Winter Cycling Plan Official Thread (Page 5)

Typo fixed

Ditto and the :15 on/:45 off and 1:00 on/1:00 off were killers!  Good thing CSI Miami is so mindless cause I was able to tune out for 15 mins and tune back in and never missed a thing!

Edited by Lisa B 2009-11-04 8:07 PM

Jorge - just to clarify - the first day you posted the chart on this thread the HR/RPE was combined and had different percentages than the current HR chart- is that correct?  The WU and CDs all had 68-73% (Which I followed today and felt like I was barely working, especially the CD - had to barely spin to get HR back down that low.)  Now it's 70-75%, correct?

Thx

PS - still one typo in the chart on WU 1 - there is still 5 mins at 75-80 FTP

Wanted to make sure I was looking at the right thing.  Thanks Jorge, and for putting this together  

Edited by ChrisM 2009-11-04 9:51 PM

yes, it is different. It should just keep you working at a more steady pace just having enough rest specially for those with a HRM

It never gets easier....you just get faster!

Try pressing power, mode, & reset simultaneously for several seconds.  It seems sometimes if I leave it on the charger too long it does this.

I'm hoping to hit session 2 tonight after work. I had intended to try it last night but I was reworking the erg files for the new WU, CD, and rest specs, and then other scheduling issues arose. I had already bumped up the FTP estimate that the workouts are based on but with the new definitions added in it's starting to look a bit scary. Tonight's effort will tell if it's too ambitious though. /*fingers crossed*/

completed #2 last night and left a puddle on the garage floor...

i'll be lagging behind after this morning, rolled my ankle terribly and will be out of commission for a while.

Hi Jorge. Q2 done for me. Had fun and worked very hard. Quick question about how you determine if your cycling fitness is improving if you are only going by HR/RPE. For power I can see that after X weeks you might see a power increase of X watts in the test. For HR, are we looking to increase our average HR over that test? Does that equal increased fitness? I'm just curious- whatever the test is, these sessions are awesome.

Q2 done and those intervals were leg killers!!  I am starting to get more and more comfortable on my P2 and the trainer.  FYI:  I've got the Departed playing in my dvd player this week while riding and when it is "go" time I can still hear all of the mobsters in the background for a little extra motivation....awesome movie and great workouts so far.  I am sure I will be beat down after Q3 this week.

Good luck everyone with keeping up on Jorge's plan and a big thanx goes out to Jorge!!!!

Q3 done today.  I had to pull it ahead or it would not get done due to crazy weekend plans.  That was a tough one....

Does anyone have any idea why spinscan i not working why I am in cs mode?  it works in 3d mode.

Q2 done this morning at 4:30am.  Can't watch TV, just turn up the Sirius satellite TV as loud as I can and not wake up the family.

Tomorrow I start coaching swim team before school (5:30am-7am) and so no more morning workouts except on days I get in and swim with the kids.

No prob, lots did that last year - imo better to start from the beginning of the plan even if you start late rather than skipping the 1st week.

Q1, 2, and 3 all done now... Q3 was tough! well they all were, but you know...

In erg mode the CT is applying a load to the wheel instead of sensing the current generated, which makes it much harder for the system to measure the varying instantaneous forces you are applying to the peddles at the same time. So hard, in fact, that they don't bother trying. It's in the manual.

Edit: And, I've done the Q2 session now. I may still be sandbagging a bit but it felt tougher this time so I'll stay with my current power levels until we test.

Edited by Micawber 2009-11-05 9:46 PM

Q1 and 2 done and planning to do Q3 in the morning.  I added a quick 35 minute run after Q2 because the weather was so nice (well...as nice as Chicagoland in November can be), I couldn't pass it up!

Loving the structured workouts - I tend to slack off November and December so this program is going to keep me motivated!

W1Q2 done last night...I seem to be challenged to get past that 100%+ HR mark

This is a bit trickier indeed however you can get a guestimate baseline once we do the testing. You can use your trainer and speedometer as a way to set a benchmark for improvements though this will require for you to test under almost identical circumstances to reduce any variable that may throw off the result. By that I mean to set up your trainer indentical or as close to it every time you ride.

IOW, everytime you ride set the resistance on your trainer the very same based on what's recommended by the manufacturer, pump your tires to the same PSI recommended by the tire manufacturer, test around the same time everytime, fuel as similar as possible, do it in a ventilated area for cooling effects or use a big fan, etc. By doing all this it will be a nice attemtp at replicating similar testing circumstances all the time and that will help you as on the 1st test you can record what avg speed you can hold at your LTHR or LTRPE (going all out for 30 min). That way on next tests and when doing intervals your'll have an idea of what avg speed (gearing combo) you should have to achieved x or y intensity.
That way next time you test if for instance the 1st test your LTHR was around 175bpm and you avg 20mph and on the next round of testing you still have the same LTHR @ 175bpm but this time you avg 20.5mph while keeping all variables the same then you'll know you are going faster at the same effort which means greater fitness/power.

Another alternative is to guesstimate power by checking if your trainer manufacturer offers power conversions based on resistance and gearing combo. Some brands like Kurt trainer does, don't know if others do but check on their website, maybe yours do as well.

I hope that answers your questions and gives you an idea as to how to make sure your testing variables are as controlled as possible so you can replicate those for future testing and track fitness improvements