New to Power and Cycling

[confusedxx]

Hey Guys

I am coming back to cycling after a 2 year break - mostly due to work and knee operation after skiing. I suspect my FTP is very very embarrasingly low. However, I am buying a Tacx Bushido (indoor trainer with power measurement).

I will also get PT or quarq for measuring power on the road.

So my question is really once I get the basic tests done, what is the best way to train with power to build a foundation. I would like to build the power and endurance to ride Mountain Passes in the Alps (since I live in Switzerland) any to ride in Olympic distance Triathlons.

Secondly, starting off from zero (lets assume it is that bad), what timeline do I need to give myself to reach my goals? Assume I can I train 3 days a week for 6-8 hours a week?

Thanks,

 

[SolarEnergy]

You never really start from Zero.

Years of sustained and regular training leave a *training footprint* that never goes away. And since you were not specific as to what your goals really are, it's hard to fair guess the level of fitness you'd need to build in order to achieve them.

That aside, no matter what your goals are, you'd have to build a Base. And the process of monitoring this build period can be fairly different depending on the tools you plan to use.

Did you plan in using wko+ ?

 

[confusedxx]

yeah I will use WKO+ also. The concern is really finding a good program to build my base. I see a lot of trainingpeaks plans are all about training for 7 days a week. That might be a bit hard for me.

I could probably manage 3 days a week or 4 days if 2 days are light (1 hour) and the weekends are more the weekend warrior type. Maybe I need a customized program for the autumn and winter time.

 

[SolarEnergy]

And what are your goals? (oupss. sorry, I just re-read your original post)

Well, the main purpose of a Base, especially given that you are going to use the wko+ training log, is to accumulate mileage. Consistency is the key. 3 or 4 workouts a week should be sufficient. If you are serious about time trialing, then some of this volume could be spent in improving your aero position.

If you like to ride hard, you can include some hard stuff to your base although you don't have to focus on that aspect.

Base could be made of volume done at moderate pace only, although I think it is better to mix this volume with some harder workouts once in a while.

- When did you intend to start building this base and log it to wko?
- When did you want to start visiting those mountains and ride these Triathlons?

You could always buy a training program if you'd like but I'd say that consistency can allow one to cover lots of miles without any sophisticated schedules.

The smartest move you are about to make, **are by very far**, is logging your riding data (power etc) in wko. In this software, your Base will be given a name: CTL. You'll see it grow as you progress in the season, and most of what you will read on the Internet will start to make a lot of sense. If you rest too much or are inconsistent with your training, you'll see it drop as well (this is no fun).

Purchasing Hunter Allen / Andrew Coggan's book on how to use the analysis tools in the software would also be very smart.

 

[Alex Simmons]

yeah I will use WKO+ also. The concern is really finding a good program to build my base. I see a lot of trainingpeaks plans are all about training for 7 days a week. That might be a bit hard for me.

I could probably manage 3 days a week or 4 days if 2 days are light (1 hour) and the weekends are more the weekend warrior type. Maybe I need a customized program for the autumn and winter time.

We can do that. Have a look here:
Custom Training Plans

I just had a guy come back to me yesterday to ask for a second traning plan to follow on from his first one. He lifted his Maximal Aerobic Power by 16% by following the plan and his average training time was only 5-6 hours per week (he didn't have a lot of time available). He was pretty fit before he started (in his view) but there was still plenty of room for improvement - just gotta use those hours wisely.

He posted the results in another forum (a local Aussie forum), link here if you are interested:
Australian Cycling Forums • View topic - The training thread: How was yours? (today/yesterday/etc)