fredrik's cycling journal 2008

[fredrikw]

So, despite only being November 2007 the preparations for 2008 starts now, and what better way than to start a new fresh log. Not to mention avoiding the embarrassment of it's unupdated state

Last years season involved both up's and down's, mostly up fortunately, but still there were some quirks I never really got my head around. So for this season I've taken the step to getting a training schedule from a professional coach. This involves doing a ramp test (on a test bike, increasing the power every three minutes) and taking blood tests to establish lactate levels throughout, and then gatting a training schedule based on the results of this test, my previous training and racing background, my racing goals and the time I have for training. Several of my cycling friends has used this company before, and getting great results from it, and the guy running it has competed at elite level for nine years, so I trust them to know their stuff.

The test was really interesting, not to much taking it, but rather seeing the results and hearing what could be deduced from the results. Apparently I have great endurance, but when power increases the lactate levels rasises quite quickly (ie going slow for a long time is no problem, but when the speed picks up I'm lost). So instead of the usual winter riding scheme with long distance rides with low heart rate, I'm going to focus on increasing my VO2max. Which means that my schedule doesn't include any slow long distance rides now during the winter, only high intensity long rides (75-85% of HRmax), and loads of shorter hard workouts on my trainer.

If I would have read about this in a book by some unknown guy I'd have been a bit sceptic, but this guy really knows his stuff and have results to prove it. This training philosophy has gotten a lot of buzz within cross country skiing recently, a sport which is quite similar to MTB racing.

Also, looking at some of my friends who's also done the same test, they have sometimes a completely different schedule than me because of their different test result, which of course looks promising since it's not just a book shelf solution but really a personalised schedule based on me, my results and my goals.

So, I'll try to be a bit more thorough in updating my log now, posting what I do throughout the training year.

[Fruitbat]

good luck fredrik! Will you be repeating the VO2max tests regularly to track progress?

[fredrikw]

good luck fredrik! Will you be repeating the VO2max tests regularly to track progress?

Yeah, forgot to say that, you redo the test every 3-4 months for evaluation. Easy, I guess, to see whether the training is targeting the right things.

[fredrikw]

yeah, some training perhaps as well

Week 45

Starting off quite easy the first two weeks.

Tuesday
Spinning (instructing). Ok class. Took it easy.
01:00
Strength training. The new training regime includes quite a lot of leg work, I'm a bit hesitant to this but I guess I need to build some muscle mass in my legs... Also some really tough exercises on the swiss ball. Haven't been working my core muscles for a while apparently

Thursday
Trainer. Special sessions whose aim specifically is to increase power and pedaling skills at both low and high cadences. Different shifts between them at subthreshold heart rate. Not at all used to pedaling high cadence (110-120) with higher resistance, mostly done them to just spin easy, so they're a challenge.
01:06

Friday
Spinning (instructing). Easy class, was going to do some strength training afterwards, but for some reason never got around doing it.

Saturday
Strength training. Geez it's a long time since I was at the gym... my legs are hurting

Sunday
MTB. Winter is here, subzero temperature, ice, and a tiny tiny bit of snow This is another type a exercises I will be doing for a couple of weeks now, high intensity long-ish rides at 75-85% of HRmax. Quite hard the day after leg work in the gym, but if felt ok. Quite tired when getting home... The main part was 1:30, and they will increase in length until some time after christmas where I'll be hammering for three hours straight. Tough work indeed.
02:20, 50km

[Dave Noisy]

Nice to see a log again, good luck with the tests, i'll be interested to see the results. =)

Sounds like you're planning to kick some serious butt in 2008! Very cool.

[fredrikw]

thanks Dave. I think a good luck with the training is more appropriate since it's about 15 weeks until the next test

yeah, I'll be kicking more butts at the lower half of the list than last year

[fredrikw]

since my spinning classes isn't part of my training schedule, and I do these to minimize the impact it has on my training, I won't log them here.

Week 46

Tuesday
Weights. Legs legs legs... I'm soooo weak

Thursday
Weights again. And some swiss ball exercises at home. Interesting that they are noticably easier after just one week. Either it's a technique thing, or I was really weak

Friday
Trainer. Same as last week, mix of high and low cadence at subthreshold heart rate. Hard work, especially when moving from 10 minutes@65rpm to 3 minutes@120rpm...
01:06

Saturday
MTB. Winter cycling again, high intensity long distance. Around zero, quite a lot of ice when I got out on the countryside, only had studded in front so my rear wheel skid all over the place occasionally. Good fun. A bit tired in my legs from last nights trainer session, need more than 12 hours recovery after a hard session.
01:51, 42km

All in all a very easy week, really bad planning getting the two cycling sessions on consecutive days, with such short time between them...

Next week will step up a bit. Still feels a bit frustrating that it feels so easy, but I guess there's a plan somewhere, after all I'm focusing on high intensity VO2-max training, so I guess when things step up I need the time to recover in order to be able to go really hard...

[JP]

Interesting that they are noticably easier after just one week. Either it's a technique thing, or I was really weak

& neuromuscular adaptation - all of them

The gains are quick to start with and then slow down like a curve, unless you find some technique fixes etc.

[fredrikw]

Interesting that they are noticably easier after just one week. Either it's a technique thing, or I was really weak

& neuromuscular adaptation - all of them

The gains are quick to start with and then slow down like a curve, unless you find some technique fixes etc.

yeah, but I was primarily talking about the swiss ball exercises, core work, not as easy to see gains there when you're not really pushing any weights.

but adaptation yes indeed, haven't lifted weights for over 6 months so there's a lot to re-learn there.

but I think the main thing is that I'm weak, no two ways about that I'm afraid

[JP]

weak is always relative concept.

good luck in getting to the strength levels which help your sport

[fredrikw]

speaking of weak, perhaps I should post the results from the test as well.

I did a ramp test, which means that you increase power gradually until you can't keep the cadence anymore. This test started on 60W, and increased 30W every third minute, and I held an even 90RPM throughout.

My VO2max was 3.69l/min and 52.4 ml/kg/min
Max energy consumtion 18.5 kCal/min or 77 kJ/min
Max power: 279W (averaged max that I could sustain during this test, not max power output)
Max power/weight: 4.0W/kg

Another interesting fact was that my lactate level when I couldn't pedal anymore was 12,4 mmol/L, and after 1:30 after cooling down my heart rate had gone down from 205 to 125, which is a good drop, but my lactate level was still way too high at 12.1 mmol/L, so even if my heart rate drops quickly I still have quite high lactate level, far from optimal.

So, not too impressing numbers, but interesting to get objective measurements like this, and even more interesting to see the results after 16 weeks of training specifically aiming at addressing my weaknesses relative my goals.

[ultra_whippet]

Interesting stuff, it's a real luxury to be able to get that sort of data. Do they have to prick your finger every few minutes to get the lactate readings?

[fredrikw]

Yeah, they took a blood sample I think five or six times throughout the test.

It was truly amazing to see how much he could deduce from the lactate curve.

[fredrikw]

new week, adding serious business

Week 47

Tuesday
Strength training in the gym and work on the balance ball. Took it a bit easy, important workout the day after.

Wednesday
Trainer. 4x4, which means 4:00 as hard as possible, 3:00 recovery, repeat four times. Really hard work, tough doing to the same intensity all four intervals the whole period. My legs were completely toasted aftwards, like they are after a hard long distance ride. Nice
00:52

Thursday
Strength training. Not too hard, legs still a bit stiff since last nights intervals.

Saturday
MTB. High intensity long distance ride. Great weather, -4C and clearblue skies. Hard work, lots of ice and stuff.
02:00, 45km

Sunday
Trainer. Usual mix of high and low cadence. Not too hard since HR is kept under the lactate threshold, but quite taxing nevertheless.
01:06

Very excited, getting a trainer with a power meter, so I'll be able to keep track of my trainer workouts in a better way than just heart rate. Really looking forward to this.

[Mr. Cleetus]

Interesting stuff frederikw. I am curious to your coaches theory for having you do the intensity now and not after some sort of base & strength phase? I understand what you want to do based on your power profile, but since its a bit different than normal to begin working on it in Nov, I am just interested to hear what he has to say about it. Have you already had a decent base phase? Any idea what your programme will look like in, say, 4 months? thx.

wasn't the ramp test fun? gotta love those...