Hill Running repeats but now a slightly sore calf

That was a bit horrible

Went to Alexander park to do some hill repeats tonight

amble to the park then started the repeats – 1st one was to scout the hill – then realised best option was the less steep longer ascent with a short drop down and then repeat repeat. The HR belt can’t have been sweaty enough as it showed a 109%HR effort …. but rest were fine showing me hit 92%of my MaxHR. It hurt a lot which I guess it is supposed to do ….

the hill repeated and my speed

polar HR (strange spike on 2nd hill)

then i started to feel my calf pulling so to prevent muscle damage i stopped and didn’t finish my 10 repeats ….. still a bit tender but should be fine.

Turbo Interval on the bike

yesterday was supposed to be a run day in light of the upcoming duathlon but I couldn’t face it (as opposed to today when I am forced to face the sleet and cold later)

So the plan was this:

10min warm up then

4 MIN at +85% MHR

4 MIN recovery at 65% MHR

Repeat 4 times

Then cool down for 10 min

But was watching the iPad – a doccie about the Yom Kippur war with John Snow daddy and son and kind of lost track of timings ….

Here is the Garmin read out showing speed

speed on the trainer

The intervals are not so easy to see on this graph – esp the 2nd interval where I went for nearly 7.5 minutes ….

Here is the polar Heart rate Graph from Polar Personal Trainer which shows the intervals clearer. Normally I program the RCX5 so that it beeps to remind me and beeps when HR is too high (rare) or too low ….. Think I should stick to that is it is less forgetful than me doing it manually.

Polar RCX5 HR graph clearly showing intervals

not working today so off to the cinema at lunchtime – how decadent ….

Duathlon Training starts in earnest today

my plan over the next 3 and a bit weeks and the training load as mapped out on my Polar software below

red - don't train
yellow - no hi intensity
green - go do something

Trouble shooting – weird Heart Rate spikes, dropouts and how to eliminate them

For those who train with heart rate monitors, you have probably encountered a session where your HR graph just doesn’t make sense. With my garmin it used to start fine then my HR would skyrocket up to the 180′s 190′s and I would be dead if I was there 200′s. With my Suunto – sometimes I would get no reading before it kicked into life …

Suunto no record then suddenly pop into life ...

After you finish your activity and get back to your computer, you’ll probably see something like this – a major HR spike a dropout or even a level no read situation, followed by more normal HR activity: Below is my reading from the Alloa Half Marathon on the weekend with flouro yellow highlights of bits that don’t make sense ….

Frustrated, you wonder if the battery needs changing but then the next time it is fine so you forget about it …but here is a reason why this might be happening.

I presume everyone can put their strap on correctly – that is the right way up and against the skin just under the ribcage …

So assuming that you’ve got it fitted right then let’s look at what typically causes the spike or dropout in HR

1) Are you wet yet?

During the winter months and in the case of Alloa on Sunday the air is often fairly cold, and fairly dry.  This means that you’re less likely to have moist perspiration on your skin (from heat) and even less likely to be generating any sweat right from the start of the workout.  This in turns lowers your belt’s conductivity ability to read your heart rate beats …..   Simply introducing any moisture at all will usually remedy the situation – at least until you begin sweating enough to let sweat do its job.

2) Synthetic quick dry shirts:

At Alloa I was wearing a synthetic shirt as opposed to my ‘normal’ nicer smelling Merino. An unfortunate side effect of synthetics is that they can dry out the body and the skin’s sweat making the belt so dry that it can’t ‘read’ the skin. Another issue is that synthetic material can build up static which can cause electrical interference with the HR belt.

3) Your mum is a gorilla:

I have heard some people of the hirsute variety have more errors ….. you need to be very hairy for this to affect the HR belt but if you are this way inclined … a) shave or groom b) stay swinging in the trees instead of running c) if female remain indoors and plait that hairy back …..

How to lick the problem:

It is pretty easy to fix

1) Sweat it: This first one is a bit obvious – but will explain why the problem often goes away after just a few minutes of activity.  Once you start sweating it improves conductivity.  This in turn makes the HR strap work …. but you still have the earlier misread ….

2) Lick it: This is the simplest option and what I do all the time. I just give the sensors a good gobbing – but hold onto your bogeys for the run.

HR gel

3) Heart Rate Gel: If you suck at licking, then you can instead use electrode gel to improve conductivity.  This is what’s typically used in medical environs for scans and using TENS machines …. it just ensures a good contact moisture seal between belt and skin. They are cheap as chips – about £5 for a big tube that will last years … If it is a dry very cold day and I remember then I use gel on the belt before heading out.

4) Shift the strap:

If you spot a dodgy reading then adjust the strap – a quick shift up and down normally gets the belt to rub against some sweat and the belt normal corrects pretty quickly. Some people shift the strap so it is half on back and front or even all on the back … i have not tried but it seems to work as an option.

5) Replace the batteries:

Finally, it could be as simple as old depleted batteries – most belts use CR2032 batteries so i always make sure I have a handful around ….

Duathlon Training

Last night I was supposed to do an hour on the bike at a very low rate ….. but I felt so lethargic and pissed off (for no reason) that I abandoned it after only 20 odd minutes. This morning I am not too annoyed I think training schedules are sometimes treated like they are gospel … but I guess I am agnostic in this regard or humanist in that i listened to my body which was saying ‘NO’

In light of the Ayr Duathlon I entered (15th April chaps if anyone want to enter) I decided to try a practice run and cycle and also see how the Polar RCX5 handles the transition between sports. Its a bit messed as I did my bike ride at home on the trainer.

run route

The Ayr Duathlon is actually a 5km run – 28km cycle – 5 km run …. but I just wanted to try a 2 sport hit so went down to Glasgow Green and ran along the river until I hit one of my markers then ran back. It is slightly longer than the 2 runs put together at 10.33km (although i am sure MAP myRun and google say it is 10.7km

Into the house – rain coat off and shoes changed then hopped on the bike. Wasn’t going for the full 28km just wanted to get a feel. 16km was enough I think. My wife and daughter came back in ‘my god you stink’ as they saw me red-faced and sweating all over the kitchen. (NOTE to self – I will stay cooler in the wind outside and not stink the house out)

I like the way the RCX5 lets you transition between sport …. there is an option to allow you to change between sports by raising the wrist unit close to the HRM belt (which you can change to show or do loads in the setup) … at the moment I have the bike one set up to show me Time of Day when I raise the wrist unit close to the belt and the Run one to switch on the backlight ……

After 16km i had enough … legs now are still sore a bit … was amazed how long it took me to feel up to speed on the bike. The muscle memory after the run was quite weird – not sure how it would feel to start the run again … hopefully do a trial race before the event (which will be my first)

Heart Rate Graph - no distance info on bike side as indoors on trainer.

Polar RCX5 review

The Polar HRM arrived nearly a month ago now and I have had a good chance to use it in various sports.

Firstly unboxing showed a nice little box and neat packaging. When you first switch on RCX it asks you to input basic things like sex, age, height, weight as well as the amount you exercise per week. I fall into a higher (amateur) category of roughly 5-7 hrs / week.

The RCX typically comes in 3 configurations … a gps setup which includes the excellent G5 gps. This is a very nice waterproof unit which holds charge for 20 hrs which is far from what i have had the pleasure of exceeding. The unit comes with an armband although I must confess that one month later i have yet to use it. The unit is very wee and fits into the small key pocket at the front of my running shorts as well as the back pocket of my running tights. I even used it the other day on a ride and had it jammed into a small front pocket of my jacket pocket. Being hunched over I expected the reception and subsequent track to be slightly skittish but coming back i compared the track to the one recorded by my Garmin Edge 305 which is on my stem with an uninterupted view of the sky. The comparison revealed that the Garmin recorded the ride as 51.42km and the edge at 51.62km … that is a 200m discrepancy over a huge distance. thinks it something like 0.4% (better get my calculator out) I am sure a shoulder mount or bar mount would make it perfect (that is me judging the Edge to be perfect …)

Other configurations are the Run pack which comes with the S3+ stride sensor. I have not used this but have seen side by side comparisons to the Garmin unit and from what I gather they are pretty compareable. The Polar unti is much bigger and does everything the Garmin does … the only feature useful to me would be the stride count … but then i am a slight Chi runner and my footfall stride is roughly 83-85/min.

The other configuration i have seen is the bike pack which has a cadence and Speed Censor … the cadence sensor would be the most useful to me … if you have the GPS sensor then i think you dont need the speed sensor.
One point I would say is that it is a shame that it is not the one unit like many of the competitors now do. Times and Garmin do their combined ones. I still use my Garmin unit along with the edge indoors when on the turbo trainer and having this placed on the back wheel makes it very practical.

I think that all the above configurations come with a heart rate belt although it is also possible to buy the RCX5 unit as a standalone piece which is probably only something that athletes that already own a polar belt (although not all older belts can be seen by the RCX5) On the heart Belt itself – amazingly comfortable and using Garmin and Suunto for the past few years I must confess that Polar know what they are doing when they make the belts … so comfy and you never get a strange spike or weird reading that you sometimes get with the Garmin HR belts.
Polar also do sports bras for women which have the HR receiver built into them which should make them more comfy than a standard setup for some.

what works with what POLAR

Back to the RCX unit. There are two colours to choose from a black and a red … I chose red because everyone knows that red is faster.

The square design has been criticised by some but I think it is great … it is slightly larger than a normal watch but once exercising the display is clear and very easy to use.
You can customise the display to show what you want to see .. I have gone into this before HERE

Using the Unit
Strapping the RCX on I immediately noticed how comfortable the watch was – in fact the whole construction oozes class not something i have noticed in the build of any previous Polar, Garmin or Suunto with the possible exception of my Suunto Core

Going outside for a run you can leave the gps on a wall whilst you pre-stretch – and then it latches onto the signal very quickly – the chipset inside the unit is a SIRF6 which allows for quicker lock on. the given wisdom is that cold fixing (in an area you have not been in before) will take around a minute, and hot fixes (starting in an area where you finished your last run / ride) will take 10-20 sec. From experience this seem to hold true. Of course this is a gps so switching it on when inside your house will not be good … but a sky above you should be good enough for the fix.
A tip I learnt for cold or rainy weather is to switch on the gps and leave it in your window whilst you put shoes on and it is generally ready to go when you are.

The unit when setting it up can be set to auto-lap – this is something I use when running having the watch perform every 1km … i find this more useful as a pace guide and a very good nudge to the brain when i need to speed up.
the watch can be set to either follow a programme (which can be configured on polar personal trainer and downloaded) say if you were doing intervals with a 5min warm up, 10 min tempo and 3 fartleks then arm down. The watch also has a great audible warning which can be set to pace or HR. This can either be set to Loud, quieter or off. I find this more useful when doing a fat-burn ride or run when my natural instinct is to speed up and defeat the very purpose of the training.

Post exercise the RCX5 stores your last exercise in the data section fro you to review. By itself the RCX5 gives a good breakdown and review of data. You can look at individual training sessions or see a summary of the week which is useful if you need a motivator to get out the door for a run or cycle. One of the good features is that there is a very good heart rate zone breakdown as well as a neat thing were you can see what percentage of calories was in fat burn.

HR zone breakdown

Speaking of features there is something missing and that is a proper barometric altimeter. Most of the course I do aren’t that hilly and I put bike tracks into bikewithgps or other tracking websites which recomputes gps info and produces a ride profile. For those running in hilly location this lack of altimeter might be a problem but for me it is not a deal breaker.

I think the beauty of the Polar RCX5 is in the heart rate monitoring … a lot of people like myself would look at the lack of ANT+ support and the very annoying lack of integration with other platforms like map my run, bikely,endomondo and others and decide not to go with polar BUT (and it’s a big butt) polar does and has always done great heart rate monitors. The analysis that you can do post exercise is way better than polar and a bit better than the hrm software that my old suunto t6 used with movescount.

Once you have done the exercise you can upload the data using polar weblink which is a free download from their site. One word of advice make sure you click the RCX5 for PPT option as I inadvertently clicked the other option when downloading the update then tore my hair out trying to figure out what i had done)
With the Polar Personal Trainer software you can create programs as well as seeing very easily how your training load is…. This prevents you overtraining (however rare this is in my case)

Finally I would say that polar, although not integrating as well as Garmin does with ANT+, weblink does allow you to access the RCX5 and download the .hrm files and .gpx files (gps track) – it’s a shame it doesn’t use the .tcx format but i think that is a garmin proprietary format.

I may have highlighted some weaknesses in this review but I am happy with the unit and wouldn’t change it.

Loving the Polar Training Program and the Turbo

Todays Interval was made harder by the run I did earlier. It was my first run post injury and i was slow and I suffered. Heart Rate was way high and pace was way down …. leg however felt alright but distance was short only 5km.

run with even 4:50 splits apart from traffic at end

 

Then tonight was Polar Training Interval Program on turbo / bike.

1H10m duration

Build up zone 3 / 3 min zone 4 / 22min zone 3 / 3min zone 4 / then zone 1 and finish

Legs feel a wee bit tired now.

 

Suunto ambit – new gps hrm from Suunto

There is a new watch on the block ….

Suunto, the brand leader in functional outdoor instruments, announces the launch of the AMBIT*, the first true GPS watch for Explorers.

The Suunto AMBIT is what every backcountry skier, hiker, trail runner and mountain climber has been eagerly waiting for — a watch that combines a GPS navigation system, altimeter, 3D compass with advanced heart rate monitoring into a robust instrument for mountain and everyday use.

 

 is an awesome product that should be on the wrist of anyone who heads into the outdoors,” comments Greg Hill, the recordbreaking extreme ski mountaineer, who in 2010, ascended two million vertical feet. “The AMBIT is a potentially life-saving survival tool thanks to its full GPS capability and altimeter. It’s also invaluable for anyone who, like me, wants to record their tracks and log their vertical ascents and descents. And it looks great too.”

Specific Outdoor Functionality
With AMBIT’s full-featured GPS the user can choose waypoints to navigate with and see their location in multiple coordinate systems. The AMBIT boasts a host of other features including temperature, track logging, unique 3D Compass and barometric sensor. All these keep you informed of your location, altitude and weather conditions on your adventures.

Advanced Training Functionality
The AMBIT also offers functions for the serious mountain athlete. The patent pending accelometer fused GPS gives highly responsive speed and pace with Suunto FusedSpeedTM. Heart rate monitoring with Peak Training Effect will keep you within your optimimum training zone and Recovery Time will tell you when you’re fully recovered for your next adventure. And after a hard session in the hills, the GPS will guide you home where you can upload your data for analysis on Movescount.com.

Mountain and Everyday Exploration
The AMBIT is housed in a robust BuiltToLast casing and has an enhanced battery lifetime of up to 50hrs in GPS mode. True to Suunto’s heritage in dive instruments, it is water resistant to 100m. Upgrades are available through Movescount.com.

Comments Jonathan Wyatt, six-time world mountain running champion:

”As a trail runner and mountain athlete, what I need in a watch is a heart rate monitor, speed & distance, and altimeter. The AMBIT has all these features in one unit which is really exciting. One of the main problems for endurance athletes is battery life of conventional GPS sports watches so the promise of 50hrs is a big step forward.”

“Fused speed technology also gives a more accurate pace which is vital for anyone serious about their running. Being able to pair it and use it with all the existing PODs and comfort belts is another big plus point for me. This means one watch can be used for all my activities like mountain biking, road cycling, trail and mountain running, cross country skiing and ski mountaineering.”

“Knowing that the AMBIT is built for the mountains and will survive whatever I or the elements throw at it also sets it apart. Being able to personalise the displays of the watch, download updates and analyse the data on Movescount.com all help to make the AMBIT an awesome product for mountain athletes.”

”The AMBIT is everything the outdoor athlete could want in a watch,” comments Jari Ikäheimonen, brand manager at Suunto. ”It’s a unit you can trust. With its GPS and superior functions, the Ambit takes outdoor instruments to a new level. It’s a serious watch packed within a sleek but robust casing. It is the GPS for Explorers.”

Longer run and bits Slooow and other bits fine

Nice run today – phoned the Barroommountaineer to come and join me and to drag him away from his ProTools misery ….

route on endomondo

I wanted to do a 1H30m run (part training for the Jedburgh Half Marathon) but had to do one slightly shorter as I had to get across town to my daughters class at Scottish Opera …. We started off alright but then getting back into Glasgow Green after 4km+ Findlay started slowing down. I went ahead then turned and retraced my steps once I got to the bridge … When I caught back up to Findlay I think I gave him a hard time as the pace had dropped to a bad 5m07/km – a full minute down on the solo km’s I had just done.

HR a bit off at beginning until strap properly wet (sweaty)

Then home shower – wolf down some soup and head out the door again.

Title	longer slower run
Sport	Running
Start Time	Oct 15, 2011 12:43 PM
Distance	14.86 km
Duration	1h:10m:43s
Avg Speed	4:46 min/km
Max Speed	3:52 min/km
Calories	1157 kcal
Heart Rate	138 / 150

Notes

with fin – left fin then caught back up to him on return and slower finish. HR reading a bit weird – think belt a bit dryROUTE BELOW

http://www.endomondo.com/routes/25865969

Sunday interval Session: longer but less

Following on from a chat with my colleague about interval training it was suggested I swap my 10 x 1 min interval sessions for something longer, especially in light of the Jedburgh Half Marathon I am training for and running along with Findlay Napier(see also barroom mountaineer posts on this blog), Douglas and cousin Benji Napier (no relation to Findlay just to me).

So the routine is this

1. have a slow warm up (in my case run just over 2km down to the park)
2. then run as fast as possible for 1 mile (being a metric person I was trying to remember the actual km distance … I knew it was 1.6 and there was a 9 somewhere so I made sure I ran 1.69km – the actual figure is 1.609km = 1 mile)
3. Recover for 12min with Heart Rate in recovery (below 70% max) for me >127bpm – I was about 129 but close enough I think.
4. Then another mile as quick as possible.
5. Recover slow run home.

interval graph on Garmin Connect

No fixed distance but I ran 11km in this session – was thinking that 3 intervals might be better as this evening my legs are actually feeling quite fresh. I prob wasn’t giving it enough being early morning and a bit tired my HR was only 163 when it can easily hit 175+ when i work hard.

Interval Session Details

Still pace interesting - BEST DISTANCES

• Cooper (12 min) 2.93 km
• 1 km 3m:37s
• 1 mile 5m:58s
• 3 miles 21m:39s
• 5 km 22m:27s
• 10 km 45m:55s (with recovery 12min in middle)

The Garmin FR60 once calibrated gives very good results – the only thing lacking is a barometric altimeter – and Garmin Connect with better analysis software …

A new Heart Rate Monitor GPS for multisports: Garmin 910XT

Garmin has launched a new model in its sport GPS range, the Garmin Forerunner 910XT. It promises to be the ideal solution for those that want a multisport watch even though it’s intended purchaser is the tri-athlete.

Major plus points for me

1. Large display
2. gps
3. ANT+
4. waterproof
5. map display
6. Better Training Effect courtesy of Training Peaks.

 

Building on the success of Garmin‘s previous multisport GPS units, the Forerunner 910XT adds swim features including swim distance, stroke count, swim efficiency and pace.

The Garmin Forerunner 910XT can track a whole Ironman race

It also calculates a SWOLF score – the sum of the time taken to swim one length plus the number of strokes for that length (the lower the score, the better your swimming). Like the Forerunner 310XT, it also measures distance in open water using its GPS tracking feature. The shape of the unit has been designed to be sleeker and smaller, so it will fit under a wetsuit more easily and won’t hamper your progress going into T1.

It’s designed to be used across all three triathlon disciplines and can be moved from wrist to handlebar using a quick-release feature and bike mount. Transitions can be logged and the battery life is a promised 20 hours, so even an Ironman can be recorded from start to finish.

You’ll also get all the training functions that Garmin’s previous Forerunner units performed so well, such as heart-rate tracking, training effect, and the Virtual Racer feature. Forerunner 910XT will be available mid November 2011 with a suggested retail price of £359 without heart-rate monitor and £389 with heart-rate monitor. Look out for a review on triradar.com next month.

Bryton Cardio 30 – A Full Review

I will start this review saying I really really wanted the Bryton Cardio 30 to be a great product. On paper it seemed perfect – a small size, waterproof, gps enabled but I have been sadly let down.

Out of the box it seemed nice presented in a neat case with instructions and lead enclosed.

Physical:

It is smaller and lighter than I thought it would be – the tiny face displaying 3 lines of data. The strap is comfortable which is a major point for me. The waterproof rating is very good and the construction seems robust.

In Action:

This is were I start to well up – it is hopeless as a training HRM. It may pair easily enough with ANT+ coded items and it may acquire a satellite reading in an OK time but it sucks when you want to read any info from it in a run. The display is useless – it always shows distance in the top line of the display and it will show Heart Rate / Time / Calories / Distance(rpt) but what any running watch needs to show is at least HR and Disatnce AND Time …. preferably at the same time.

The second bad point is that although it can be set to autolap at every 1km say it does nothing else … there is no lap time shown / there is no summary to read and no way to gauge how fast your last split was unless you deduct the last km from current and try work out the split …. and when you are pressing on in a training run this is the last thing you can do.

So this leaves it as a GPS tracker with which you can analyse your run when you finish …. but the disaster here is that the GPS is wildly inaccurate. I used it on the MTB marathon in Wales and it was way different from the Garmin Edge 305 I had on the bike (this is a steal these days at £170 ish)

Blue=Bryton Green=Garmin

This was bad enough but did a run on my regular river route and the Bryton came up very short again … you can see the type of track it records … this is an open park with near zero tree cover and NO tall building nearby ….

My Suunto T6 with GPS and the Garmin Edge (as well as sites like WALKJOGRUN) gave the same reading only ever differentiating by about 50m over a 12km run – but the Bryton is bad – it is out by 800m on this run which is an 83.9% accuracy according to a comparison on Sportypal…. so distance wise it was 800m out on this run and 2km out over a 52km ride. Very Very VERY poor

So thankfully Wiggle operates a good return policy and I will be buying something else that is ANT+ compliant (prob a Garmin of some sort)

BOTTOM LINE – Avoid the Bryton Cardio like the plague ….. it is faulty with bad software, bad GPS and terrible interface.

I have since bought myself a polar RCX5 which is just fantastic …. review HERE

Sportive training continued

Seems like I slept well enough – up at 6am and the 3x10min hill training on the spin bike. Afternoon slow run then tomorrow is spin bike fat burn so very lazy HR.

hills 3 x 10min

Are heart rate monitors still useful for cycling (or is power-metering the king)

An interesting article – cycling specific at http://velonews.competitor.com/category/training-center

power meter at TdF

 

 

I recently read about a study that brought heart rate monitors into question. The study said that there was a disparity between anaerobic thresholds when cycling vs. running. It basically brought the whole concept of heart-rate training into question. This concerns me because I cannot afford a power meter and I use a heart rate monitor cycling computer to measure my progress. Is this a good study, and are there other pitfalls with heart rate training we need to know? Should I dump the HR monitor?
— Peter

Peter,

The term anaerobic threshold is a bit dated, though unfortunately many people still use this term. If you could provide the specific article that you read, then I could comment further on that specific study. But the idea of the existence of a threshold intensity above which exercise capacity is limited can be measured in an exercise physiology laboratory in various methods such as using blood lactate concentration or measuring oxygen consumption and CO2 production relative to respiratory rate. Most tests used to evaluate a breakpoint in these physiological responses will then reference the value obtained relative to the testing method, such as lactate threshold or ventilatory threshold.

In our physiology lab at Boulder Center for Sports Medicine, we use both methods but most importantly look at the associated power (watts), heart rate, and perceived effort at not only the breakpoints (or thresholds) but also across the continuum of effort from easy to threshold and to maximum effort. As a coach, I also like to establish not only laboratory threshold values, but also real world power output using tests such as constrained heart rate efforts as well as maximum power output tests from short duration (1-5 seconds), all the way to 1-hour maximum efforts. I usually have my athletes who are undergoing physiology testing also perform power output testing on their bike to look at the correlation between lab results and performance capacity.

When looking at different sports such as cycling and running, there are typically differences observed in peak or maximum heart rate in each activity — as well as the corresponding threshold heart rates. Generally speaking, running and cross-country skiing yield higher maximum and threshold heart rate values with respect to cycling. Swimming, on the other hand, is typically lower than cycling, though your training history and experience in a given sport can influence this. I also encourage the combined use of heart rate and perceived effort, in addition to some sort of output (power for cyclists, pace/speed for runners & swimmers) to evaluate training responses with my athletes.

The heart rate, though different from sport to sport, can still be a useful tool for training. The use or lack of a power meter does not mean that you should ditch your heart rate monitor; ideally you should integrate whatever tools you have available to track your progress. Without using a power meter, you could evaluate your progress occasionally (every month or two) by performing a trial effort from Point A to Point B while holding a constant heart rate and track your speed. I like to use a sustained climb of 15-30 minutes if possible, as this reduces the effects of differences of wind speed from trial to trial.

for some HR is the same as power

Sportive Training Continued: Turbo Day

My training plans for the Sportive is based on a short training period – I am a finisher as opposed to front runner. I am already doing over 7 hours a week of cross training, running and cycling so planning on more specific Sportive preperation as opposed to exacting cardio.

Intensity: The intensity level of training is defined as ‘low’, ‘medium’ and ‘high’. In pre-season (and off season) the focus is still on low intensity work to continue building endurance and in particular increase your aerobic fitness. This is the bedrock of sportive riding – developing heart and lungs so they can efficiently deliver oxygen to your working muscles. At this stage we also introduce some mid intensity work to start developing speed and the ability to sustain that speed.

At mid intensity you’re operating just below your anaerobic threshold – the point at which your heart and lungs can no longer keep up with the oxygen your muscles need to function properly. This can be tested scientifically, or you can aim to be working hard enough that conversations are possible but in short sentences only, and you are never getting ‘puffed out’ (start to breathe/blow more rapidly to expel CO2) which is a sign of excessive CO2 production due to anaerobic activity.

Cross training: Cross training is any non-bike exercise and it’s useful to ensure that this covers a wide range of muscle groups to keep you in overall good shape. One round-the-world cyclist said that all of his pre-ride training was on core strength, including arms and most of the upper body, because he wanted to avoid strain or injury from so many miles in the saddle. He said he got bike fit once the ride began!

Turbo trainer: Turbo sessions can serve a range of purposes – a standard session is a good low intensity steady ride when the weather is too bad or nights are too dark to go outdoors. Long interval sessions should be about 6-8 minutes at medium intensity followed by an easy spin at low intensity for 4 minutes to recover. With all sessions, aim to maintain a good cadence of 80-100rpm and a smooth, steady cycling rhythm.

Low intensity flexible training: If you have limited time then developing your aerobic system through long workouts is not an option. Instead you need to find one hour a day that you can use effectively to raise your heart rate – it could be a solid hour of rapid walking at lunchtime, a Sunday dog walk, or an extension of your cycle ride home from work. It’s about stealing snippets of time that add up to a real training benefit

 

EXAMPLE:

Today’s training was turbo training at low to mid-intensity. Had a friend on the bike next to me (in a gym 3000 miles from home and my bike) so the time passes really quickly. Hadn’t had breakfast so grazed a Clif Bar between 30mins and 1 hour into it so never felt hungry although Desert Roadie said he felt a gnawing hunger …..

Here is the Heart rate graph – I am surprised it went up to a 153bpm spike as I was trying to keep it around 139-142 (70% of max HR for me)

Bryton Cardio 30 ordered – to be reviewed soon

Interesting to see how the new upstart compares to others on the market.

Cardio 30

Cardio 30, the smallest GPS sports watch on the market, is for all levels of athletes. By setting goals in our pro-training programs, Cardio 30 can accurately calculate and record your location, speed, distance, pace, stride rate, cadence*, heart rate* and more. Your training results then can be shared and analyzed at brytonsport.com.

With built-in “G sensor”, no extra foot pod is needed for indoor exercise.

Obviously Garmin (with their patent infringement lawsuit) have their various Forerunners (which I found uncomfortable and too chunky) and Suunto with their T6C and Polar are main competitors … although Suunto/Polar have seperate GPS units which pair.

I wanted a system that worked on ANT+ so that my cycling and running as on one system …..

A review coming which will hopefully give more info and insight than the Bryton website.

Training started – Hill training

according to my list:

Training
If you cannot find a hill that is long enough then complete a 30 minute TT then complete a total of 30 minutes of hill repeats (not including recovering spinning back down to the bottom)
Cycling over geared 55-60 revs per minute before riding up hill can closely stimulate sportive. You need to get use to being tired when riding up hill.
Learn to spin your legs down hills, not necessary at 70 revs per minute but 10-20 revs keeps the blood flowing and saves your legs.

3 sets of 10min standing (I can barely turn the pedals sat down so I guess high resistance) at a cadence of between 58-65. Rest with about 4/5 mins in between of very low resistance spinning at 95-100 cadence.

Think my heart rate was too low although I know this is strength training rather than cardio …

hills yellow - squat jumps at end

Trail running in the appenine mountains

Been based in Frassinoro this break which is 1110m above sea level. Been doing lots of hilly runs and wishing I had also brought my mountain bike and road bike as there are amazing rides all around.

altitude run profile

The quick 10km run I did this afternoon/ evening was over a mountain bike trail over 300m of climbing and quite a bit rougher than my normal runs … For once I thought I needed trail shoes. Not sure what altitude does to pace as I can’t judge how much slower I am as the trails are so much rougher. I will have to look up the effect of altitude once I get a decent data connection. I don’t feel like I am struggling muscle wise although heart rate seems high and pace is slow…

Frassinoro is a bit famous for their cross country skiers – part of the trail is apparently an important training area for them summer and winter. Passed a girl this evening o the trail walk/ running with 2 poles and buns of steel – maybe she is the world champ?

Running on automatic

Went for run this morning after 7am and it was already mid 30′s …. decided just to do a nice 8km+ easy run as I was flying later and didnt want to miss out on some exercise today.

I was running around one of the lakes almost on auto plot – the first and last km are on dirt so that slows things down. I looked down as my HRM beeped (I set my Suunto T6 to autolap every km when running on gps) it said a slow 4:52/km so I just relaxed and carried on. When I finished I was washing some kit then looked through my lap times … amazing in that 5 of the km laps are within the second. That really is cruising on automatic … if I tried to do it that steady there is no way I would manage.

look at the laps

Stepping Out of my comfort zone

So I bike, Run, Surf, Kite  and Sail …. but recently been going to an hour long step class

Surprisingly I am enjoying it too – an hour to find my rythm use different muscles and join some pals. Wore the HRM and it seems to be quite a good workout too.

Step class Heart Rate through class

 

Worked it harder yesterday