I started riding last summer (August), but didn't do anything serious. This year I am feeling more serious. I would eventually like to do a century (maybe Sept. or Oct.) I ride about 3 times a week - 2 rides are usually 25-35 miles and the third ride is my "long" day which I increase about 10 percent a week. Right now I am only at 40 miles. I recently purchased a heart rate monitor to assist me in my training, but am getting frustrated because I want to increase my speed, but then my heart rate goes higher than it should. My speed is usually somewhere between 15-18 MPH. Sometimes I feel like I want to push it faster, but I've read that training in zone 3 is a waste, so I'm just not sure what I should be doing. ???
I want to increase my endurance AND my speed. I've read that interval training is the way to go, but I'm not even sure how to go about doing that. What do I look at to judge improvement? Distance, speed, my heart rate?
I'm sure this question has surfaced a million times, and trust me, I've searched the forums and read all kinds of stuff, but I still have questions. Any suggestions on a good training schedule I can follow each week would be helpful. Thanks for reading!
I want to increase my endurance AND my speed. I've read that interval training is the way to go, but I'm not even sure how to go about doing that. What do I look at to judge improvement? Distance, speed, my heart rate?
I'm sure this question has surfaced a million times, and trust me, I've searched the forums and read all kinds of stuff, but I still have questions. Any suggestions on a good training schedule I can follow each week would be helpful. Thanks for reading!