A1 for A4

calistro

Early start this morning for a 1hr 20min spin (used as part of an extended commute) with 5 x VO2 max efforts. Lost count and ended up doing a 6th but found it hard to maintain the required cadence & power level for it so the 5 that were prescribed seemed bang on.

Inquitus

Another Q, do they explain the rationale behind the training they submit to you each week? i.e. is this process going to help you learn how to train yourself better in future?

calistro

Inquitus wrote: »

Another Q, do they explain the rationale behind the training they submit to you each week? i.e. is this process going to help you learn how to train yourself better in future?

Yes, they fill in the comments box in TrainingPeaks with full explanations of the sessions and also you can phone/email them with any questions, out of normal working hours also which is great.

calistro

Had a 3hr endurance ride in mainly zone 2 & a bit in zone 3 scheduled for today. Headed off from work through Meath, Westmeath & Cavan 84k in total. Class evening for it. Powertap battery failed midway through so went by heart rate for the second half.

Couple of hill reps for tomorrow.

calistro

Couple of Fartlek hill repeats scheduled for yesterday.

3 x repeats done at various power levels per climb to simulate the pace irregularity on hills in races. Hard into the hill then a slight easing up and then back up to a set power level until the top.

I enjoyed this type of effort/interval, could have done a few more or went harder for the last part of each climb but that wasn't the point of the session.

Easy/Recovery ride today or the day off, so will opt for an easy spin home from work.

Saturday looks like a tough enough day! Report tomorrow.

calistro

Planned on hitting today's planned session early but between one thing and another didn't get going until midday.

This was always going to be a hard day with 3 different intervals/efforts interspersed in the 3hr ride.

1st interval was done in a large a gear as I could manage, and was a 15 secs on/off scenario, each lasted ten minute and 3 sets.

2nd interval was hill repeats, again in a big gear alternating between sitting/standing for 3 minutes at a time. Have never tackled a climb of any sort while standing for the duration, and didn't think I would be able, but when it's laid out for me to do I do my utmost to complete it. This is possibly why I enjoy the coaching element as I know someone is going to analyse the workout, so I put in the effort to complete it fully. If I was training by myself I'd be tempted to sit down after a minute or so. It's the structure I crave:D

3rd Interval was spaced over an hour with an all out sprint interlaced throughout,

A tough day out but happy to have completed it, the only issue I had was not being able to draft off the hoards of tractors that have descended on the highways & byways of the country with the dry spell..............how many KOM's have been sacrificed I'll never know

Easy spin tomorrow, planning on getting out early but the Mojitos may have other plans!!!

calistro

got off to a late start Sunday, a 1.5hr easy ride scheduled with 3 intervals mixed in.

So that was my 1st full week with A1 Coaching, being on the bike 6 days out of 7, (Tues- Sun) Friday was either a v. easy spin or day off so I used it as part of my commute.

A tough week all in all but with great variety in the schedule it kept thing interesting. On the plus side I've also shed another 1kg which is great because after loosing the initial few kg things had stagnated a bit and bike strength hasn't been affected.

Day off today and back into the fray tomorrow with the week planned as follows: Tuesday (TT pace intervals), Wednesday (Endurance ride), Thursday (VO2max intervals), Friday (Race openers), Saturday (Race) - Sunday ( 2hr free ride)

thekooman

out of curiosity what are "VO2max intervals"? is that 10/10 effort in the biggest ring you can manage? i usually call them "power ups" which in my eyes build power.

calistro

thekooman wrote: »

out of curiosity what are "VO2max intervals"? is that 10/10 effort in the biggest ring you can manage? i usually call them "power ups" which in my eyes build power.

To my mind (and open to correction) VO2Max intervals are sessions that will tax both your heart and lungs, high cadence/high power zone. The purpose is to increase the amount of oxygen you can utilise while exercising at maximum effort.

To me what you are describing is more like muscular endurance/strength intervals.

All fairly new to me so someone might come on and give you a better explanation.

lennymc

10/10 would be neuromuscular.


Good information on the various zones here

calistro

Tuesday:

1.5hr with 5 TT pacing intervals @ FTP.
Got on well with these, bar the route I chose was like a bombsite for the entirety of one of the intervals.

Wednesday:

3hr Endurance ride with 45 mins @ power zone 3.

Felt tired during the 45mins session, thought maybe it was the heat, but realised I hadn't really fueled up enough during the day before tackling a 3hr ride. Need to be more organised.

calistro

Thursday:

VO2 max intervals. Managed 4 out of the 5 only, as in the earlier post I have been feeling tired not exactly sure if it is from the workload or lack of preparation for the workload. This week has been the most work I've ever put in on the bike with a race looming at the weekend.

Friday:

After uploading to my rides to A1 Coaching the lads advised me to take Friday very easy due to the way I was feeling on my last 2 rides, I've come to the conclusion that I failed to react to the training load and increase my calorie intake to match and this has caused the tiredness, although I was delighted with the associated weight loss, increasing my time on the bike and not eating properly is not a good combination.
So Friday was an easy 20k commute home with a few openers thrown in.

Saturday: Paddy Flanagan Memorial.

Wasn't quite sure how this would go because of the tiredness during the week as stated above. For the first lap it took me a while to get settled but on the 2nd & 3rd lap I put in 3 attacks, none of which were going to stick as it was a flat, fast course where everything would be chased down, but I wanted to test my legs. Mass bunch finish which I had decided I was not going to get involved in so kept to the inside and found myself going from about 25th to 12th or 13th in the finish due to a lot of lads either sitting up or blowing up around 30m's from the line.

Sunday: 2-3hr free ride planned so I'm taking my '85 Vitus 979 out for a spin to Slane to indulge in some coffee & cakes from Slane Bake, an excellent little bakery that does fresh bread & cakes on a Sunday.

calistro

Tough week again this week before a rest weeks kicks in.

Monday - Rest

Tuesday - Tabata session

Wednesday - 3hr Endurance with some over-geared intervals and hill reps focusing on cadence & sitting/standing

Thursday - Vo2 pyramid session (on turbo)

Friday - Recovery ride or day off

Saturday - Fartlek session on hill repeats

Sunday - 3-4hr endurance ride

calistro

Tuesday & Wednesday went well bar a complete soaking on the Wednesday 3hr spin, had gotten used to the warm evenings!!!

Tonight's pyramid interval was a new one to me and felt handy enough until the last 5 mins when the hurt kicked in! Hadn't really done any pyramid sessions before but these really workout your cardiovascular system!!

duffyshuffle

calistro wrote: »

Tuesday & Wednesday went well bar a complete soaking on the Wednesday 3hr spin, had gotten used to the warm evenings!!!

Tonight's pyramid interval was a new one to me and felt handy enough until the last 5 mins when the hurt kicked in! Hadn't really done any pyramid sessions before but these really workout your cardiovascular system!!

How has the training/coaching been going since?

calistro

duffyshuffle wrote: »

How has the training/coaching been going since?

Sorry, forgot to update!

Well the month I signed up for is over and it really flew. Have to say I got a lot from it, a whole different level of training from what I was at!!. I've a much better understanding of how to put a training plan together and the different type of intervals involved.

For anyone thinking of signing up for coaching I'd say do it, particularly if you want/require:

Structure
Definitive Training Plans
Support.

Will I be signing up for further coaching?.................

Most likely, went well in last 2 races with a 7th place finish in one of them, I've a hectic month ahead with holidays/family events etc, but after that the cyclocross season will be fast approaching and I'll need all the help I can get:D