Anna Does The Etape: February 2010

Thursday, 25 February 2010

Training week commencing 22nd February

Monday

Rest

Tuesday- TURBO

30 mins easy gear, spinning and working hard to rev. without a high power. Save your legs but work your CV fitness and burn some calories

Wednesday -HARD AEROBIC
3 x 10 minutes in Z5 with 5 mins rest in between. Each 10 mins is a series of sprints with incomplete recovery. So each 10 mins there are 20 sprints (1 every 20 seconds). Warm up for 10 mins, then start with a 10 second sprint, then turn the same gear for 20 secs lightly, still pressing on a little, then sprint for 10 secs, and repeat. If you have this right, your pulse should be in your Z5 band by 3-4 mins, not the first 2! These are tough but great for fitness

Thursday-NO FRILLS
1 hour Z3/4

Friday

Rest

Saturday-HARD AEROBIC
1 hours Z2/3 pulse, constant paced hard session

Sunday-ENDURANCE
3 hours Z3

Ok so this is how the week has panned out, I haven't exactly followed the plan!
Monday - I did indeed have a day of rest :-).
Tuesday - cycled to work, 14ish miles
Wednesday - cycled home from work via Tooting, 7 miles I tried to keep the cadence (revolutions per minute, I only learnt that word last week!) up but it wasn't exactly cardio.
Thursday - I was sick, so rested
Friday - 1hr and 30mins pretty much in zone 3.
Saturday- swapped Saturday and Sunday round, so today Simon, Graham (future father-in-law) and I did a 28 mile bike ride, zone 3-5 with the Dulwich Paragon cycling club. See the route here . Note to self: next time wear more clothes and take something to eat!

Tuesday, 23 February 2010

Intro to the first week's training plan

"After an early morning you will take to the start line along with thousands of fellow bike riders. It could be chilly and you will be facing a 7-12 hour journey over 180 kilometres. There are 3 climbs in total. The first, the Marie Blanque, is 9.5 kms long with an average gradient of 7.5%. The second is a lot longer, at 22 kms, but much less steep; the average sitting at just 4.9%. The final climb, the Col du Tourmalet, will be the toughest; a 19km climb with an average gradient of 7.4%. At an elevation of 2,115 metres, temperatures could be extreme and your fuel reserves will be running low. These challenges make the Etape the adventure that it is. "

Not to make us nervous or anything!

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, 25 February 2010

Tuesday, 23 February 2010

Intro to the first week's training plan

Blog Archive

About Me

Training links and the Sky Etape Page

Dictionary of cycling terms!

Heart rate zones

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