My bike and 2008

Let’s talk bike training.

First the big picture so you understand where I am coming from:

- Back to working full time, anywhere from 35-50hrs/week.

- Any single sport focus training in the last 2 years has been on running.  I have increased my ability to handle more running in all phases of my training.  I can handle 35-60 miles/week depending on the time of year.

- Looking at how I race, my swim/bike are slightly better than my run placing even though I was more focused on running these past 2 years.

- Cycling was my strength.  I believe my efficiency has improved and my all-day endurance (for lack of a better term) has improved as a result.  Overall, I think my cycling has gotten faster in 07 but not fast enough to PR on a given day.

- After reviewing my training logs, my best races happen after a long season of Periodized training.  Around 8 months.   Going like this, Pre-Season (base training) – General Preparation (intensity focus, VO2mas to Threshold workouts) – Specific Prep for Early Season Race (tempo/race specific workouts) – short break – Revisit Pre-season (put in a big volume camp) – General Prep (more of a focus on IM to Oly intensities, some threshold + workouts but higher volume overall) – Specific Prep (IM focused period) – Peak (taper) – Ironman Race.

- It is winter (snow on the ground) and dark outside.

- For the past 9 weeks of pre-season training I have done 16hrs, 19, 21, 15, 24, 18, 18, 10 (Christmas week), 15.  Longest ride being 5hrs and longest run being 2hrs, longest swim being 5k.

I hope that helps put things in perspective.

It is time to switch gears and I want to have a focus on cycling better this season.  So, I am going to put more energy into my riding.  My first general preparation phase will be tilted toward cycling as a result.  I will run as much as I can but not allow it to degrade my hard bike sessions.  I will put in the odd hard run but most of the intensity will be put in on the bike.  I will be swimming master’s 3-4 times per week which includes one hard swim, two endurance swims and a longer swim.

The Cycling Tilt

I am not going to call it a focus since I am still running and swimming quite a bit.  AND, I am not going to be doing a large amount of cycling volume right now.  I will save that for my outdoor riding days.

My cycling history, like most humans, means that if I am riding hard then my other sessions need to be really easy.  If I am riding threshold or above threshold (threshold defined as 60min pace) then I do not have much room for steady or high endurance training.  In the past, I have been able to handle 1-2 hard rides, 1 hard run, and 1 hard swim per week.  To start then, I will do 2 hard rides, no hard runs and 1 hard swim per week. 

I can still do a long ride but it can never be longer than 10% of what I can handle comfortably.  Likewise for my long run.  What does that mean? Basically, I will do 3hr long rides and the odd 4hr one.  I will be doing a lot of 1:45 to 2hr long runs.  That is where I feel I am at right now in terms of long workouts without causing extended recovery.  In other words, I will be able to work out hard after 24hrs of a long workout.     

What I have learned is not to make my program too dense.  I mentioned this before.  If I am doing these intense workouts then my other workouts need to be easy efforts.  Putting in a lot of steady hours leads me down the path to imminent destruction.  

The 30s Intervals

I do have a progression in mind that I will share down the road.  To wrap up this blog though, I want to discuss one of the key workouts I will be doing.

8-12 X 30s at Best Average Power with Rest 3.5min between each.

I have been using these for some time, well, after 1999 anyways.  In 1999, Stepto et al., studied the effects of different interval programs on time trial performance.  They found that doing 12 x 30s intervals at 175% of an athlete’s peak aerobic power OR doing 8 x 4min at 85% of their peak aerobic power lead to the greatest gains in TT performance (done twice per week for 3 weeks).  These interval durations were better than 1min, 2min and 8 min intervals at improving 40km TT performance.  Now, there is more to this than meets the eye, but I will save that for another day.  I just wanted to give you some evidence that 30s intervals can improve performance as well or even better than some longer interval protocols.

I love doing these intervals.  For me, they are so much easier to do mentally than threshold intervals like 5*10min at 40km pace with short rests.  I also find that I get a relatively quick increase in strength on the bike from these.  Lastly, you can recover quickly from them.  30s is enough to get some lactic acid produced but that lactic acid (H ions actually) are quickly absorbed during the spinning rest interval.  I do not lose a lot of glycogen in the process either. 

PS: do not get me wrong, there is a time when you should be improving your mental toughness and the intervals or sessions you do then should represent such an effort.  In the end, racing is hard and your training should prepare you for that.  It is just not something you should do all year. You will go nuts!

In the past, I have incorporated them when I have felt a lack of power in the later stages of my training.  I have tried threshold and tempo intervals as well but I find they really zap my strength and I need to reduce my volume as a result.  I still think there is a place for the longer/harder sets but the 30s intervals can be a great substitute in your program if you feel you need to bump up the top-end. 

I also find them convenient to do early in the season.  Transitioning from 20s pickups or intervals in endurance rides during the pre-season, you can easily progress without risk of injury into doing 30s hard intervals.  Then you can get into threshold/tempo workouts and time trials later on in the program.

Right now my plan is to do these 30s sessions up to 2 times per week for 3 weeks.  Then I will shift into some VO2max sets of 3-4min intervals.  I was going to jump right into the VO2max stuff but I am not comfortable with that right now.  I think the 30s intervals will be a good stepping stone. 

—Scott