Tapeworm’s Log to Esteemed Masters Mediocrity

A light bike doesn't replace good fitness.

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zeitgeist
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2012 10:31 pm

by zeitgeist

Keep it up Tapeworm! :beerchug:


I've been doing some 4x10, 2x20, 5x5 etc, but with heartrate before. Now that I can train with watts, should I aim for 100% FTP at all of these or go like 4x10 at 100%, 2x20 at 95% and 5x5 at 105%?

I think its a great idea to make a 20minute-test every now and then, so I'll keep that up. I did one yesterday but only made it 15minutes. 353watts. So on my 20minute-intervalls I should probably back down to around 320-330?

Have a good one,

Fredric

by Weenie


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Tapeworm
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Joined: Thu May 03, 2007 10:39 am

by Tapeworm

^ Got it in one. The durations and the intensity should be scaled accordingly. You can occasionally push beyond this as for really trying to push some adaptations or as a pseudo test. But the training load after needs to be managed accordingly when you do this.

I often DON'T scale the efforts and suffer accordingly. I can get away with it at the moment because I am relatively untrained but in a few months time I will have to be a lot more attentive. Thank goodness for SRMs.
"Physiology is all just propaganda and lies... all waiting to be disproven by the next study."
"I'm not a real doctor; But I am a real worm; I am an actual worm." - TMBG

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devinci
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Location: Canada

by devinci

zeitgeist

if you 15min effort averaged 353W then your 20min effort shouldnt be far off that value. I wouldnt back it off as much as 330W. I'd start at 340W and work it from there.

zeitgeist
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Jan 16, 2012 10:31 pm

by zeitgeist

Thanks guys. :)

I'm kinda new with watts and how to put a training program in action, so if someone have any suggestions how I "could" train, it would be awesome (PM). This season I will mostly be going for shorter races, like 1hours or so. Been on the bike since summer 2010.

Again, interesting topic. Keep it up.


Fredric

Cheetahmk7
Posts: 69
Joined: Sat Aug 20, 2011 2:09 am

by Cheetahmk7

You have me inspired. This morning I did an 18km ITT over a rolly course and I averaged 39.5 km/h which is similar to most of our stronger riders over that course, but a massive 5km slower than Neil Van der Ploeg has done and I'm pretty sure he was on a road bike with training wheels. Next time I should have an Assos skin suit (thanks to your suggestion) and an aero helmet.

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Tapeworm
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by Tapeworm

Week 5:

Mon: 2x20mins. 233 watts and 243 watts.

Tues: Weight w/coach. New PR on the power cleans. Technique FTW.

Wed: Light easy kms, 1 hr at 115 watts

Thursday. Sick child - no training.

Friday: Weight and 3 x 3 mins, again on a spin bike. No wattage but HR 169, 170 and 176. Pushed for the last interval and blew apart at the end. Was feeling dizzy for about 5 minutes after.

Saturday: Easy tempo ride, 1.5hrs 146 watts.

Sun: 1hr on the mtb through single-track - avg 147 watts. This was straight after BJJ training... not one of my best ideas.
"Physiology is all just propaganda and lies... all waiting to be disproven by the next study."
"I'm not a real doctor; But I am a real worm; I am an actual worm." - TMBG

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Tapeworm
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Joined: Thu May 03, 2007 10:39 am

by Tapeworm

Week 6:

Completely shite week for training, too much work, not enough riding. Guess Week 6 was my "deload" week.

Tues: [4x30sec] x 2 - crappy gym bike - no data

Fri: Weights only.

Sat: 1:10min tempo(ish) - again, gym bike - no data

Sun: Nice mtb ride on 90% single track, 2hr 42min, 139 watts avg.

Next week already looking better for training! Also should be able to hit a TT next week too, will be a nice benchmark of power.
"Physiology is all just propaganda and lies... all waiting to be disproven by the next study."
"I'm not a real doctor; But I am a real worm; I am an actual worm." - TMBG

Machinenoise
Posts: 141
Joined: Wed Jun 22, 2011 9:39 pm

by Machinenoise

Keep it up Tapeworm! Its what we like to see. A less than optimal week can be allowed every so often; we aren't pros, we have real lives to manage. I know its not always what we would choose, but you'll make amends.

Hope the TTs go well dude, first time on my TT bike this year (outside) at the weekend, not bad for february in the UK!

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Tapeworm
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by Tapeworm

Week 7:

Much better week. I hadn't really been recording it but from now on the "(T)" denotes the session on the trainer - usually the Tacx Fortius or the Cycelops turbo.

Mon: (t)3x3mins - no data.

Tues: 1hr 45mins easy ride @151 watts + climb for 10:46 @ 272 watts.

Wed: (t) Weight (AM), 2x20mins (on the "new" 2nd hand P3) - 227 & 226 watts. Dialling in position still.

Thurs: 30mins spin TT position work on the P3

Fri: (t) 4x4mins on TT rig - 290, 283, 279, 277

Sat: Weights. (t) Light spin on P3, still dialling in P3

Sun: Was supposed to be a TT but have had rather torrential rain so was on the trainer instead, (t) 60mins @ 212.

Rather pissed about the TT - not many on in my neck of the woods, but even it did run an unfamiliar course on a new TT bike in the pouring rain... maybe it was a good thing.

Next scheduled race is a 50km race in March. May try and do *something* race wise before then. Also BJJ training has a had major upset as the usual venue for training has been binned which makes life difficult. I'll have to re-work the weekly plan in light of this.
"Physiology is all just propaganda and lies... all waiting to be disproven by the next study."
"I'm not a real doctor; But I am a real worm; I am an actual worm." - TMBG

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Tapeworm
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by Tapeworm

Week 8

Not so good week after last weeks far better effort.

Mon: 1.5hr mtb ride - 147watts

Tues: Weights and 30min spin (t)(no data)

Wed: Rest

Thurs: Team training day, this is a "team building" day where people make up random exercises. Was cycling centred so not all bad. 6x [2km on spin bike (~250 watts) + 15 squats, 15 push ups, 15 sit ups] with a 1km effort to finish (~350watts).

Fri: Weights (lots of full cleans). Started to feel a little bit off - either a slight cold or the CNS fatigue was severe!

Sat: Rest. Still feeling off.

Sun: 2hr mtb - 152 watt avg - with a total of 23mins over FTP. And feeling very shagged.

Mountain bike races getting closer so will start to spend more time on the mtb and the single track, my technical skills are a little rusty, mis-timing bunny-hops etc.

Well over-due for a testing session and may need to re-work the training schedule (again).
"Physiology is all just propaganda and lies... all waiting to be disproven by the next study."
"I'm not a real doctor; But I am a real worm; I am an actual worm." - TMBG

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Tapeworm
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by Tapeworm

Ok, this is hopefully going to be the "new" training format for a few weeks at least.

Mon: 3x3mins / BJJ
Tues: Weights and [4x30sec] x 2
Wed: Rest
Thursday: Team training or 4x4mins.
Friday: Weights and easy spin.
Sat: Rest
Sun: Long ride and/or 20min test.

The intensity has ramped up. This is primarily due to being short on time at the moment. I probably can get away with it for a little while without causing too many problems. Either that or my sights changes to a TT of a MUCH shorter nature ;)
"Physiology is all just propaganda and lies... all waiting to be disproven by the next study."
"I'm not a real doctor; But I am a real worm; I am an actual worm." - TMBG

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agent86
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Joined: Fri Mar 05, 2010 10:23 am

by agent86

Awesome thread I must say, I am going through a similar program and am finding the interval training is working wonders.

My week as such:
Monday: 2x20's (did pwr test this week)
Tuesday: rest legs do upper body & abs
Wednesday: rest legs do upper body & abs
Thursday (morning): 3x10's, I alternate with 4x5's or 3x3's
Friday night: 6 x 7 minute hill repeat at 80 + rpm
Saturday: Light ride 60km's or rest
Sunday: rest

I believe I am stronger & have greater stamina from 2 months of this type of work than the 300-350km weeks I was doing over 12 months ago
I thought of that while riding my bike.
Albert Einstein
On the Theory of Relativity.

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Tapeworm
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Joined: Thu May 03, 2007 10:39 am

by Tapeworm

^ Yep, been my experience too. Much less volume, much better power. There will be a point where I have to up volume if I want to improve but I am a long, long way off that.

Week 9

Mon: Conditioning/4x30sec on spin bike/BJJ.
Tues: Easy spin 1hr 134watt avg.
Wed: Ride cut short - 23mins - managed to get a 5min interval in @ 267 watts.
Thurs: 1.5hrs 136 watts avg.
Fri: Off
Sat: BJJ seminar - over 3 hours of training - shattered after!
Sun: Rest
"Physiology is all just propaganda and lies... all waiting to be disproven by the next study."
"I'm not a real doctor; But I am a real worm; I am an actual worm." - TMBG

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Tapeworm
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Joined: Thu May 03, 2007 10:39 am

by Tapeworm

Week 10:

Mrs was away from Monday evening through to Thursday so training was minimal as I was "babysitting" (apparently you can't babysit your own children, which I find ridiculous as I sitting on them quite a bit to stop them running around).

Mon: Mtb 2hr on 95% single track. Avg 139watts with a 5min effort at 260watts. Those that know power and mountain biking on single track will know that trying to hit high power averages ain't easy. I was blowing gaskets for that bit.
Tues: Rest
Wed: 5km "pram march" - 2 children, water bottles, lunch, 20kg plate, in a pram. Walking the fire trails with over 150m of vert. Then at the end some single leg squats, plyometrics and chin-ups. Mainly because I was going nuts without some training!
Thurs: Some light conditioning
Fri: "Hard Recovery" 2 hours of stretching, foam rolling, massage and contrast shower/sauna. Felt awesome after.
Sat: Race Day. Report in next post.
Sun: Light spin 20mins.
"Physiology is all just propaganda and lies... all waiting to be disproven by the next study."
"I'm not a real doctor; But I am a real worm; I am an actual worm." - TMBG

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Tapeworm
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Joined: Thu May 03, 2007 10:39 am

by Tapeworm

Race Day - 50km Mountain Bike. Approximately 25km fire trail, 20km single track, 5km bike path/road.

Mediocrity achieved! Placed 159th out of 817 starters, in my category 78th out of 314 (Male Open). Had I entered Masters I would have been in the top 50 out of 252.

Race report:
Weather was ideal. Cool morning, overcast and warming to ~23degrees, slight breeze. Race was about 10km of fire trails and road then a mix of singletrack and fire trail from there. Given the weather etc I opted to just run with two bottles. Seeing what some were carrying I would have thought they were prepping for a 160km marathon.

The race was run in waves. I had opted to start in the 40-50% finisher group. At the gun it was clear that I probably should have backed myself a bit more and gone in an earlier group. A few overtook me on the first few initial hills but I was pacing carefully (yay power meters!) and caught and dropped them within 5kms or so. I also had decided to ride in the skin suit (which had two pockets). It would seem that skin suits aren't "the done thing" in mtb but 1) I find them uber comfortable 2) being only one piece they are pretty cool when you start to sweat 3) tight fit means less potential to snag 4) the aeroness whilst usually not a consideration in mtb was quite apparent as I was sailing past people on downhill sections, and they were heavier and pedalling. I think the skin suit will become a staple in future races! I did get a few sniggers at the start about it but didn't hear much after those first 5kms.... I also had a few surprised comments when on any flat section I adopted a "TT" position. Again, bit of ribbing, until I went past them.

Because I was in the slower group as soon as we hit single track there was traffic from the earlier groups. Any break need a sprint to get past that traffic and then usually hit more in short order. The "sprints" took their toll and at the halfway point I had some cramps. Eased off a fraction and was able to continue without issue.

In a few technical sections there were a few pile ups and at which point I went all cyclocross and hoiked up the bike and ran past them. Did this twice and made up about 9 places in doing so. Started to fade in the last 5kms and cramps were looming but held it to the end.

This was the first mtb race I had actually raced. Before, it was always just to finish the damn thing. This time, I fought for position and pushed myself to my limits. And it felt very awesome. Now I want more, which I get next week in the team 24hr "race".

Stats:
BW at time of race: 81.3 kgs
Time riding 2hrs 36min 01 sec
Avg power: 152 watts
Max 5sec: 928 watts
Max 30sec: 460 watts
Max 5 min: 275 watts
Max 60min: 200 watts

Equipment:
Bike - Cube Reaction carbon 29er hard tail. Shimano 3x10 (SLX, Deore mix) Magura Brakes. Shimano pedals. Running Maxxis Crossmark with tubeless conversion and approx 100 mls of sealant in each rim. And the PowerTap wheel of course :D
Me - Santani Skinsuit with two pockets. Sidi Dominator
Nutrition/hydraiton: 2 x 750ml bottles, water only. 4 x SiS Gels.
Other - 2x spare tube. 1x mini tool. 1 tyre lever.

Lessons learnt:
- skinsuits are awesome.
- back myself a bit more and start in earlier waves.
- keep mouth shut when bombing through puddles at the bottom of a cow paddock... blurk.
- Science in Sport gels are the *best*.
- bit of "cyclocross" action can bump me up a few spots!
- a tad more technical skills on the downhill and I could have made up at least 5 more spots.

Summary:
All in all I am stoked with the "return to racing". Realistically an earlier group and I *might* have made up 10mins or so, max. A bit more training and descending skills and I expect the time to come down quite a bit. As bodyweight drops and the power rises will only help this. Oh and a few more grams off the bike, of course.
"Physiology is all just propaganda and lies... all waiting to be disproven by the next study."
"I'm not a real doctor; But I am a real worm; I am an actual worm." - TMBG

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



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