Increase your Cycling Power over the winter = Faster times on 2009 (Page 22)

Gang, I did my 5 min maximal power test over the weekend and it went well for most part, I think I am still battling some left over of the chest cold cuz I still feel some congestion and a bit of trouble breathing when pushing hard. I wouldn't be surprised as almost every person at my office is been sick with the same issue over the past 2 weeks and at a given time someone is near me coughing and spreading the virus around (yeah nice image right? )

I confess - I’ve been lurking on this thread and stealing and modifying some of Jorge’s workouts to fit my plan.  If you remember, Jorge, I was on your winter power cycling thread last year.   Trust me, if you follow Jorge’s plan consistently this winter, your power will improve as mine did last winter, ~7.5%! 

Jorge, I did the 20’ test last wk and it was worse than where I was in spring of 08 when I peaked.  In general, do most people manage to keep their FT around the peak throughout the yr, or is it normal to have peaks and valleys?  Just wondering what people’s starting FT is relative to their peak.

I set up an excel spreadsheet which creates an erg file based on Jorge’s workouts and FT.   So all I have to do is load the file and ride, CT does the rest and all I have to do is keep up.  I highly recommend.

Ok I updated my blog with week 6 and 7, enjoy and Happy Holidays everyone!

http://jorgepbmcoaching.blogspot.com/

Good luck getting your FTP back!

Now that sucks!  Hopefully you're planning on taking it easy the next couple of weeks until your 305 makes it back to you.

Hope everyone else enjoys the Turkey + treats.  I know my training will hit rock bottom this week.  It is what it is.  Merry Xmas.

Jorge,

Weeks 6 & 7 for HR/RPE show FT percentages for workouts 2 & 3.  How does this compare to HR percentages?  Thanks.

JorgeM - 2008-12-22 6:53 AM

givemashot - 2008-12-22 12:03 AM

I will admit it. I have fallen completely off the wagon. I just haven't had the motivation to workout at all. It's been 12 days. I did go out and buy my bike computer, but still haven't installed it. My biggest roadblock is the kids and the hubby. Sounds bad to blame it on someone else, but I just can't seem to get past the guilt factor when the kids are home from school--and my son is off for the entire month of December. And, the same goes for early morning and late night workouts when my hubby isn't traveling. He's been home the last few weeks, too. 

I think I can still catch up during the 2 week break. If not, I should at least be within a week.

Ok, I'm ready, just don't use the leather belt for my whoopin'.  

If you don't get back on track by Jan 4th when I get back from vacation we'll have to use a tube for the azz whopping!

At least it's not the wire hanger again. Do I still have to call you Daddy Dearest?  

FELIZ NAVIDAD!

Happy holidays everyone! I hope that everyone is enjoying the holidays and spending time with friends and family.

I have gotten back into the game after spending 2 1/2 weeks with the sinus and chest infection that has been going around. So it was the start of Week 3 for me and the Lactate Threshold test. I think that it went well, but I probably could have pushed a bit harder. In the end I believe that I have good numbers to work with for now. I am using my Garmin 305 and training by heart rate. Below are my results that I received after using the Excel sheet that Jorge posted to calculate Lactate Threshold.

Lactate Threshold: 170

Heart Rate Training Zones:

Z1: 0-116 bpm

Z2: 117-141 bpm

Z3: 143-160 bpm

Z4: 162- 179 bpm

Z5: 180+ bpm

Since there has been some talk about different applications to use with the Garmin 305 and other devices I have pasted graphics from the Garmin Training Center application and from a program titled Ascent. I would have also posted a graphic from SportTracks but it is not correctly importing my data and I will work on that issue.

Below is the graphic from the Garmin Training Center Application (Windows Vista) showing heartrate and pace.

 For those that might be using an Apple computer you should check out Ascent. Since SportTracks is for Windows only Ascent gives us some of the additional features that are missing from the Garmin application. There are not all the cool plugins as found with SportTracks, but some nice features such as animated routes. Check out the Ascent web site and view the small video that automatically plays on the main page to see some basic features.

Best wishes for the rest of the holidays. I will continue to work and get my training back on track.

Michael

Next week we get back on track and sessions WILL be much tougher more fun

So, are the posted weeks 6 & 7 suggestions for the 2 week break or are they supposed to be done AFTER the 2 week break on 1-4-09?

 -Chris

After being a bum for a few days, eating far too much Turkey, and indluging in a massive amount of sweets, I figure it's time to get back to riding.  I missed one ride last week, and need to get my butt in gear this week as I'm already falling behind.

But, before I do I wanted to post this image from my ride last week where we had to do 10 sessions at 105-110% FT.  I'm following the power plan, but based on my little illustration below, I think that those following the HR plan would have to work an awful lot harder, and at a higher power output to achieve their numbers, or they may have thought they weren't working hard enough since their HR wasn't in the prescribed zone. 

I know that Jorge has commented on this in the past (there is a lag in HR numbers), but I figured I'd just post this, so that those in the HR group can see that their numbers may not mean quite as much for the shorter intervals as opposed to the longer intervals (where the HR should sync up with power within a few minutes).

Neil

(Week6.JPG)

Here we are and it is day 1 of the year 2009. Happy New Year to everyone!

Now that I have the data from the earlier lactate threshold test I must say one thing about the workouts. WOW!! Have my heart rate "dialed in" makes the workout a true workout. I may actually need to drop 1 notch, but I actually feel like I am working and accomplishing something.

I have posted a couple of graphics from Garmin Training Center. While my heart rate does fluctuate a lot one can see that my speed and pace are more consistent. Of course, I am not burning up the trainer and needing to put out any fires but for me this is wonderful. 

Michael

Yeah, the caffeine can raise your heart rate. So can albuterol. I have had to fight off the urge to use the inhaler before my workouts, since I've had a slight cold, but I wanted to know how my heart rate zones are in relation to how I feel. And, yeah, the higher zones feel pretty hard--but the low ones feel pretty darn low, too, so I suppose I'm right on track.

One question/issue: During the first interval in the main set today, it felt soooo much harder than I expected. Hard enough that I almost bailed on the workout, hoping that it was just a flukey day. But I just cut the interval short, lengthened the rest to compensate, and hit the next interval as prescribed. By the end of the second of the 5 intervals, I felt much better. I finished the workout strong and feeling good. Here's the question: does this happen to anyone else? I am wondering if it was a fluke, or if I should continue to push through the workouts when this happens. I literally felt like puking, and my HR was not near zone 5. Thoughts?