W
Warren
Guest
In article <[email protected]>, chris
<[email protected]> wrote:
"Cat" wrote:
> > And I always thought that you should do longer interval training earlier in the season and
> > progress to shorter anaerobic efforts closer to racing season (I usually start these in April).
> > Am I wrong in this? Don't forget, I ride all year, so to do long, easy rides
> > (ie: the weird "base training" thing) seems counterproductive to me. It's not as if I ever
> > *stop* riding, I just go a little easier in November/December. I typically range between
> > 8000-10000 miles per year. I did do some days where the intervals were shorter, but I
> > don't see the point of doing a lot of base miles (junk miles?) when I never stopped riding
> > all year.
>
> It is a common misconception that somehow the body can't handle short intervals. I fell for this
> one for numerous years and its bullsh#t. I actually find some of the stuff I read online humorous
> because its so far fetched. In fact, I would argue the other way around, but that's just because I
> have my own views on training. I would say that you should always focus on short then long and
> move away from revolving your training around threshold (another misconception). There is no magic
> intensity, and actually, threshold training is more strenuous than 1 minute intervals.
Just to add to this, what Cat, PedalChick and countless others don't understand is the true purposes
of "base miles", long, slower rides, etc.. Among a few other things, this type of training increases
the density of your capillaries and their function-especially the ones in your slow twitch fibers.
The amount of this type of training that you _need_ determines how much of this type of
development/training you should do. If you've done many years of this type of training in the past,
and/or you already include a fair amount of it during your normal training sessions you may not need
to do more than a few long sessions a month at any time of the year.
It may well be that you should focus much more of your pre-season effort instead on "tempo"
training; 10-15 bpm below your LT HR during intervals of 10-40 minutes long.
A lab LT test can reveal what areas you should focus on in your training based on your body's
ability to "eat" or convert lactate at different exertion levels.
-WG
<[email protected]> wrote:
"Cat" wrote:
> > And I always thought that you should do longer interval training earlier in the season and
> > progress to shorter anaerobic efforts closer to racing season (I usually start these in April).
> > Am I wrong in this? Don't forget, I ride all year, so to do long, easy rides
> > (ie: the weird "base training" thing) seems counterproductive to me. It's not as if I ever
> > *stop* riding, I just go a little easier in November/December. I typically range between
> > 8000-10000 miles per year. I did do some days where the intervals were shorter, but I
> > don't see the point of doing a lot of base miles (junk miles?) when I never stopped riding
> > all year.
>
> It is a common misconception that somehow the body can't handle short intervals. I fell for this
> one for numerous years and its bullsh#t. I actually find some of the stuff I read online humorous
> because its so far fetched. In fact, I would argue the other way around, but that's just because I
> have my own views on training. I would say that you should always focus on short then long and
> move away from revolving your training around threshold (another misconception). There is no magic
> intensity, and actually, threshold training is more strenuous than 1 minute intervals.
Just to add to this, what Cat, PedalChick and countless others don't understand is the true purposes
of "base miles", long, slower rides, etc.. Among a few other things, this type of training increases
the density of your capillaries and their function-especially the ones in your slow twitch fibers.
The amount of this type of training that you _need_ determines how much of this type of
development/training you should do. If you've done many years of this type of training in the past,
and/or you already include a fair amount of it during your normal training sessions you may not need
to do more than a few long sessions a month at any time of the year.
It may well be that you should focus much more of your pre-season effort instead on "tempo"
training; 10-15 bpm below your LT HR during intervals of 10-40 minutes long.
A lab LT test can reveal what areas you should focus on in your training based on your body's
ability to "eat" or convert lactate at different exertion levels.
-WG