If you want to go race - then go race. Whether you do it now of when you hit 3w/kg it'll be a shock to the system. The only advise I can give you for that is warm up well, get to the front of the bunch at the start and prepare for more short efforts than you've ever done on a bike. It'll suck - but at least you know that in advance! LOL Incremental increases in fitness as well as riding smarts (cornering, positioning in the bunch and learning how/when to react or let others do the work) will help you progress.Originally Posted by hrumpole .
Some good news today. Seems that the earlier breakthrough was in the ballpark. 3:45 at an NP of 203. Elevation corrected vertical = 6500 (Garmin connect).
Peak 60 minute NP=229 (the second hour), with average HR in tempo zone, which suggests that RDO was right about being able possibly to hit 235 for an hour. (Peak xpower=207. Big difference, and can't figure out why-supposed to be basically the same. 22w is a lot over an hour-to me, anyway). (By way of comparison, two months ago I hit an NP of 229 for 20 min with avg HR in mid-threshold and I thought I would spew a lung).
CTL is at about 52, and I'd like to see it hit 80 before I try working on the shorter intervals. Since starting on December 1, my belt has come in 2 notches (down to the last one), my jeans are too roomy, but my weight has not materially changed. Performance on the road has definitely improved.
Hard for me to say now where my strengths will lie. Seems to me there's still too much to learn and not enough data. As a younger person, I'd characterize my running strengths as distances of 400 yards or less. But I was a lot lighter, and not a cyclist so this is all pure navel-gazing. More likely for me to be the kind of person that could "pop" up a shorter rise than grind out mile after mile in the alps. If I can, seems to me that the first step is to get FTP up over 3 w/kg, and then pick an event.
(The way Coggan explained it, each one of those anaerobic bursts is a "match". The bigger and deeper the base, the bigger a matchbook you can build. Is that what you mean?)
Personally, on the brief amount of info I've read about you, I'd start putting in some harder 5 to 8 minute efforts in some of your rides. Personally, I'd start off doing these at high L4 rather than L5, just so you get used to the effort. You can also ramp the effort up going to the start of these efforts rather than just going from say 200 watts to 260. It helps take the sting out a bit when you're not used to them. There's no need to kill yourself unless your head is in the right place for those types of efforts. If you already have a plan laid out with regards to training then I'd follow that. If you don't have a plan then that'd be something to do real soon.
As for losing weight I tend to find that rides that include hard L4 efforts stoke the post ride hunger beast. They're great for training but I never seem to lose much that way... Conversely, if I rack up long rides where the IF is less than 0.9 then I can lose weight by the bucket load without being hungry... But weight, or lack thereof, helps everywhere and at any intensity.
Yes, that's what I meant by bigger base leading to a bigger matchbook.
Matches:
http://support.trainingpeaks.com/articles/cycling/what-is-a-match,-by-hunter-allen.aspx