Intervals at LT Power

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by fstrnu
My LT power is 165 watts based on a flat 10 mile time trial on a Computrainer.

Question: What would be a good starting point for structuring my LT intervals?

Since I can maintain LT power for ~34 minutes straight, I assume I should structure my intervals such that I spend more than 34 minutes total at LT. So, would 5 * 12 minutes or 4 * 15 minutes make sense? What do you do?

Thanks in advance.

fstrnu,

i assume that you mean TT power (i.e., 34 mins was some sort of maximal effort), rather than LT power (which can generally be sustained for a long period of time).

A great session to do after warming up (and making sure you're not ill), is to complete either 3 x 15-mins at ~ 150 W, 5 mins recovery between each effort, or 2 x 20-mins at ~ 150 W.

If the intensity is too high to complete such longish intervals then drop the power slightly and keep the duration the same.

There's little point in going shorter than 15-mins as power would have to increase (i.e., > e.g., 160 W) and this would have the effect of starting to anaerobic capacity -- whereas you need to focus on aerobic capacity.

Ric