you need to build a big base to reach high
In a previous post I mentioned stepping up and
hiring a coach. If you are serious about the sport you compete in hiring
a coach is one of the best performance improvements you can make and its
money well spent. There are many benefits to hiring a coach,
accountability, experience, motivation to name a few. Anyone can read a book or pay for
a training plan but nothing can replace the the personal interaction,
experience and motivation that a coach can provide. For me its more about
the accountability. While I believe myself to be at the higher end of the
self motivation scale, having someone to answer to is the kick in the tail I
need as an athlete. So what does hiring a coach have to do with BASICS?
When I first sat down with my Total Cyclist coach,Jackie
Crowell jackiecrowell@wordpress.com and
analyzed my data there was a huge glaring component missing form my training,
BASE miles. I had none! all my riding was done at Tempo, Lactate
Threshold, VO2 Max, Anaerobic Capacity and Neuromuscular Power…huh? in layman's
terms too hard! BASE miles are done in Zone 2 or Endurance. The
above terminology is used when training with a power meter. a power meter
measures in watts (energy) the effort it takes you to propel the bike, it is a
more accurate calculation than using heart rate. The training zones (in
the chart below) are based off of LT or FTP otherwise known as Lactate
Threshold. LT is determined with a power test.
•
Level 1 Active Recovery = < 55% of
LT
•
Level 2 Endurance = 56-75% of LT
•
Level 3 Tempo = 76-90% of LT
•
Level 4 Lactate Threshold = 91-105%
of LT
•
Level 5 VO2 Max = 106-120% of LT
•
Level 6 Anaerobic Capacity = 121-150%
of LT
•
Level 7 Neuromuscular Power = maximum
effort
Going into this off season I knew
there would be a lot of BASE miles. So what is BASE. “Base
training is the foundation upon which everything else rests,” says Danny
Suter, USA Cycling Level 2 coach and founder of the Boulder Performance
Network. When you build endurance, eventually you can get more out of
higher-intensity riding and a heavier training load. “Riders who go straight
into speed work can get fast on the bike,” says Hunter Allen, coauthor of
Training and Racing with a Power Meter. “But they won’t have aerobic endurance,
so their fitness lasts just a few weeks before they slow down.”
When you ride for two or more hours (or less for
new riders) at a steady pace—a typical base ride—your body responds with
changes that allow you to use more oxygen and burn more fat as fuel, says coach
Joe Friel, author of The Cyclist’s Training Bible. For starters, these rides
build more capillaries, the tiny blood vessels that deliver oxygen-rich blood
to your muscles. Your mitochondria—the parts of your cells that produce
energy—also multiply and enlarge. And you churn out more enzymes that help turn
stored fuel into energy. The result: You can ride faster and longer.
Most of my off season riding has consisted of
long slower rides with 1 or 2 harder rides mixed in each week. Coming
into the Christmas Holiday Jackie and I had discussed a BIG BASE week. The week
of Christmas is slow at work and I wasn't planning on traveling so it made
sense. My Training week is Monday to Sunday so for this example it
was 12/23-12/29. My training plan for the week was 16 Hours on the bike, the
majority of which was to be in Zone 2. I totaled 17hrs 10min, 290 miles, and 8900 kilojoules for the week. For reference my biggest week for the year till
then was 13hrs, 235miles and 6500kilojoules and that was in June. Last December I rode a total of 250
miles.
Even though it was a slower week at work it is still challenging to get that amount of riding in. Add the shorter days and an unusually
cold week and its tough. Monday is my rest day. Long rides of 3
plus hrs where planned for Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. with harder
shorter rides on Tuesday and Thursday. Tuesday my friend and Pro
Triathlete Jenny Leiser was
nice enough to give me company and play mouse to my cat for the short intervals I had to complete. (Cat-N-Mouse is a fun way to get through intervals…1 or more
riders ease up the rode as you ease off and when a large enough gap is
created you chase em down). It can take a bit of coordination to get the
timing and distance down but it makes for a fun workout. The ride
started out chilly but warmed up by the end. The intervals where 4 short
12 sec Form Sprints starting at 5mph. It was a nice ride and day. Wednesday was Christmas and a small group
of intrepid friends had planned a ride followed by brunch at one of
their homes. We started out at 9 am and it was down right cold I think
23 degrees. I had every piece of warm gear I own on and was still numb. We could only
make it just over an hour. We coldly road back and had a great
brunch. Since I still had 2 hours to get in I went back out at 2pm and
finished the rest of my workout which consisted of 3X10min Tempo intervals(zone 3) with 10 min recovery in zone 2. The rest of the ride was in Zone 1-2.
Thursday was an easy 1-1.5 hour recovery ride in zone 1/2. Friday's ride was a bit more challenging because of work. My plan had me doing 3 hrs, luckily work pretty much went dead after lunch so I was able to break away at around 2pm. This was a solo ride all in zone 2. Friday had warmed up a bit so it wasn't to uncomfortable on the bike. Even had a nice coffee stop in Mount Holly. Saturday and Sunday where each 3.5hrs in zone 2. I was able to
ride outdoors for all but Sundays ride which was done at Total Cyclist Mid-Town
training center. It was a Real Course Video CompuTrainer ride http://www.computrainer.com/rm_inc/IRCVideos.htm if you are unfamiliar with a CompuTrainer it is much more
interactive than just sitting on a trainer (you can shift gears as the computer adjusts the
resistance based on the terrain in the video you are watching, but its still really hard to get through 3.5 hours on a trainer
Getting the work done!
Hope you enjoy, and thanks for reading
Cheers Slip
Ride to not From!
