Increase your Cycling Power over the winter = Faster times on 2009 (Page 25)

 i've done both for the 100% ,,, keeping it in a lower gear at a cadence 75-80ish , but I've also played around with trying to hit the goal, by just cadence alone,, doing 120+ cadence,, some in the 130's

does any one have a regular crank mounted cadence as well as what the powertap reads,, I only have the PT now and I'm curious if they read the same,,

I find that if I spin above 100 then my HR really starts to increase and I'm not generating any more power, so I try to stay away from doing it.  Not sure if there is a benefit to spinning a really high RPM, perhaps Jorge can chime in.

Don't have a Powertap, but I'm trying to get a demo model to try out and see what I think.  The PM only "calculates" cadence as opposed to measuring it right?

New question for those using Sporttracks.  Are you able to import two different files from different sources for the same workout.

i.e. A powertap file +  Forerunner file.  That way you have a poor man's ANT file.  You can review both power and gps/elevation data in the same workout.  I'd be curious to know if it can be done. 

Oh, and if Sporttracks doesn't do it, would TrainingPeaks?

I seem to recall reading about a way to do this - you might want to check on the Sporttracks discussion board.  I know technically it can be done, as until I wrote a plugin to calculate power based on my trainer's power\speed curve, I was bringing the power data in from a spreadsheet and adding it to the workout data downloaded from the Garmin.  This would be a very cumbersome way to do it though as you would have to edit your powertap file to a readable format first.  I'm sure someone has come up with an easier way.

D

The PT does have an extra gadget to measure cadence I have it on the wired PT and also have a PT wireless without one, both work pretty close to each other.

Ok the thread about HR training got me more confused than even,,,,
while I'm not using HR as a primary training tool for the bike,  when I finish the workouts my HR never really gets out of z1, maybe z2 a little, So if the main consensus is that just z1 training is not that useful should I be concerned all my bike training is in zone 1...

also since I have a HIM in the spring nights like tonight after I do the total workout I'll do another 2x15min @ 82-87 % since I was scheduled for a 90 min ride... is this not a good idea to be doing the extra??

Gaarryy - I find that from a power standpoint my rides are averaging around 80% of my CP60.  My heartrate is perhaps just a little higher or lower percentage than that (only based on the 20min test).  It seemed really low to me as well, until I actually figured out the percentages and saw that the numbers look to make sense.

thanks thats good info.... psst what's CP60,, is that C3P0's 2nd cousin  
after thinking about it some more,, I also wonder if me being indoors on the trainer for all of these sessions makes a difference,  and all my LT tests on the bike have been done outside.  It's just odd to me that for the 10 min & 15 min set my HR never really starts creeping up, it does go up during the first min or so of effort then just levels off,,  I guess I 'm just nervous that even though my legs are fatigued that maybe I'm not working hard enough.  

Gary,

If you read my responses on the thread you are referring to I suggest a mix for training at different intensities to target different adaptations (particularly in the general phase aka base phase) and maximize gains. I personally don’t believe in limiting your training to exclusively z1-z2 for the base phase because physiologically speaking you need to do a LOT of this training to produce significant training gains, something most AGers don’t do for lack of time, fitness, life priorities, etc. Also I believe you have to move your training from general top specific (periodization) hence it is good idea to target other training adaptations on the general phase and then focus on specific adaptations relevant for your goal race distance.

In your case if you are racing HIM your specific training intensity is going to be z3 hence once you are like 8-6 weeks out of your big race you have to focus and do part of your training at this intensity (some longish runs/rides) and compliment the rest with other intensities like z4 to sustain the power we are working so hard to increase, z2 top allow you to improve slow twitch fiber resistance and go longer and z1 for recovery rides only.

What I suggest is to keep a mix of intensities throughout the annual training plan what changes is how much you do of each at what time. Early in the general phase focus more on the none-specific and in the specific phase target the intensity that you will be racing at. Of course once you follow a place the bulk of you training with always be around z2 and z3 because it is not as taxing for your body as z4 and z5, so yes the bulk of your training will be around that intensity but that doesn’t mean you should limit yourself to only that. Most days you’ll go steady (z2), others moderate (z3), a few days go hard (z4) or very hard (z5) and yet others you’ll just do easy short sessions (z1) as recovery.

Short answer; keep doing what you are doing as long as you can handle the total load. Extra traiing is always good as long as you can do the rest of your sessions day in day out. By following this winter cycling plan you are targeting different intensities and by complimenting it with some other rides (z2-z3) you are also targeting some of the specific intensity for your HIM. As you get closer to it you will do less of z4-z5 training and more of z2-z3. Does that make sense?

To be honest I don't train with a HR at all anymore, I use pace for swim/run and power for biking and always RPE for all.  I do use HR for some of my athletes who have that as a tool and as long as we understand its limitations it can be an eefective tool for sure.

Jorge

Yea since I started this I am moving away from the HRM.  I check the power meter and think nice steady smooth rotations. 

Joe

Thanks Jorge (I think).  Day 1 looks like it's going to hurt a bit.

By the way, I know this is a 14 week program.  Will, we be testing again soon, or will we not test again until the program is finished?

I wish I hadn't asked !!!

Thoughts while doing week 10, Q1.

• Why has my fan stopped working, it's getting so hot in here.
• Why has the clock stopped working, it's still the same time!
• Are my legs supposed to feel this way?
• Why doesn't Jorge like me - what did I do to him?

JorgeM - 2009-01-20 5:25 PM I just review the plan and in fact we will retest next week so get ready folks... I never said it was going to be easy!

There must be some mistake, I signed up for the easy plan.