Did a 40 mile Tour de Cure training ride training. Pretty uneventful with a decent but relaxed pace for the first 35 miles or so but the group fragmented with a few miles to go and I jumped to the front with the intention of just getting it over with but I walked into a testosterone fest with 10 or so people. I really thought I was gonna crack several times but I guess adrenaline is a beautiful thing.... we were doing 23-28 for around 4-6 miles (I don't remember as everything was a blur), rotating short pulls around 1/4 long and we eventually thinned it down to 5 riders. I was running around 170-185 bpm during that period - I've never held that high a HR for that long. I probably only had 1-2 more miles of that pace in me but I gotta admit, it was a lot of fun

Yikes, 170-185 bpm? That's breaking into zone 5 HR for me. Sounds like a fun time! The last long ride that came close to 40 miles was a tough one, I forgot to eat and basically suffered the last 45 min of the ride. Gotta get more long rides in once the weather lets up.

 

Consolidating all my Tour of Sufferlandria posts here so I don't keep bumping the thread:

 

http://www.trainerroad.com/tour-of-sufferlandria/nebby

 

Stage 1: Rubber Glove

Looks like my wattage went up 3 watts since I last tested, which is probably close enough to not matter.

 

Stage 2: ISLAGIATT 

I did it at 95% to prevent blowing up the legs, and that seemed to do the trick. Didn't make it easy by any means though...

Stupid HRM started dying on me halfway through the session

 

Stage 3: Revolver

16 x 1 minute intervals at 240W. First 13 weren't bad, but the last three my HR started peaking into zone 5, which is surprisingly enough a fairly noticeable difference.

 

Stage 4: Hell Hath No Fury

 

Stage 5: The Wretched + Extra Shot

 

Stage 6: A Very Dark Place

 

Stage 7: Angels + The Hunted

 

Stage 8: Blender

Edited February 1, 201412 yr by Nebby

Can you determine zones without knowing your real max HR? I just have the strava defaults Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I use trainerroad which does the hard part for me, but it basically implements Joe Friel's method:

 

http://www.trainingbible.com/joesblog/2009/11/quick-guide-to-setting-zones.html

 

Do a 30 minute time trial, making sure to go as hard as you can for the full 30 minutes. Pacing is important, so make sure you don't go too hard out the gate, but it needs to be as hard as you can maintain for the duration. After 10 minutes, hit the lap butt on the garmin, then when you're done average the heart rate for the last 20 minutes. That'll be your lactate threshold heart rate (LTHR). Use the following to get your heart rate zones:

 

Step 2. Establish your training zones. Use the following guide to establish each zone by sport.

 

Run Zones

Zone 1 Less than 85% of LTHR

Zone 2 85% to 89% of LTHR

Zone 3 90% to 94% of LTHR

Zone 4 95% to 99% of LTHR

Zone 5a 100% to 102% of LTHR

Zone 5b 103% to 106% of LTHR

Zone 5c More than 106% of LTHR

 

Bike Zones

Zone 1 Less than 81% of LTHR

Zone 2 81% to 89% of LTHR

Zone 3 90% to 93% of LTHR

Zone 4 94% to 99% of LTHR

Zone 5a 100% to 102% of LTHR

Zone 5b 103% to 106% of LTHR

Zone 5c More than 106% of LTHR

Edited January 28, 201412 yr by Nebby

Got my ANT+ dongle today from Amazon and just signed up for Trainer Road. I know I should do the FTP test first but since I have a close estimate of my FTP from my computrainer classes from a month ago (180) I'm probably gonna start with Sufferfest Angels or The Wretched after work today.

link to item?

http://www.amazon.com/Suunto-Movestick-Mini-One-Size/dp/B004YJSD20/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391021095&sr=8-1&keywords=suunto+movestick+mini

 

Works perfectly fine with Garmin gear. Tried to pedal a few minutes just to try out the interface. I remember how much trainer rides suck after hard Crossfit days - we did Murph yesterday which is one of my least favorite workouts.

That's the same one I'm using now, seems like it's fully ANT+ compatible.

On second thought, I think I'll start on the Novice Century Low Volume Plan today with the Fin workout. A Sufferfest will just shag my legs too much today.

just ordered it. i really should have created a 2nd bike on Strava to select for the trainer rides so its not counting stationary + road rides in the same total. guess i can go back and modify the rides?

Yeah, you can go back and switch the bike setting after the fact without any problems.

is it normal for HR to go down considerably when in the drops? with my torso parallel to the ground, i see about a 5-10bpm drop within seconds

I don't notice that. The fact that it happens within seconds makes it strange. Maybe your strap is too loose or not positioned correctly?

That'd be my first thought as well, too loose. Also helps to wet the pads with water before you start to get a better contact

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

i have been wetting them. HR also goes up about 5bpm if i take my hands off the bars and am completely vertical

That's pretty interesting, I'll have to take a look at my own HR when in the drops and compare.

 

Edit: gave the different spots a try during the cooldown period and it seems that when I switch positions there's a 2-3 bpm bump for 3-5 seconds and then it settles back down. No major 5-10bpm drops or anything like that. Perhaps your fit needs adjustment or your body isn't used to being in the drops?

Edited January 31, 201412 yr by Nebby

Just finished my first full ride on Trainer Road - Fin. Let me tell you what, these measured power rides, ie Computrainer or Trainer Road are truly humbling. You think you're a nifty rider on the road, wait till you suck ass on the trainer. I already knew this from my Computrainer classes though.

 

BTW, as much as I like riding on the drops especially when I'm warmed up and limber on the road, it's way different on the trainer. I tend to ride tops or hoods on the trainer and I don't nose ride my saddle as much as I do outside. 

just did my first one too - Sufferfest Rubber Glove. the default FTP was 200 and i ended up w/ a 199

 

http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/697466

 

http://www.strava.com/activities/110275378

 

lulz..just noticed it was 80F inside. getting warm out there

Edited February 1, 201412 yr by justin

Full 20min test on your first ride? Ouch  180-190ish heart rate for the 20 minutes? My heart would blow up if I did that! Nicely done, Justin

 

Saw this entertaining convo posted to the sufferfest facebook feed:

 

Edited February 1, 201412 yr by Nebby

not sure if good or bad? is it bad that it takes a HR as high as 180-190bpm to do 210W over 20 minutes? or is it good that i can keep it that high without exhaustion?

It's neither good nor bad; HR ranges can vary quite a bit from person to person, although you can generalize somewhat based on age. If it didn't feel like you were completely dying, then it was a good session for you. I know for me, once I break 180 I'm basically full on anaerobic and I'll run out of steam shortly.

are you training with the videos for sufferfest? do you get out of the saddle at all?

I picked up the sufferfest videos to add variety to the training plan from trainerroad that I'm going to use, but chose to join in on the Tour of Sufferlandria for fun. I get out of the saddle when the video prompts me to, but often times it hurts so much that I sit back down before it prompts me to sit. Standing and spinning while the bike is mounted on a trainer feels completely off to me and seems to hurt a lot more than when it's on the road.

Everything hurts on the trainer

where do you go to get the videos? they seem to be about $15 each..