Anna Does The Etape: Owww

Thursday, 4 March 2010

Owww

Cycled home with Rachel via Richmond Park last night, you can see the route and stats here. It was dark so the Park was closed to cars, which was really nice. There were loads of cyclists though! The whole ride took 2 hours which was bang on what the training schedule required. Noticed my knee has started to hurt though...

Fixed new Polar cycling computer (bought from Rachel who has a new fancy schmancy one which does GPS) to bike last night, it tooks ages! It measures heart rate, as well as speed and cadence, this should help me monitor what I am doing and whether I am doing the correct kind of training. Tested it this morning and my average heart rate was a little high, this means I can ease off a bit. Having said that I didn't ride the full hour I was meant to as my knee is really hurting, so I had to give up and take the bike on the train :-S. Gonna take a couple of days off to see if it gets better. Also think I am knackered- I fell sideways whilst stationery this morning at a junction even though I had unclipped one of my pedals. Very amusing for the cars behind me!

No comments:

Post a Comment

Dictionary of cycling terms!

Cadence- revolutions of the crank per minute

Cycling computer- these measure various things such as speed and cadence and a whole host of of other things I don't understand.

ITB- Iliotibial band, not strictly a cycling term, but this pesky little band extends from the outside of the pelvis over the hip and knee and causes all sorts of knee and leg problems.

Over shoes- covers to put over your cycling shoes, they keep your feet warm and dry.

Sportive: a cycling "race"

Turbo Trainer- piece of kit you can attach your bike to to train indoors. Good for spinning training which is hard to do outside and good for rainy days. Requires something good on TV as potentially very dull.

Heart rate zones

Most of our training is heart rate based and you'll see in the training plans I post it'll say Z3 or Z4 etc. Below explains the zones, there are personal to everyone

Zone Range BPM Purpose

Recovery Short rides (non-training) for recovery

Zone 1
60-65% Development of economy and efficiency with very high volume, low stress work. Very long sessions improve the combustion and storage of fats. Combine with Zone 2 for practical unstructured low stress rides.

Zone 2
65-75% Development of economy and efficiency with high volume, moderate stress work. An important intensity for establishing a firm base for all riders. Combine with Zone 1 for practical unstructured low stress rides

Zone 3
75-82% Development of aerobic capacity and endurance with moderate volume work at a controlled intensity. Should be done alone or in a small group to stay in zone. Possible (but boring) on a turbo trainer for up to one hour in bad weather. 'Modules' can be incorporated into Zone 1 or 2 rides to increase intensity whilst maintaining volume.

Zone 4
82-89% Typical 'mean' intensity of most road races. Useful for tapering and as preparation, to simulate race pace, rather than as training. Sessions should be ended when the effort starts to tell.

Zone 5
89-94% Raising of anaerobic threshold, improvement of lactate clearance and adaptation to race speed. Should be done alone and:-
(1) as a specific road or 'turbo' session or
(2) for controlled periods within a shortened Zone 1 or 2 session or
(3) in a 10 or 25 mile time trial.

Zone 6
94-100% High intensity interval training to increase maximum power and improve lactate production or clearance. Probably best done on hills or a 'turbo' trainer.
NOTE 1. Should be done only when completely recovered from previous work.
NOTE 2. Heart rates are not the best guide for this type of training. Intensity should be such that the effort can just be held to the end of the interval. Ride on feel and use heart rate for feedback.

Anna Does The Etape

Thursday, 4 March 2010

Owww

No comments:

Post a Comment

Blog Archive

About Me

Training links and the Sky Etape Page

Dictionary of cycling terms!

Heart rate zones

Followers