In reply to Nigel Doyle: Fitness is improving so I'm moving to a 6 or 7 day a week training cycle. There's no need to ride hard all the time and the recovery rides increase overall volume while improving recovery. Rides near 1 hr power for 40+ minutes or rides over 2.5 hrs even at low power output are tiring.
Jan 25th, 2014
gym bike
65 minutes with a few intervals legs felt rested
15 minutes 160-170 w 3:40 at 450 w @ 105-110 rpm fairly easy 12 min 170-200 w 3:00 at 480 w @ 100 rpm fairly hard, but increasing rpm's helps 13 min 170 w 1:30 at 490 w and 90 rpm very (but not extremely) fatiguing, rpm range too low 17 min 140-170 w at the end of the ride heart rate was 125 bpm
Originally Posted by limerickman This thread is a useful reference both for the OP'er and for anyone else interested in setting up a similar log.
When I was racing I used to keep a detailed training diary and race diary to record how much activity I was doing and to record how I felt afterward a session/race. It was a very handy reference because after time, I could refer my recovery and performance to specific workloads and output.
Granted this was all done in less "scientific" days, but it worked well for me.
That's the beauty of a power meter. You download the ride data and add a description of the ride if there's anything out of the norm like overly tired, sore from last session or flying and well rested etc. Combine that with a program like WKO+ and you have a wonderfully detailed training diary with other added training aids crunching the numbers for you.
The other very cool thing is that you can use it to document changes in position on the bike too and set aside days for aero testing. Using the 'Chung method' (Robert Chung) or regression testing (ACoggan seems to prefer this method) you can use the power meter to test changes and document too. Doing such things on recovery days makes for a fairly easy and very productive session, especially if you're starting from a less than idea position.
2 hrs 40 min ride AP 196 w, started at 180 w and more or less raised it up to 205 w at the 2 hr mark at 2 hrs in I rested for 3 minutes pedaling at 125 w at 2 hrs and 20 min in an interval at 415 w for 2 minutes and 10 seconds, heart rate 158 bpm or so at end of interval but didn't feel fatigued drank 2 liters of liquids and 1 sports bar last 7 minutes at 310 w
avg rpm about 100
20 min cool-down at 75-100 w
not fatigued at end of ride, slight leg heaviness but felt like sparky felt much less tired at end of ride and felt like I could go on churning 325+ watts for 10 minutes or so but the objective isn't to near red-line except rarely during training, especially during a long effort
That's the beauty of a power meter. You download the ride data and add a description of the ride if there's anything out of the norm like overly tired, sore from last session or flying and well rested etc. Combine that with a program like WKO+ and you have a wonderfully detailed training diary with other added training aids crunching the numbers for you.
The other very cool thing is that you can use it to document changes in position on the bike too and set aside days for aero testing. Using the 'Chung method' (Robert Chung) or regression testing (ACoggan seems to prefer this method) you can use the power meter to test changes and document too. Doing such things on recovery days makes for a fairly easy and very productive session, especially if you're starting from a less than idea position.
Yeah, technology is really wonderful in that regard and anyone who I know from my era who has moved to using this technology swears by it.
15 min warm-up 120-170 w 30 min AP 260 w, 2 intervals at 410 W for 4:45 or so spaced 8 minutes apart recovery 180 w 15 min cooldown 60-100 w
didn't feel sore but a bit tight hamstrings and glutes definitely didn't feel good doing the intervals, it was a chore - not tired but not spunky - then again with almost 4 hrs total ride time including commuting yesterday it's not surprising.
since last week's back to back intense rides fatigued me have to make sure to keep a gap between long rides - normally 2 hr 10 rides outdoors don't tire me out and I hit much higher power outputs over 90 sec or so - always felt indoor rides are harder since I did them in winter '08, but poor ventilation is the problem.
1 minute 180 w 8 minute interval 415 w - (setting a PB), at the end power was increasing to 435 W last 30 sec 6 minutes active recovery at 200 w 4 minute interval 415 w - and this felt tiring, not recovered from the previous interval 11 minutes at 200-300 watts
60 minutes at 280-295 w : at 45 min in HR was 149 bpm, at end HR was 150 bpm, chugged a liter of sports drink and 1 chocolate bar at 30-35 minutes in, breathing rate nice and steady and fairly easy through to 60 minutes but getting pretty overheated in last 10 minutes that definitely was very uncomfortable
60 minutes at 301 W AP, started at 285 w increased to 300 at 30 minutes in and finished at 330 w for the last 5 minutes this was a 96% effort.. close to max but just slight leg heaviness after getting off the bike.
15 min 160 w warm-up 31 min AP 317 w, going further involves pouring a bit of water on the head to cool down and I didn't have a bottle with me.. took it a bit easier today 15 min cool-down 100 w
feeling a bit fresher even after 4 consecutive days of fairly intense cycling
2 hrs on the MTB clunker - ride includes about 700 meters of hill with 9-10% grade so power output near 400-450 W for a few short sections - just supposed to be a fairly easy ride
31 minutes, AP 254 W, 4 intervals of 2 minutes at 435 W with 3 minute recovery at 195 W and then cycled at 220 W breathing rate steady on all intervals, but very hot 30 minutes cool-down at 150 W
2 hrs 41 minutes, started at 195 W : (ride average power 216 W), 1 interval at 430 W average for 2 minutes at 2 hrs and 10 minutes in last 7 minutes at 300 W drank 1,3 liters of liquid and no solid food, the drink just had a few calories in it
breathing rate steady throughout ride, but legs were tight and sore mainly through quads, should ease off within 3-4 hrs
