Beer Drinker Appreciation Society - Open For Business (Page 140)

Congratulations to the racers!

I just did another race myself (race report) and despite swimming an extra lap and dropping my bike chain it was a good race. Later in the day I went for a beautiful bike ride through vineyards and ranches. Overall a great weekend.

Recently I switched pools, from a gym on the other side of town to the swim center close to my office. The difference in lunch time crowd is crazy, I used to think the gym's pool was crowded! From what I've heard the morning lap swim block is less crowded, I just need to get myself motivated to go swimming in the morning before work (didn't happen today).

lol. I just sent him an email telling him to avoid bread and pasta altogether. Pasta can be good but it's superfluous if you're getting your carbs from other sources and there are better sources for carbs in my opinion. I find the problem with bread and pasta is most people eat way more than what they need. About 80g of pasta, which is barely a handful, is around 300 calories. It's very calorie dense so you have to be careful how much you eat. It's good for post workout meal (for workouts exceeding one hour) but I wouldn't bother too much with it otherwise. That is, of course, if you can get your carbs from better sources (sweet potato, raw veggies, lentils, quinoa etc.). Pasta isn't inherently unhealthy but it also doesn't have much in it that is useful other than carbs whereas the other sources I mentioned are packed with other very useful nutrients in addition to being a carb. 

It's potentially doable but depends on a number of factors, namely how much time you can put into it and how hard you can train. 

Your cadence won't make you faster per say but will increase your economy, which means there will be more energy available to produce speed for longer periods. The best way to increase cadence is to do leg speed drills. Spin an easy gear for 30 second intervals (try to be above 100rpm but try not to bounce too much) and take 1-2 minutes of rest between. Do those intervals until you can't maintain the high cadence any more (if you did 3 intervals at 100rpm, stop when you can't hit 95, for example).  

As for overall speed, one of the best ways, and this is what I have David and Kurt working on, is to do sweet spot training. This is where you do 12-20 minute intervals riding at just below your LTHR threshold. VO2 Max intervals are also a great way to improve speed. Any workout that is designed to increase oxygen uptake is what you want to go faster. 

Mainly though the problem many will face when trying to increase power is inability to push yourself hard enough to see adaptation. You kind of have to train your body to get used to suffering. Training rides should be hard. You should be uncomfortable. If you're not getting to the point where you have to tell your body to keep pushing despite the pain, you're probably not taxing it enough to promote adaptation. It can take a long time to be able to 'learn how to suffer'. As they say, your hard days should be exceedingly hard and your easy days should be embarrassingly easy. 

Yea those intervals are too short for sub threshold workouts. Your sub threshold intervals should be at least 12 minutes in length.

The ladders are a good workout but try to do them at 105-110% LTHR. 

Do the workouts in a gear that will allow you to ride 85-95rpm. Whatever your target cadence is. The shorter the interval, the faster you should spin but try to stay above 85rpm (you can slow your cadence during recovery intervals if you need to)

Trainer vs Road

Trainer: better quality workouts because you can maintain constant power but most people have a hard time finding motivation to work hard on the trainer. 

Road: More motivation, you'll probably find you can go harder and it feels easier on the road but distractions and frequent stops and starts can disrupt intervals. Stopping for 1 minute or more during a long interval will negate some of benefit of doing it. Stopping for any amount of time on an interval 5 minutes or less will ruin almost all effectiveness of doing the interval. 

Yea those intervals are too short for sub threshold workouts. Your sub threshold intervals should be at least 12 minutes in length.

The ladders are a good workout but try to do them at 105-110% LTHR. 

Do the workouts in a gear that will allow you to ride 85-95rpm. Whatever your target cadence is. The shorter the interval, the faster you should spin but try to stay above 85rpm (you can slow your cadence during recovery intervals if you need to)

Trainer vs Road

Trainer: better quality workouts because you can maintain constant power but most people have a hard time finding motivation to work hard on the trainer. 

Road: More motivation, you'll probably find you can go harder and it feels easier on the road but distractions and frequent stops and starts can disrupt intervals. Stopping for 1 minute or more during a long interval will negate some of benefit of doing it. Stopping for any amount of time on an interval 5 minutes or less will ruin almost all effectiveness of doing the interval. 

Between 5-10 minutes for recovery intervals. Do 4-5 work intervals. Do 2 of these per week to start. Try to do one long slow ride or LSD rides as I call them (long steady distance) per week. 

Originally posted by Qua17 OK - Day one on the Eat Like a Pig Plan... Update - was hoping to eat 1,000 calories for breakfast (normally eat 450). Had 1/2 cup of oatmeal with milk and a cup of blueberries prior to my 3.5 mile run. Enjoyed a gel mid run. Came home and enjoyed a massive veggie omlette - 3 eggs, an onion, a green pepper, an oz of cheese, 1/3 of a cup of black beans and a 1/4 lentils a tbs of olive oil.. I could not eat any healthier.... 20 minutes later - I was ready to puke. I was so full I had to skip lunch! But I still got my recovery run in and a hard swim where I went all out. I feel like I'm so close to breaking 7 hours that I am putting 100% into each workout. Still felt like I was going to puke. Goal for tomorrow. 700 calories for breakfast - lets see if I can keep that down. I've got an interview tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed. DQ

Rather than try to increase the amount of food per meal, try to eat more frequently throughout the day.