Cycling Program v3.0 - 2010 - 2011 (Page 19)

Profile Design sells a plastic mountpoint that attaches the side of their areo bars.  It's just the right size for computer, garmin or a light.  I found one at my local Peformance Bike.  if you're really eager and have some hand tools around you could attach a length of pvc pipe between your areo bars with plastic wire ties and mount your computer there until you find something more road ready.

Completed the 3' test with about a 7% increase over last month.  

Which do people find tougher, the 3' or the 20' test?  For me, the 20' test is agony, and left me feeling pretty wobbly for a few hours, while the 3' is serious pain for the last half (far worse than the last few minutes of the 20' test), but I don't seem to have lingering issues after the workout.

having been following Jorge's program for a while now, I have done several 20' tests. I just did one this morning.

They are absolutely agony.

The one thing I have found is that with time you learn to pace yourself properly. You get a 'feel' for where you should be, you go out for the first 5 minutes and adjust. I prefer to go out slighly below target and increase.
The last few tests I negative split in terms of power
For me, the worst time is 9 to 13 minutes....after 13, you feel it will end eventually.

Another thing is motivation during the test. The choice of music or video makes a huge difference for me.

This morning I put on the 2009 Tour de France climbing of Mt-Ventoux, fast forwarded to the last 20 minutes and every time I thought how hard my ride was I looked at them and kept going. I have put the Kona start, other TdF clips....I find them very motivating.

Digging the indoor trainer.  The KK machine feels so nice.  Add in the fact that there are no stoplights, stop signs, or cards and I love the workout.  Finally able to get a great workout with no interruptions. Also, that power curve calculation the KK ( however accurate it may be ) makes it even more enjoyable.   I find myself actually looking forward to the workouts on the trainer.  

Taking today off and plan to do the 3' test tomorrow. 

Ha, you folks with power meters add another 10 minutes to the torture and that's what we are doing with HR only.  Althought we don't get to have the 3 minutes of fun, which I might just do for giggles anyway.

This is about the same for me.  I feel the effects of the 20' test for a while but the 3' test hurts more at the time.  At the end of the 3' test I am absolutely gasping for air but after a cooldown and a stretch, I'm pretty much good to go.

During intervals I like to change RPMs (switch gears). For the 20' test I'll change gears 4-10 times.

I forgot that I bought the Downward Spiral video last year, I have to fire that up next time.

Yeah, we'll see how you feel during that 3 minute test...  If you don't hit your max HR during the last 30 seconds, you're not going hard enough.

I'm very familiar with 30 minute pain. One of my main goals for next season is completing a local climb in 30 minutes.  I think my best time this year was about 32:30, and it's more typically a 35 minute climb if I'm not trying to kill myself the whole way.  My real goal is beating a riding buddy up that hill, but he's already broken 30, so I'll probably be happy if I can just keep him in sight.  It's a very tricky hill: starts hard eases up a bit, and has nearly a half mile at 15% grade toward the end.

OK, I'm a late starter - too many other commitments. Regardless, I have a few questions related to the program. I tried to read as much of the thread as I could, but 23 pages was too much. 8^(

1) I see in the basics manual that you suggest doing swim and run on days off, or easy work on off days. You also mention "those training for a marathon". I realize this is a very individual question, but can one reasonably build up to a marathon while also doing this program? How would you time the event? I assume after the 15 weeks, but can you supply more details?

2) If I have a bike focus for next year's tri calendar, how should I time my events relative to this program? If the program ends some time before an event (couple of months?), what should be done in the intervening time?

3) You mention calibrating the power meter before each session. I didn't see this in the manual for mine - is there a standard way to do this?

I'm sure I'll come up with others soon. 8^)

Thanks!!

Same here.. Thanksgiving, feeling under the weather and then taking my son hunting..

I missed a few workouts last week and into Tuesday.  Interestingly, I jumped back with the 20 min test today.  It believe it's a combination of the rest, your training program and me getting out of my comfort zone but my 20 min test is climbing:
Oct 20 MPT - 185 watts   This was pre-program just to get a feel for things
Nov 20 MPT - 191 watts
Dec 20 MPT - 212 watts

That Dec date should have been Dec 2, not Dec 20.

Gang - week #6 is up!

I am very happy to see so many of you are already experiencing improvements, learning a bit more about pacing/feel and pushing out of your comfort zone with consistent intense training. Keep it up guys!!!

If I've missed answering any important questions, please post again to remind me

Edited by JorgeM 2010-12-03 8:49 AM

If training for a marathon just do days 1 and 3 on some of your 'easy' run days and see how your legs recover from it and running. Those should give you a the best ROI while allowing you to focus on marathon trainnig.

Best way to do a 20MP test is to just go nuts! start a bit easy of what you 'feel' you can do, around 5 min into the test settle into what you feel you can do and the last 5 min let it rip!

correct!

For those training by HRM while not 100% accurate, I suggested you guys should test using as close similar conditions each test and that way you could use mph as a barometer how your power is improving. To accomplish this, you need to take precise note of how your bike is set up during the baseline test including: resistance on the trainer, tire PSI, day of the day, rested, temperature/cooling (fan), hydration, etc.

If you do this, your trainer speed will correlate to the effort you are producing and will get rid a bit off the noise created with the variability of HRM. For instance, your HR can be higher in one test simply because that day happened to be hotter than the next time you test, this alone can make your HR variable by some bpm while your muscles are still doing the same work. This is one of the limitations of HR, it can be affected by variables not directly related to the live work done in your muscles.

If you try that for other tests then you can use HR to determine training levels and the trainer mph as a benchmark to see how over time as you get fitter you can get faster at the same HR or lower

KirkD -
1) I see in the basics manual that you suggest doing swim and run on days off, or easy work on off days. You also mention "those training for a marathon". I realize this is a very individual question, but can one reasonably build up to a marathon while also doing this program? How would you time the event? I assume after the 15 weeks, but can you supply more details?
>> you have to compromise depending on your goals. If the marathon is your main goal then you should focus on that and you can add day 1 and 3 for this program and see how you recover and can handle the load within yuor own limitations. If that works, those two days should give you the best ROI to improve your CP while at the same time successfully training for the marathon. If Those days are too much, then you can tray day 1 and 2. if you can handle more, you can do days 1,2,3.

2) If I have a bike focus for next year's tri calendar, how should I time my events relative to this program? If the program ends some time before an event (couple of months?), what should be done in the intervening time?
>> what's your goal distance for next year?

3) You mention calibrating the power meter before each session. I didn't see this in the manual for mine - is there a standard way to do this?
>> Depends on yuor power meter model. You should be able to find this on your unit's manual. i.e. power tap it means zeroing the torque.

Wow, that's a hill ride for sure.  15% grade is steep!  I am not sure I could easily make that climb with the gearing I have on my tri bike currently. There is a hill I do occasionaly with a 7.5% grade that's a little over a mile long and that's a killer. 

I bet you'll be able to crack 30min after this training block is over, if not during.   

Jorge,

Thank you for the answers! Right now I'm trying to balance my desire to run a marathon with my hopes to do a couple of HIM events next year. Not an easy balance to strike, in my opinion.

Regarding my question and your answers:



This helps a LOT! I would like to try for 3 run days, 3 bike days, and 2 swim days per week. Maybe a bit aggressive for me, but....




My hopeful target is HIM. I wouldn't mind doing a bike century as well, but that would be a B-event at best, maybe more like a C. Certainly any A-event/race is HIM distance.



I figured this one out. It was more or less buried into about a quarter of a page of the manual. You would think something like this would warrant a little more emphasis.

New question: Given my various race/event goals and my desire for a better training program, a coach would probably be a good idea. Do you do distance coaching? I've checked your coaching page, but I wasn't sure if coaching between Boston and Colorado was feasible.

-Kirk

Wow, I'm glad thats done.  new 20MP ave 299.51.   

I was targeting an average wattage of 301.  I'm quite certain I left nothing in the tank.  Until the big drop at the end of the test, the power curve graph was very flat with no dips or valleys.  Could I have pulled a 308, no way.   

Words cannot describe the last five minutes.  The icing on the cake was an Epic Calf CRAMP at 19:45 of 20MP, forced to come to complete stop at 19:58, clip-out and stand for a minute.  The 10 min cooldown felt so good after 20 minutes at max power.

Cheers,

Yeah, I called it a hill, but of course, it's really a mountain.  The total climb is 4.5 miles and just under 2000 feet of climbing, so overall, about 8%.  That 15% grade section has me grinding the pedals at about 55 rpm.  This is on a road bike with a compact crank.  My low gear is 34/28.   

I think it's going to take just over 4 w/kg  to do 30 minutes. A bit of power gain, a bit of weight loss (both of which I believe are easily within reach), the right day, a bunch of motivation, and of course pain tolerance, and I should be there.  It's one of the things that keeps me sweating it out on the trainer.

Nice!  Big congrats.

Finally finished the 3MP test.

 Lots of running and cycling this week since I was working from home.   Legs are toast.  20' @ 75-80% was rough.  Going to need a day or two to get the legs fresh.

Loving the plan and the new trainer.  Wish I could fast forward a couple weeks to see the results of the upcoming training weeks.

I just want to comment that I just completed week 1 of the V3.0 plan. All I can say is WOW!! I bought a Powertap for the bike- I feel like finally for once, I have structure in my workouts and a methodology to measure that work. I realize that I may have been spending the last three years of my training just putting in .. no real focused work. I see now how the hard work will pay off for me. Thank you so much for doing this Jorge!! I am looking forward to the work and the improvements that I know I will gain! Now if can only figure out WKO+. LOL!!

Second 3' test is done!  I managed to increase my avg by 4w.  My CP increased by 10w over the initial round of tests, I'll take that!  Would be nice if the trend continues throughout the program.   

At the end of the 3' test today, my wife (who was on the treadmill beside me) just looked at me and said "That can't be healthy...."