May 5 8am Ride Notes

Ride Overview

  • 12 minutes of VO2 work

  • 4 x 3 minute efforts with 8 minute recoveries in between

  • The last minute really engages the VO2

  • This is a great way to agitate the VO@ system. Goal is to put down the best VO2 effort in the third set.

  • First and second intervals give us a chance to work on pacing strategy. Try using your s\ix minute maximum for the first two intervals. Over under strategy: If your target is 300, break the interval into 30 seconds at 330 and 30 seconds at 270 and repeat for three minutes total.

  • For the first interval, use the over/under requiring you to alternate 30 second segments at 10% higher and 10% lower than the desired power. Remember to make some notes on how that felt. The next interval set will be the same power but with a different path.

  • The second interval uses an increasing pacing strategy lifting the effort over the last two minutes. This goes from low to high which helps build my confidence after doing ok the first minute. Start at the low end range and take it up slowly (in minutes 2 dn 3) to the average power.

  • The third interval starts at average power and continues to climb during the three minutes. After the interval assess how well you did pacing the interval. This data will be used in our virtual metabolic test.

  • The fourth interval uses the average for the 3 minute interval for 50 seconds and then 100 watts for 10 seconds.(x3)

FINDING YOUR 5-6 MINUTE POWER

In TrainingPeaks you can find your 5-6 minute power by locating Peak Power box in the center of the dashboard. Expand the box and scroll down to 5 minute power. Then click on it and see your power number.

This can be verified against your VQ locker room using your CPX log in.

On your phone, click on your TrainingPeaks app go to Peaks and click on 5 min power. This will give you a great reference point to do your 3 min efforts.

Components of Metabolic Testing

  • 3 minute effort
  • 6 minute effort
  • 10 minute effort
  • Sprint effort.

Notes on Erg mode verses time and grade.

The trainer controls the power in ERG mode. It forces the athlete to maintain a certain power which is really helpful when doing the recovery periods because it keeps them honest. The drawback of ERG mode is that it holds the power during the interval and Robbie prefers the athlete to be able to control the output allowing responses to the changes in ride intensity

High intensity intervals highlight how different we are as athletes and ERG mode doesn’t account for that. It can’t allow for how we feel on a given day.