|
[
Hump
|
Timeline |
Clearwater Bridge |
Suncoast Trail |
Fort De Soto Park |
Pinellas Trail |
Watts Compared
]
Progress Report 002 this page last updated:
01/17/2016 01:07:38 PM
The rest of this page is the original installment from the 23+ Widder's Hump which is being summarized in the book: Cycling Performance Simplified. 04/14/08: Today we took a day off from outdoor riding and conducted a baseline review on the Computrainer by comparing Mary's current performance with the results she achieved during her final test before we left for Florida in December 2007. The results were so startling they warrant this new Progress Report page. In addition, I am now aware (quite frankly shocked) that even the baseline knowledge necessary to understand what we are doing is missing from even the most likely riders whom I had most expected to know it. Therefore, an extended summary description might be useful. First, the incredible results. This morning Mary repeated her final Computrainer test of last year. That was the test which gave us baseline targets for workouts in Florida. In Florida I used the Computrainer results to set real-world baselines (after getting the watt meter) and completed a series of workouts designed to improve her performance toward a 23+ Widder's Hump. I was pretty excited to be able to return to the Computrainer and check progress based on December's tests, because all our testing in NY thus far has been based on expectations established during our Florida program. Our tests so far have also served to give a few people (who were curious) a look at Mary's progress, and also to finalize Mary's understanding of how her new riding style and ability compares to old standards under known group riding conditions. The group rides have been extremely instructive, but today's return to the Computrainer proved to be an epiphany for Mary. Throughout November and December of 2007, I assigned Mary Computrainer workouts which were specifically designed to firmly establish her actual performance. Don't forget, almost everybody would acknowledge that Mary was already a strong rider, and she was riding as strong as ever. She completed a 21.2 mph average Hump not very long before we started the program. However, in order to design her program for her 23+ Widder's Hump I needed to know "exactly" what her performance level was, so I set her on a quest to find out. One exercise I gave her was to find out what effort she could maintain for a four mile split, which is how we have divided the Hump for her 23+ attempt. We progressively stepped the test upwards and downwards in effort, time, and distance trying to discover that magic number of watts average which she could maintain in a steady state ride. The summary went something like this: "Mary, put together a one mile flat course on the Computrainer. Then ride a series of tests (over the next several weeks) to see how many watts average you can do for 4 in a row of 1-mile intervals with rests in between. The goal is to find the exact number of watts average which will feel exactly the same to you at the end of the fourth interval as it did on the first. Check and record your heart rate at the end of each" Just before Christmas, Mary's performance was 4 x 1-mile intervals at 180 watts, with a three minute rest in between. Her notes state that her HR was 169 by the end of each (Zone 5 bottom for her), and that the last quarter of each test was very hard, and the last two intervals were harder than the first two. I used those figures to establish Florida goals and workouts. This morning she returned to the same test, and WOW! She did all 4 x 1-mile intervals at 180 watts with a final heart rate of 142 at the end of each, top of Zone 3. Now get this: they were so easy for her that she didn't even bother to do a rest interval in between. She reports she surely could have done 20 of them with no more effort. The results match what I expected from seeing her current performances on the road where, on last Saturday's Hump for example, she did 2 x 12 minute intervals (3.95 and 3.86 miles) at 200 watts, plus a couple of hard hill intervals, then a 18:58 minute interval (pulling from the Jolly Onion to the finish line) with a 167 watt average. Mentioning that sort of effort last year would only have made her laugh and add, "Right. Like that would ever be possible." Therefore, seeing that she can now ride at speeds, efforts, and distances which were absolutely, no questions asked, totally impossible just a few months ago, Mary has really gotten charged up for the next steps to be taken in her 23+ Widder's Hump. For a recap I reviewed the overall plan which I had explained to her long ago. Even though she has seen all the elements in context now, it still confused her. I realize it probably sounded like a joke the first time I said it and that other people might be confused as well, so here is the overview again. It is a very simple concept, but Mary kept switching the elements and misunderstanding the why of each, so I had her write them down in the correct order and think through the how, why, and where of each point once again while keeping in mind what she has already seen. Here are the three points as she wrote them down: 1) Fewer watts per mile per hour 1) Her miles per hour for the Computrainer tests are now slightly higher for the same average watts in December, so that means she has a more efficient and consistent spin. 2) Her HR is almost 30 beats lower for the same average wattage, so that means her aerobic and metabolic systems are functioning more efficiently. 3) Since her perceived effort overall is so drastically lowered, she is now to the point where she can envision (sort of) how she might decrease her effort per heart beat. I explained it like this. "Lets say you can do 20 mph with 210 watts. We improve your mechanical performance until you can do 20 mph at 200 watts." "Then we improve your aerobic capacity until you can do the 200 watts with 140 bpm, down from 160." "Now that you are doing 200 watts for 20 mph at 140 bpm, we work on getting each beat per minute to be a little easier. We haven't even begun to get to that point in our program yet, but we are well on our way." I reminded her, "Like I said last year, your 23+ Widder's Hump is going to be a lot less difficult in terms of pure physical effort than you expected, but it is going to be a lot harder in terms of mental focus and concentration." She seemed to understand, so I asked for her notes regarding the three summary steps regarding fewer watts per mph, fewer heart beats per watt, and less effort per heart beat. I said, "Let me make this even simpler. Here is how Einstein might have phrased it:
Where 'E' in this case equals Effort not Energy. For our purposes it is the same thing though. "Oh, now I get it."
this page last updated:
01/17/2016 01:07:38 PM |
