's burger has got to be worth at least 70 TSS

[leximack]

every now and again when I get really bored I have a look at this thread. Have no idea what you guys are on about 99% of the time.
One thing I have learned over the years is if you want to ride fast then ride your bike, running does not make you ride your bike faster, swimming does not make you ride your bike faster, playing bingo does not make you ride your bike faster.
If you want to climb up hills faster then ride up hills a lot
If you want to sprint fast then practice sprinting.
You get the idea, but really I have no idea what I am talking about, I have no interest in training. I ride to have fun, if I am fast then its a bonus

back to normal thread talk......

[Xplora]

Some of us aren't gifted like others and need every trick in the book just to keep up with guys like you
I thought you were threatening to come racing B grade needs more tempo kings!!

[Cul]

playing bingo does not make you ride your bike faster.

You mean I've been wasting all this time playing bingo for nothing? I don't even like bingo

[g-boaf]

playing bingo does not make you ride your bike faster.

You mean I've been wasting all this time playing bingo for nothing? I don't even like bingo

And I just ride heaps because I want to, and also because I've got nothing else to do (that I want to do). Home renovations be damned.

[leximack]

playing bingo does not make you ride your bike faster.

You mean I've been wasting all this time playing bingo for nothing? I don't even like bingo

try chess instead, will work the brain and give you the tactical edge in those Crit races

[leximack]

Some of us aren't gifted like others and need every trick in the book just to keep up with guys like you
I thought you were threatening to come racing B grade needs more tempo kings!!

not interested in racing, most race reports these days seem to involve a crash. Not worth the risk imo

[dalai47]

not interested in racing, most race reports these days seem to involve a crash. Not worth the risk imo

Not on the track...

[g-boaf]

not interested in racing, most race reports these days seem to involve a crash. Not worth the risk imo

Not on the track...

Don't forget to keep turning the pedals over. It hasn't happened to me yet. It's easy to do when you are tired. Nasty consequences too.

[Ignoto]

So I finally got my hands on a Stages yesterday, it's getting fitted on the bike tomorrow and I plan on doing a proper FTP test on Tuesday morning!

Now my only question is, what type of test do I try? I'm heading out to one of Brisbane's crits, so I was thinking a 20 minute test to begin with or should I aim for 40 minutes? I figure the hardest thing for the first time will be working out the pacing, which makes me think I'll need to be re-doing a FTP test every couple weeks until I find the right number.

I did a 12km ITT with a couple of mates late last week which clocked me around the 18:30 mark and my pacing was ok, the pace didn't drop and was constant throughout the entire piece. Should I just add the extra 90 seconds on and see where that puts me at?

[Xplora]

Ignoto, you are making baby Jesus cry.

20 minute test requires some intervals beforehand to remove errors. It's not close to the proper FTP figure, but it is easier to motivate yourself for a regular test for a 20 minute max effort than the proper 60 minute test.
You can cheat and use NP for a hard race that lasts 60 minutes. This isn't perfect either but it is very good because you don't leave cards up your sleeve and is much more fun. Your 40 minute race would be ok after some other testing history.
Ultimately it's not critical at this point to get it perfect. You get 300w, you can start training 4x10 at 270 and sneak it up 5 watts each session. You will bonk if your FTP is wrong. You will adjust your FTP up if you are doing 330w 4x10s hehehe
Congrats on the PM. It's a game changer.

[dalai47]

So I finally got my hands on a Stages yesterday, it's getting fitted on the bike tomorrow and I plan on doing a proper FTP test on Tuesday morning!

Now my only question is, what type of test do I try?

http://alex-cycle.blogspot.com.au/2008/ ... -sins.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I race quite a few TT's each year and have found my average power from the last 20 minutes of a 20km TT * 0.95% ends up right compared to the 40km TT's I've ridden...

[Toolish]

Just finished 3 hours down the M7, avg 194W, normalised 247. Came up with 283TSS. This seems pretty reasonable to me? It's a long 35km stretch with rolling hills, and a number of slow points that you have to punch away from to maintain your average speed. I won't do the corners fast either, plenty of guys hold a stronger pace through the corners... up the hills... down the hills... on the flats...

Anyways, if I have 2 70 minute intervals at around 83% FTP and 96% FTP normalised, with a burger and some water in between at Maccas, and I don't feel like I could have done much better, does that sound reasonable to you? Sounds reasonable to me?

I would have thought to be able to do a 96% FTP effort for 70 minutes after the earlier interval maybe your FTP is set a little low? Given 100% of FTP for an hour when fresh and rested should pretty much have you falling off your bike.

[Xplora]

Normalised... check out dalai's link to Alex Simmon's article. There is an assumption that we have a declining peak power curve of similar shape. Hunter and Coggan identify 4 types (?) - all rounder, pursuiter, sprinter, maybe there was another one. Not everyone has the same response. I find I can hold upper Z2 to mid Z3 for a VERY long time compared to the expected Z4. My struggle is keeping control of the matchbox, because I seem to have few matches and psychologically I like to burn the box. So I smashed a 70 minute interval with a number of breaks (corners, downhills) to lower the average, and it allows recovery to pound the Z5 moments out of the corner. I feel I respond very well to this scenario compared to other efforts like climbing or threshold TT work (pulling a turn).

We are all different. The difficulty is working out how to make your natural strong points shine through on race day; I managed 350kms last Friday. Feel great today despite an estimated 500+++ TSS. Clearly endurance pace isn't something I struggle with. And that's something I'm OK with. Just need to make that endurance pace a bit faster

[g-boaf]

Sprint intervals this morning for nearly 1 hour. Someone I was training with finished it and said rather well - "now I'll go away and have my cardiac arrest". I'm alright, just weak legs.

[Xplora]

Nice
Ran yesterday, and I have a long way to go if I am going to do an Irpnman - I can do 4:10/km but its 170bpm for my trouble. The swim will be the biggest problem anyway!
Also tried some plyometrics as suggested by Mr Boaf, there are some steps near my place with hand rails both sides. Realised I need the safety net as I go faster higher longer. My knees are buggered after stair hopping an the fast run.

[g-boaf]

Nice
Ran yesterday, and I have a long way to go if I am going to do an Irpnman - I can do 4:10/km but its 170bpm for my trouble. The swim will be the biggest problem anyway!
Also tried some plyometrics as suggested by Mr Boaf, there are some steps near my place with hand rails both sides. Realised I need the safety net as I go faster higher longer. My knees are buggered after stair hopping an the fast run.

Ah - now I see what you are talking about. Took a while for me to work out what "plyometrics" was. Too technical for me. I can safely say that biking in your bathers is something I won't be trying.

[dalai47]

Nice
Ran yesterday, and I have a long way to go if I am going to do an Irpnman - I can do 4:10/km but its 170bpm for my trouble.

Reality for IM it is all about running efficiency. Train your longer runs at realistic race pace and not an individual event pace. 4:10 km/hr pace would have you finishing the Marathon in under 3 hours - amongst the pros. You are not just running a Marathon but a Marathon after 3.8 km swim and 180km ride...

[Xplora]

4:10 was seriously bad (like sprinting up hills for 2 minutes bad), but I hear you. I'm a rider, first and foremost; I'll have to back off the running speed because the impact is ruinous. On the plus side, it's way more time efficient to jog at 4:10/km over 5kms than feel like I've barely done any work over 90 minutes at tempo.

[g-boaf]

I did some SE training this morning: http://www.strava.com/activities/128233484" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

4x ten minute blocks riding at around 55rpm at 92%. 6:00am start as well. I've got about 5 more weeks of those sessions, they are building from one to the next.

[Ignoto]

Ignoto, you are making baby Jesus cry.

20 minute test requires some intervals beforehand to remove errors. It's not close to the proper FTP figure, but it is easier to motivate yourself for a regular test for a 20 minute max effort than the proper 60 minute test.

Hah - I was only after a base number to begin with. So it's probably widely wrong, but it means the next test I do (say in 2 weeks) I can use this number as the starting point and build on it. Like you said, increase the wattage slowly until I bonk. That way I can practice with properly pacing myself based on watts rather than feel!

How is everyone setting up their Garmin's training pages? I was trying to find a site that allows you to do mock activity pages instead of doing it on your Garmin but couldn't find anything.

[Tarquin]

Rode a fairly flat 50 yesterday with only one CAT4 fairly steady as I was ill Thursday through to Sunday. I raced a crit Saturday too which didn't do me any favours.

Did another 50km ride after work, threw a couple of hill repeats in there.

Felt like crap, no explosive power at all. Pulled 300w+ average over the climb twice, but nowhere near like I would like or have been riding, I'd like to be getting close to 350w average on it now.

Last couple of rides have only been mid 200w weighted average power for the whole ride which is OK but my body hasn't felt good at all, just fatigued and lacking energy.

Maybe I am still suffering a bit from whatever I came down with last week/over the weekend and thats costing me. Disappointing as I felt like I was riding really good before that.

Have to keep putting in the hard yards or I will go backwards quickly, last week of riding now for about three weeks, might be able to squeeze a bit of gym work in though, will have to try and keep the weight down too, I'll probably put half a stone or so on when I am off the bike.

[toolonglegs]

I too raced Sunday while sick... still coughing and spluttering today!. Shows what good drugs can do!. Surprised I survived as long as I did!.
Went for a little spin yesterday, might do the same today... but only to see some sunlight!.
Have to decided whether to do a 4 stage race in one month... form and weight is as bad as it was last year and I only stayed in the bunch on one of the stages!.
Trying to get motivated!!!.

[singlespeedscott]

and weight is as bad as it was last year .

What happened to the vegan diet?

[toolonglegs]

Still vegan mate, it was never a diet though... basically just a switch from vegetarian to vegan.
I went totally vegan last May when I weighed pretty much spot on 100kgs, dropped steadily to 90 by August and stayed there till September. But with September comes the cold and the kms drop and motivation goes out the window... crept back up to 99 again .
Lack of km's isn't helping, but the main problem is life style... working at home 9 months of the year kinda sucks for keeping weight down!.