Palewin wrote:
I saw my name, so its time to chime back in. Your question combines two separate aspects of workload: total time and power level. My "three weeks up, one week down" pattern is very unoriginal; I first saw it mentioned in Friel's "Training Bible", and more relevant to me, its what my CTS coach follows in the schedules he prepares for me. But what changes within a particular cycle is not the power range (i.e. my current L4 is 214-248 watts that stays constant) but the amount of time I spend in the range increases weekly. So in week 1 of the cycle I may total 1 hr 45 min of L4 intervals, in week 2, 2 hr of L4, and in week 3, 2 hr 15 min of L4 intervals. After the easy week, the 1st week of the next cycle might start at 2 hrs of L4 and build from there. I will probably retest my FT power every two months (during the easy week, so that I'm rested), and it's the retest that (hopefully!) results in my raising the entire set of power ranges for the successive cycles. Now to keep this complete, but not turn into a chapter on training (which I'm not qualified to write, anyway) what we change with each cycle is the type of interval. For example, my previous cycle concentrated on what CTS calls "Muscle Tension" intervals, big ring climbing repeats in the mid-L4 power range. The cycle I'm now in (I'm in the 2nd week) concentrates on CTS Tempo intervals, longer big ring low-end-L4 intervals on flat-to-rolling terrain. As we get closer to my real racing season, I know from experience we will have cycles concentrating on shorter L5/L6 intervals. But in each cycle, the power range will stay constant, the total accumulation of time in the range will build from week to week. I think most coaches agree on this basic overall picture. Where they differ is in the types of intervals they prescribe and the total workload. This is one of the ways in which individuality enters the picture
Reading through again I realized it was not as complex as I thought.
However, I don't think I'm capable of following that pattern yet. I feel for a while I shoud stick to 2 x 20 and possibly a 3 X 20 on the day before the rest day as RD suggested. Mind you, the day before my rest day, in my case Friday after 3 days of intervals in the gym, I would probably be too tired to do 3X20.
When I cycled to find my FT (1 hour at 130) I was quite fresh, so
3 x 20 at 120 when tired might prove to be nigh on impossible yet. You say you do your intervals at 214 - 248; can't imagine that at the mo. Maybe I've got this wrong, but as I said before I try to do all my intervals at around a cadence of 90 per minute. (which someone told me a long time ago was the figure to aim for). Do you do your figures above at a high cadence or do you slow it down. I think if I slowed it down to 60 say, I could increase my watts considerably.
RD wrote:
don't know who said it (in part because you would have gotten the same answer from almost any of the regular contributors on this forum), but you have it right. Cycling is all about overcoming one or more resistances. On the flat, the primary resistance is drag and the second resistance is rolling resistance. On the flat, the things that affect your drag affect speed enormously. The (main) things you have control of are your position on the bike and your wheels and tires. That's why wind affects your speed so much on the flat. As soon as the road tilts up more than a few percent, gravity quickly moves to the top of the resistance list. Obviously, some drag remains but it becomes secondary due to the lower speed. The main reason you need power is to lift the weight of you and your bike vertically. The most commonly used measure for climbing is watts per kilogram. To climb at the same speed, you need to generate the same w/kg as your riding buddy. Let's say that your buddy's weight is 60kg (132lbs) and that he can climb at 150w. So, his w/kg is 2.5 (150/60). Then, let's say your weight is 75kg(165lb). To match his speed, you would need to climb at 187.5w (75*2.5). There are lots of good reasons to lose weight, but this is one more. Lose a few pounds and your goal gets closer. I am in the process of slimming down for race season and my w/kg will go up by about 0.5w/kg as a result. That's huge in races with any major climbs. I put an 8x10 enlargement of the view from the bike of a major local hillclimb (Mt. Charleston) on my refrigerator (see below). I remember how I felt at that exact point in the race last September as I struggled to lift the weight of me and my bike up that mountain. That's all the incentive I need to pass on the extra calories. BTW, if need some help working out the #s to lose weight, try this free site
http://www.fitday.com/.
Thanks RD for your very clear explanation. Sorry but it still seems too cut and dried to me. I feel weight and power is 90+% of it, but I can't help feeling other things come into play on the hills. For example ones physiological makeup - perhaps shorter legs, shape of ones hip bone and lower lumbar region, that is, one's skeletal structure facilitates good climbing ability.
And what about the size of your internal organs, in particular those that come into play in your cardiovascular system. I believe Indurain and Lance were born with larger heart and lungs. Though I suppose having a larger heart and lungs allows you to develop more power, so we come back to the formula of weight and power.
Just so I've got this clear. If hypothetically we have a short man weighing 60 Kilos and tall man weighing 75, and they both do exactly the same training and have developed equal power, (both have 15% body fat say) then on a climb the shorter light man will always outclimb the tall guy. Seems unfair.
To my way of thinking, for your height you shoud have an optimum weight, and if 2 guys (1 short and 1 tall) are both at the same fitness level and optimum weight for their size, they should climb at the same rate as each other. I know you are going to tell me gravity doesn't work that way. It does however, in reverse. A large stone and a tiny stone will fall at the same rate 32feet per sec per sec.
OK tear me to pieces!
