Training by John

I've seen tons of articles on the internet and read several good books on the subject of Training Programs, Periodization, and Intensity Levels.

All of those books seem to agree on the training intensities: Level 1 - Active Recovery, Level 2 - Endurance, Level 3 - Tempo, Level 4 -Threshold, Level 5 - VO2max, and Level 6 Anaerobic Capacity.

The training intensities listed above are also the periodization phases, listed in order.

Most of us pretty much maintain active recovery physical fitness mode throughout the year. So, we actually start at Level 2, Endurance. After we graduate from doing Endurance training, we introduce Tempo training, then add Threshold, then VO2Max, and Anaerobic Capacity.

The term 'power' listed below is average maximum power for 20 minutes.

Endurance Training - Just ride at 56- 75% of power.

Tempo Training - 76-90% Start riding for 1 hr at 76% power. Then add 15 minutes everyweek. Increase power accordingly.

Threshold - 90 to 105% Power - I call these muscular endurance (ME) workouts. Intensity is high at 90 to 105% of Power. Start with 1x15' workout, then 2x15s, then 2x20s, then 3x15s, then 4x15s, 3 x20s, etc.

VO2Max - 106 to 120% Power - These are short and fun workouts. 5sets of 5' (with 3' rest). 5sets of 6' (with 3' rest).

Anaerobic Capacity - 120% and above Power - Very short workouts at beyond potential - 8-10 sets of 1' work.

That's it for today. Good luck.

Coffee Republic Route / Mt. Vernon Rd

I suppose anything with the word "Mountain" is just pure scary. We did the CR route, minus Ridge Rd. And, deteoured onto Mt. Vernon Rd. It was not fun. But, it was all good. 21 Rio's blasting down Auburn Folsom was quite a scene. I don't think I pedaled at all. I got back to my house 3 hrs and 31 minutes later. And, my legs were fried from riding 58 miles. I don't think that I rode that far in quite some time. And, you add the Rio boyz to the mix, then you gotta ride! Per the PT data, I spent too much time in the Threshold and above category. I really wanted to be in the endurance zone. But, the Boyz wanted to get done by noon thirty. My legs are going to hurt tomorrow.

2x20s

You gotta enjoy doing 2x20s. I haven't done them in a while. And, to do them on the bike trail in the middle of the night with crazy deers, vampire bunny wabbits, and ghostly goblins, is pure enjoyment. The route was the north side of lake natoma, from mile 26 to mile 23.5 (near nimbus dam) and back to mile 27 (negro bar), which is about 20 minutes and 6 miles. It's not quite a straight route. It has plenty of rollers, blind corners, strange grade changes, and fast descents and non-pedaling zones. The first interval data: 224 watts (average), 168 bpm (average). The second interval (not shown): 212 watts (average), 170 bpm (average). I had a hard time reading my computer due to the lack of light, except the reflection of eyes from weird creatures of the night. So, I rode blind (no visual on the power meter) on the second interval. The great thing about riding at night is the lack of people on the trail.

AuburnFolsom TT

A simple 11 mile time trial shouldn't be that bad. Was it? Yes, it was. The route: Auburn Folsom from Douglas to Indian Hill Rd. I kept the power meter pinned at 210 watts. Eventualy, 27 minutes later, I got tired and the wattage dropped a little. You can see this on the graph. When the dust cleared, I managed to get up the hill for my personal best time of 46 minutes. Good times.

Training with Power

It's time. Time to train with power. The CycleOps Powertap Comp Wired unit was installed on the Scott road bike for a couple of weeks now. And, I can obviously tell that I'm in early season training fitness.

Cold and Chilly Month of December

Lots of fun stuff this month. Rain, cold, snow, deep freeze. I did fix my Xbox360. And, Ed is now doing the Zuzanna 550 workouts. I managed to get my weight down from 165 to 160 lbs. This is good stuff. My power to weight ratio just increased. Team Captain said our emphasis was Road Cycling, not cross and not mountain biking. So, I pretty much dropped cyclocross training and went straight into Road Base training. Soon, the PowerTap will be attached to the bike and I'll be able to Train with Power.

My workouts are pretty simple at this point. Long Rides on Saturdays, Recovery Ride Sundays, Hill intervals on Tuesdays, and Speed invertals on Thursdays. Gym workouts: Sunday is shoulders, biceps, and core. Wednesdays is chest, biceps, and core. Scoobysworkshop is da bomb. And, Zuzanna gives good form tips, as someone pointed out. Cheers!

My Niner

Here's my 29er bike. It looks pretty much the same as Michelle's Niner bike. No differences to mention, except for the older components on my bike, like crankset and cable discs. On this ride, we went to Tamarancho and rode some sweeeet singletrack. I had a few shifting problems, but very minor.