Increase your Cycling Power over the winter = Faster times on 2009 (Page 16)

Jorge, I have a couple of questions.

Is the HR test going to start us off for week 3 or finish off the week?  Just trying to figure out my upcoming training with work, running and hockey.

With regards to the HR testing, won't your method give us a lower number then the testing procedure from Mike Ricci that's been out on BT for some time?  Your method takes the avg hr over 30 minutes then you multiply it by .97, where coach Ricci's method is taking your avg HR over the last 20 minutes of a 30 minute testing window to come up with the LTHR.  Coach Ricci's method will have a higher avg hr number for LT.

Thanks, and hope your feeling better!

Hi Jorge,

Hope you're feeling better.  Quick question - for the LTHR TT test, do you multiply your average HR by .95 or .97?  Your posting on your blog for the test says 95%, but in your example of calculating it, you use .97.  

I'm planning on doing it now instead of Q3 so that I can do both the HR and power testing since my power meter is for my trainer only, so I can have reference for when we get outside again... whenever that is!

Thanks!  I love feeling my workouts have such purpose on the trainer!

Monica 

Hi Jorge,

               Thanks for setting all this up. I'm currently about to start week 2, the thing I'm having trouble with is I do the workout early morning. You say it's important to eat a couple of hours before the workout but because of where I live and it fits in easier I ride to work as the warm up (about 15 minute ride) Then I've set my trainer up at work and I do the main set before starting work, is this ok?

The other thing I'm not quite clear on is I've got a cyclops trainer and it hasn't got any setting to add difficulty am I better to up the cadence to make it harder or should I change gears and try to keep nearer to 90 rpm?

sorry I've been a bit MIA gang but I've been fighting a chest cold. Anyway here is the next week:

let me know if you have questions and remember the testing protocols are on my blog.

The tests are tough so get ready and enjoy!

Okay, I'll admit, I blew off week 2 of the trainer - just had to get outside before the snow blew in this weekend.

Should I go through week 2 next week and do the week 3 testing the following week and have a shorter Christmas break, or just pick it up with week 3 Monday night?

Aimee:

Do we just ride as fast as we can for 30 minutes straight? >>> yes

What cadence should we be looking for? I guess I'm wondering if I need to spin fast (90-100rpms) for 30 minutes or increase the resistance and ride for 30min. at a lower cadence? >>> Chose the cadence that feels natural/comfortable for you (anywhere from 75 to 100) cadence is not as important, what matters is that you exert and push your body throughout the test.

Enjoy!

If you indeed pushed as hard as you could have during the test then I would do this; I would set my LTHR between the result you had today and the one you had earlier on the year (i.e 171) and see how does that feel when training on coming sessions. If the effort feels just right use that until we test again, if it feels easy then use the 177 or if it feels too hard then use the test number. Compare this with RPE and within a few weeks you will be able to know where your true LTHR falls in. post here and I’ll help you out

Jorge,

Is there a reason that the Q3 power tests this week differ from the 20min & 5min power tests you have posted on your blog?

Thanks

As you learn you can see there are different ways to set a session but the core is bascially the same most of the time.

Okay, will follow the plan.  Thanks Jorge.

Jorge,

New question.  What % of FTP would you suggest for the bike leg of a 70.3 race?  On my trainer I have the ability to ride my "A' race bike course for next year, so it would be helpful to see what time I manage at the moment, and then repeat this over the next few months.

Thanks,

Neil

Did the test this morning. I had a really hard time keeping my watts up but then gunned it for the last minute. I felt weak right from the start. Could be my lack of bike fitness or could be all the crap food I've been eating this week

It's all good though and obviously we'll be testing again so no worries.

Short answer: somewhere between 80 to 87% of FT

Long answer: it depends, I personally don’t like to give my athletes a % of FT to pace HIM or IM, and instead we use their training data from multiple long rides and race rehearsals. On long rides I usually make them ride harder than their race pace for portions of the ride and see how they respond. On race rehearsals we pick a zone range to ride based on training rides and then make them run off the bike at or near race pace to see how they feel. Also I consider the fitness gains obtained during tapering so the power tends to go a bit up once we are 100% recovered.

Using all that data is how I set up pacing strategy for my athletes. In your case you are going to go through the same learning process when doing long rides for your HIM (2-3 hrs rides). You can start picking a % of FT (i.e. 82%) and ride a portion of your LR at that intensity and do a short transition run (i.e. 15-20 min) and see how you feel. If you can ride the entire LR at tat intensity and run off the bike with no problems bump the intensity up a bit over a few rides and try again. If you review your power data from all rides you’ll see a pattern emerge and you’ll have a better idea of what’s a good intensity, what’s doable and what’s suicide…

You can certainly use the 19 min plus the 5 min test and the critical power model will give you and good estimate of your CP 60 or FTP

For those training only by RPE:

To do the test you can follow the testing protocol I gave for those with power (shown below) but you will also need to take care of the following: You will need a speedometer and cadence so you can track your avg speed and cadence over the test. You more than anyone will need to pay a very close attention as to how you set up your bike for the test in terms of the trainer resistance and tire pressure. This will be VERY important so you can record that and reproduce it on future tests. You will also need to pay attention as to what gearing you mainly use during the test.

Now most trainer companies offer power estimate tables on their websites so collecting the data of avg speed, cadence and gearing you should be able to estimate your power for the 20 and 5 min tests. Now if your trainer model/vendor doesn’t provide power tables, still you will save your test results for each test. For instance let’s assume you avg 20 mph @ 95 rpm on your 20 min test and 21.5mph @ 95 rpm on your 5 min test. Next time around when you re-test under the same conditions (trainer at same resistance and tire at same PSI) you can compare what avg speed, cadence and gearing you used this time around, if you have been following the plan and doing the work you should experience an increase in speed at a similar cadence with a harder gearing*

You won’t be doing the test to set up training zones because for you the zones are already pre-established and easy to follow. You should know by feel what intensity is easy or hard as descried on the table I am following on my blog. The goal of the test is to collect some data for you to have a starting point and as the plan progresses and you grow fitter you can see the improvements and results of your hard work.

* If you don’t set up your trainer under the exact same way you did on all your tests your data might not be accurate and your results won’t be reliable.