Today, I’d like to talk a little bit about my training in the past two months and share some insights and lessons I’ve learned along the way.
Training with Power
I began training with power in the middle of December and it’s definitely proved to be a useful tool in planning and carrying out workouts. However, I’ve haven’t made too big a fuss about it because I know most of you don’t own one. Also, I’ve not been training with the power meter long enough to be able to tell what kind of workouts I benefit the most from, but I’m sure that will all come with time and experience.
Consistency
This picture sums up my training over the last two months well:
(Blue-Highlighted Days indicate Days on the Bike)
You can see two pretty huge gaps in training as my bike was being shipped to and from Santa Cruz. Other than that, you can see I’ve been pretty consistent in taking 2 days off a week.
I think when it comes to training there are four things you need (listed in order of importance):
- Recovery
- Consistency
- Quality
- Quantity
Other than recovery, consistency is (in my opinion) the most important facet to training. I’ve had some GREAT weeks of training. In fact, in about 90% my workouts I’ve met or exceeded my power targets. But these great weeks have been broken up with weeklong breaks such that the overall benefit has been watered down.
In the next three weeks (and into the racing season), my goal is to be more consistent in my training, not letting external speed bumps have a huge effect on me getting out and riding.
Stagnation
One of the critical facets of training with power is the power test. The power test is a 20 min all out effort that correlates with one’s function threshold power (FTP, the theoretical power output one could sustain for 1 hour). Some do this test every couple weeks, some much longer than that. I did one at the very beginning of my use of the power meter and one today.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get the result today I was hoping for. I did pretty much the same exact power as the first time. This is a little frustrating as, subjectively, it seemed like I had moved up a bit. But I’ll re-test in a couple weeks and I’m sure it’ll be up as I’ll be doing more targeted workouts to increase FTP.
Looking Forward
My goal in the next three weeks (besides being more consistent and doing a better power test) is to increase intensity in preparation for the collegiate season. I plan on doing some harder rides (1-2 hrs) at Sweet Spot (between tempo & threshold), and increase the amount of time I’m allocating for intervals (more repetitions, longer intervals). Furthermore, I want to try out tabata intervals a few times.
If you’re interested in the workouts I’ve been doing, check back in the coming weeks as I’ll be posting more on training methodology. Thanks for reading and don’t hesitate to leave any thoughts or questions in the comments!
Funny you mention poems. I’m a manly man but I did write three for my wife (inspiration just hit me, doesn’t happen often but when it does, I roll with it)… They’re all framed and hanging throughout the house – the only gifts I’ve ever given her that enjoy such status… Good point there.
ha I think you’ve got the wrong post. Though I do intend on throwing down some poetry Valentine’s Day…
That’s awesome – it was the wrong post – but it wasn’t my “fault”… My reader carried that comment from the previous comment I’d made. That’s nutty!
haha yes wordpress messed up there
The tabata intervals sound like a good session. Think I may look at introducing them into my interval sessions.
My friend told me to do them on an empty stomach the first time…But he says they’re super effective so I definitely want to try them out
I was just reading about training on an empty stomach. At first I thought it sounded like a bad idea because I tend to feel the effects of the bonk quite badly so I wouldn’t be able to get the most out of my session. It does make sense though that it fires up the metabolism and loses weight.
I didn’t know that about training on an empty stomach – pretty interesting. I think since the interval session is so short, it’ll be hard to bonk. And definitely don’t want to be throwing up from the intervals…
Improving FTP involves a lot of things, but I think you’re on the right track–stringing together several weeks and months of consistent work on it. That and rest, no stress, and luck. Speaking of….best of luck to you.
Definitely. I’m been doing a lot of Zone 2/3 just because it’s significantly less stressful than the SST/Threshold efforts, trying to get in more of the latter now that I’ve got a solid base. But certainly still on the left side of the power learning curve.
Thanks a lot!