It's killing me but..........

RapDaddyo

Nah, this stuff is the easy part. We've still got the 120%FT efforts (and more) to come.

Sillyoldtwit

What a shame RD. I didn't tell you did I? I have to visit this sick aunt of mine in Katmandu, so shall be away for a few months. Damn! I was so looking forward to that training.

Sillyoldtwit

OK here goes with the week totals starting first week in Feb. Ignore previous figures quoted - these are accurate.

Week (1) 3 x 20 @130W + 1 x 12 @120W Pathetic!

Week (2) 6 x 20 @120W + 1 x 5 @130W A bit better

Week (3) 4 x 20 @140W + 1 x 25 @ 140W + 1x 3 @ 150W Improving

Week (4) 3 x 20 @ 140W + 1 x10 @ 140 Easy week

WeeK (5) 5 x 20 @ 160 W + Sunday (raining) 1 x 55 @140W

Week (6) 3 x 20 @ 160W + 1 x 24 @ 160W + 2 x 20 @ 180W

Week (7) 2 x 20 @ 180W + 1 x 20 @160W Easy week

Week (8) Sorry forgot to log this week

Week (9) 5 x 20 @ 180W + 1 x20 @ 200W

Week (10) 1 x 20 @ 180W + 1 x 15 @ 180W + 2 x 10 @ 180 + 2 x 10 @200

Current Week (11) 3 x 5 @ 180W + 1 x 17 @ 180W + 1 x 15 @ 200 W + 3 x 10 @ 200W + 1 x 8 @ 210W + 1 x 7 @ 220W

So there you have the totals for 10 and a half weeks not including Sunday rides in the mountains from 56 to 75km.

RapDaddyo

Here's my take on your training volume. Note that I included Week 0 - pre-advice. All numbers in minutes at level (per Andy Coggan's schema).

Week L4 L5 L6 Total
0 57 103 1 161
1 72 0 0 72
2 125 0 0 125
3 105 3 0 108
4 70 0 0 70
5 155 0 0 155
6 124 0 0 124
7 60 0 0 60
8 ? ? ?
9 120 0 0 120
10 75 0 0 75
11 77 15 0 92

It may not be obvious, but there is a huge difference between week 0 and the rest of the weeks. In week 0, you were doing lots of short L5 intervals. Beginning in week 1, you began doing primarily 20min L4 repeats with almost no L5 or L6 time. The weeks that really contributed to your improvement were the ones when you got 120+ mins at L4.

netscriber

This is exactly what I wanted to see...Thanks Ty/RDO.

BTW, do you ride 1d on/1d off? 3d on/3d off? everyday?
And this is just the interval time isnt it? IOW the long rides are also contributing to your progress. Correct?

Sillyoldtwit

Ideally I would like to train Mon/Tue/ Wed in the gym and Sundays out on the road. As you've probably guessed I don't always achieve this. I've only been training seriously for 10 weeks and am not yet the mean, lean fighting machine I intend to be. More like the fat cat in a hat!

I think, in fact I'm sure, you have to listen to what your body is telling you.
This morning here in the land of the rising sun, my brain is saying "hey let's get down the gym and spread some sweat" however, my body is saying "you're not going to the gym today - if you go, you go alone without me."
So I guess the body wins, I will now have 3 days rest and burn up the tyres on Sunday in the mountains.
As to whether the Sunday rides are contributing towards my progres, I would think not, as they never facilitated any progress in the past. What they do do, however, is help towards building my stamina which I need plenty of for June the 4th.

GAMBARIMASU! Which means, battle on etc. TYSON

Sillyoldtwit

IOW I've been slacking for the last month or so. Well, that's encouraging.
Bloody hell RD my body is trying to catch up with the extra burden I'm placing on it. You're talking to a geriatric here, not a young buck. I'm sure if I was in my 20s I would be doing 260/280W by now. So go easy on this old frame, I want to be here to grow up with my 7 year old daughter.
And my young Japanese wife. (Better put that in as she might sneak a look at the forum.)

RapDaddyo

No, I think there is a lag factor both ways (training effect and detraining effect). I don't think your minutes in a specific level or collectively in the high value levels (L4+) in a given week are all that important. Rather, I think your minutes by level over the course of several weeks matter. I summarized your training the way I did because I think it can be boiled down to that level of simplicity. IOW, forget about how many minutes per day, whether you take a day off between, how many minutes recovery between intervals, etc., etc., etc. What matters is minutes by level in L4+ (assuming they are done at a power/duration combination as prescribed by the schema).

I'm not pushing you. Back off any time you want. I think I'm only providing suggestions for how to achieve your original stated objective. I'm more concerned with how you're going to manage your power on your climb without a PM. That's a much bigger challenge than telling you how to increase sustainable power.

Sillyoldtwit

My climb Do you have one specific climb in mind I don't know about or are you referring to climbs in general?

In all seriousness though, you rate PMs that high? I'm still considering one, but they seem a little technical to me. And I still have to find the instructions in English. Maybe I should order one from overseas.

Back off? Not me - not yet anyway!

RapDaddyo

Several members of my weekend riding club in their 30s and 40s would be thrilled with your current power numbers. And they ride every weekend.

Sillyoldtwit

My younger brother Tim who lives in Capetown South Africa maybe tuning in here. If you are Tim - Hi!

He's a surfer I think not a cyclist. What about interval training for surfers.

1 x 3 minutes on a 15 footer for a start!

RapDaddyo

I assume you have a specific climb in mind when you ride with your young friend and show off your new climbing power. Maybe not, in which case it's climbs in general. Either way, climbs are all about managing your power right to the edge of your limits. With a PM, it's easy. Without a PM, you can use speed if it's a known grade and winds are not too strong but most climbs vary in grade somewhat from bottom to top.

For managing power at or close to your limits, absolutely! They aren't any more technical than reading the tachometer in a car. You've been using a PM for months now. What's the difference?

Sillyoldtwit

I'm sure I read somewhere in this forum, there's a lot of data to be analized with PMs. Perhaps I've got my wires crossed.

RapDaddyo

There's a lot of post-ride analysis one can do with PM data. But, used for their most simplistic purpose, they allow you to ride at your pre-determined target power. In your case, you might want to do a 15 minute climb at your FT=200w. With a PM, you manage your intensity with the PM and you don't worry about HR or speed.