First TT!

Quoted message said:

Callas <[email hidden]> wrote:

: The really really really really hard final minute amounted to pushing
: hard but alas still in the same gear - I simply couldn't handle going up
: a cog.

Ah. My mistake.

The aim isn't to pick up speed for the last minute, it's to pace the whole
three minutes such that the last minute is absolute agony. Like this one 🙂

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!

Quoted message said:

To actually improve your sprint you'd be doing 20 second efforts. They
hurt even more.

Depends how often you do then. I find short sprints pretty easy and
enjoyable. There's a definete technique, though, which is hard to
describe in words.

Quoted message said:

: Second time I came to the final minute push it took a mental effort to
: get going, but once you start, it's not bad.

Usually the first interval is hard because you body isn't quite used to
it. The next is easier...

I think the warm up took care of that.

Quoted message said:

: Third time my final minute didn't amount to much - I hardly had any
: sprint left.

....and then you get buggered 🙂

Ka-ching 🙂

Quoted message said:

: Using up ones reserve of sprint had an interesting and revealing impact
: upon the rest of the ride; I was very aware of my lack of power. If,
: when spinning, the road gets difficult for a bit, normally, I'd just add
: a little power to keep the speed up and then revert to aerobic spinning,
: but that just wasn't really happening. Accelerating from slow to
: cruising speed was effort.

It's very interesting what happens once you've gone hard for a bit
isn't it! This is what you should feel like after a session like this.

This sounds like you got it basically right to me.

Yeah, felt like it too 🙂

Calvinism. If it hurts, it must be doing me good 🙂

Quoted message said:

:> Don't do this more than once a week to start with.

: That doesn't seem very often - I mean, once every three days maybe
: instead - but I could see this taking more out of me than I'd expect.

See how fast you recover. The absolute requirement is that you must
be completely recovered before trying again. If you've not going as
hard/fast as the first time, wait longer.

Hmm. I did a century on Sunday, but that was a slow ride, so it just
ate up calories rather than pushing me. I currently am still in
recovery, for sure, and didn't ride today. Tommorow I'll still be
weaker than normal, but a three hour ride is well within normal
operating boundaries, so it'll be okay. I probably shouldn't try the
hard stuff till Wed or Thursday, I suspect. That's pretty much a week,
really.

Quoted message said:

Definately no more than twice a week though, and obviously a real TT
replaces one of the sessions.

After four weeks, have a week off, then start again, maybe with another
interval.

All these pauses and rhythms - is it just about recovery? or do they
have additional meaning/usefulness?

--
Callas

Callas <[email hidden]> wrote:
:
:> Definately no more than twice a week though, and obviously a real TT
:> replaces one of the sessions.
:>
:> After four weeks, have a week off, then start again, maybe with another
:> interval.

: All these pauses and rhythms - is it just about recovery? or do they
: have additional meaning/usefulness?

The within week stuff is about recovery. It's why pros take EPO/HGH in training.
They can't take it during races because they'd get caught but taking it in
training means they recover quicker and so can string a lot of very hard
sessions back to back. The rest of us need to experiment to see how quickly
we can recover and then work accordingly.

The idea of having three weeks hard/one week easy is to work in bigger cycles.

Same basic idea, but it allows for complete recovery, then you start again
but doing more (either more often, or harder or whatever) and/or working
on something different.

Doing the same thing every week means you'll reach a platau after a while. How
long is very individual.

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune http://www.clune.org
"Technolibertarians make a philosophy out of a personality defect"
- Paulina Borsook

Quoted message said:

Callas <[email hidden]> wrote:
:
:> Definately no more than twice a week though, and obviously a real TT
:> replaces one of the sessions.
:>
:> After four weeks, have a week off, then start again, maybe with another
:> interval.

: All these pauses and rhythms - is it just about recovery? or do they
: have additional meaning/usefulness?

The within week stuff is about recovery. It's why pros take EPO/HGH in training.
They can't take it during races because they'd get caught but taking it in
training means they recover quicker and so can string a lot of very hard
sessions back to back. The rest of us need to experiment to see how quickly
we can recover and then work accordingly.

Okay, that's good, because it's straightforward and I can understand it
and properly respect it now. I do already of course; when tired, don't
ride; recover.

Quoted message said:

The idea of having three weeks hard/one week easy is to work in bigger cycles.

Ah, now this is the mystery stuff to me.

Quoted message said:

Same basic idea, but it allows for complete recovery, then you start again
but doing more (either more often, or harder or whatever) and/or working
on something different.

Ah, hmm. Different levels of recovery.

Quoted message said:

Doing the same thing every week means you'll reach a platau after a while. How
long is very individual.

Yeah, I have definetely found that. Fitness and performance seem
decidedly quantum.

--
Callas