too much post, not enough time! (rasta accent)
could this be called balance?
I think that as I've been riding up to 5 days a week there is no way in hell that I'm going to post all those rides, so I'm simply going to post those that stand out from the rest. Besides, I have a crapload of work to do on the computer that doesn't involve my heartrate; other than the times I can't figure out why my images won't show online but my src and href files are correct... I HATE DEBUGGING!
A few weeks ago I put in a 70 mile effort just to see if I could at this stage of the season. Everything was starting to fail towards the end but it was still fun, most of the time. Some wad (geek, herb, idiot, etc.) made a snide comment about my use of armwarmers for the day's tempurature. I'm guessing that he felt that there wasn't a need given the copious amount of arm hair he was farming. What pissed me off was that I gave him a friendly nod and he just stood there w/ this shit-eating grin on his face finally breaking his aloof silence by cracking on my apparel. I hate people.
The week before that I did 222 miles for the week! I felt great, and it was nice to get over the 200 mile mark so early. But, it has dawned on me that I'm not sponsored despite my best attempts to look as though I am, so there is really no justification at putting in that amount of time on the bike. So I've started to cut my rides to around 2-3 hours depending on what I'm trying to accomplish. If I'm going hard it will be the short side of 2 if not less, while if I'm chillin' or doing base work it'll be closer to the 3 spot. The 50+ rides really eat into your day not only in time on bike, but also in the recovery process. I'm usually a vegetable after those kind of efforts.
a little bit of ultratraining!
The hard efforts lately have been tailored towards Lactate Threshold training. Basically I'm trying to brainwash my body in thinking that lactic acid isn't that bad, Clockwork Orange style, minus the Beethoven. I'm riding just into Zone 4 right around 163 BPM (for me) so I don't fill my legs w/ acid and they're able to flush what I am creating efficiently. The more you do this, the less that the acid and amonium buildup affects your performance at this effort level. Depending on your fitness, you can up this level in future rides until your body says no more. This helps you go longer, and harder when others start to blow up.
I've also added the Fatty rides back into my routine as well. Ride up to your high Zone 2 and not above so you'll want to do this on flat terrain; no hills! The reason why you want to avoid the changes in terrain is that you won't be taking on any calories. No gels, bars, carb drinks, nothing! Doing this forces your body to search for the most readily available energy source in your body w/ out tapping into your glycogen stores (Zone 3 and above) which is whatever you put into your stomach. If you haven't put anything in there it will switch and look for the next readily available source which is your fat! This generally happens around the 1:30 mark into your ride. You'll feel ravenous, then suddenly nothing! Keep this effort and most of your caloric expenditure will be provided by your fat stores. This is an old Euro-roadie training secret. You should only do this when you're decently fit. Otherwise you'll bonk and crash. I do carry gel w/ me in case I do have some problems and I do need some calories to get me home.
cycleboredom says talk w/ your doctor before beginning any type of exercise regimen, and definitely before you starting taking any sort of supplement. Eat better. Live longer.
T-tags:training, cycling, lactate threshold, zone training
I think that as I've been riding up to 5 days a week there is no way in hell that I'm going to post all those rides, so I'm simply going to post those that stand out from the rest. Besides, I have a crapload of work to do on the computer that doesn't involve my heartrate; other than the times I can't figure out why my images won't show online but my src and href files are correct... I HATE DEBUGGING!
A few weeks ago I put in a 70 mile effort just to see if I could at this stage of the season. Everything was starting to fail towards the end but it was still fun, most of the time. Some wad (geek, herb, idiot, etc.) made a snide comment about my use of armwarmers for the day's tempurature. I'm guessing that he felt that there wasn't a need given the copious amount of arm hair he was farming. What pissed me off was that I gave him a friendly nod and he just stood there w/ this shit-eating grin on his face finally breaking his aloof silence by cracking on my apparel. I hate people.The week before that I did 222 miles for the week! I felt great, and it was nice to get over the 200 mile mark so early. But, it has dawned on me that I'm not sponsored despite my best attempts to look as though I am, so there is really no justification at putting in that amount of time on the bike. So I've started to cut my rides to around 2-3 hours depending on what I'm trying to accomplish. If I'm going hard it will be the short side of 2 if not less, while if I'm chillin' or doing base work it'll be closer to the 3 spot. The 50+ rides really eat into your day not only in time on bike, but also in the recovery process. I'm usually a vegetable after those kind of efforts.
a little bit of ultratraining!
The hard efforts lately have been tailored towards Lactate Threshold training. Basically I'm trying to brainwash my body in thinking that lactic acid isn't that bad, Clockwork Orange style, minus the Beethoven. I'm riding just into Zone 4 right around 163 BPM (for me) so I don't fill my legs w/ acid and they're able to flush what I am creating efficiently. The more you do this, the less that the acid and amonium buildup affects your performance at this effort level. Depending on your fitness, you can up this level in future rides until your body says no more. This helps you go longer, and harder when others start to blow up.
I've also added the Fatty rides back into my routine as well. Ride up to your high Zone 2 and not above so you'll want to do this on flat terrain; no hills! The reason why you want to avoid the changes in terrain is that you won't be taking on any calories. No gels, bars, carb drinks, nothing! Doing this forces your body to search for the most readily available energy source in your body w/ out tapping into your glycogen stores (Zone 3 and above) which is whatever you put into your stomach. If you haven't put anything in there it will switch and look for the next readily available source which is your fat! This generally happens around the 1:30 mark into your ride. You'll feel ravenous, then suddenly nothing! Keep this effort and most of your caloric expenditure will be provided by your fat stores. This is an old Euro-roadie training secret. You should only do this when you're decently fit. Otherwise you'll bonk and crash. I do carry gel w/ me in case I do have some problems and I do need some calories to get me home.cycleboredom says talk w/ your doctor before beginning any type of exercise regimen, and definitely before you starting taking any sort of supplement. Eat better. Live longer.
T-tags:training, cycling, lactate threshold, zone training
posted by Chris Huller at 6:15 PM
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