Thu 9 Aug
2007
TARGET: TOUR DE TERRA COTTA
I’ve talked a lot about training on this site before. Granted, I haven’t turned this blog into a daily diary that would make up a workout journal, but sometimes I think that if I wanted to post more frequently, I could easily post about training …
Sites set on the Tour de Terra Cotta. To enter and finish that thing
So, I’ll try and keep this one brief. I’ve started training again … in truth all that really means is I’m being more disciplined … and this time it’s for keeps. I’ve committed … not just talking here … to entering into three cycling events next year. The first two will be used as tune ups to the third and final event, the Tour de Terra Cotta, hosted by the Brampton Cycling Club.
The Tour is a 110 km race that will prove to be quite a test. I haven’t ridden that distance since I was 19 or 20. I won’t be in the elite group; probably enter the “recreational” group and take it from there. The goal will be to finish it.
To do that, I’ll need to make sure I do a couple of things along the way. The first is to drop my weight down to a waif thin 160 lbs. The second is to increase my Endurance Miles … the distance I can comfortably ride on a bike, without stopping, and at an easy pace … to at least 120 km’s. The third will be to increase the number of Tempo riding minutes … the length of time one can maintain a heart rate (HR) just below their Lactate Threshold HR … to 90 minutes.
It can be done, if you just adhere to the numbers … not just adhere, but listen to them
There are many other micro goals along the way that are too numerous to mention here, but I figure that accomplishing those three main goals will put the body in a state where finishing the Tour is guaranteed. But it’s all in the numbers.
Dropping the weight may seem hard to many, but it’s really just smart eating and counting the calories. For me, it’s just that simple. All that needs to be done is to stick to the numbers, not deviate, and the pounds will come off. Easier said that done? True, but I’ve done this before; many times. I know what it takes mentally to shed weight … (although, admittedly, to maintain the weight at 165 – 170, after the event, will be a new journey for me)
The other two goals are also about numbers, HR numbers. I’ll be listening to my heart like I’ve never done in the past. The beats per minute will tell me everything about how hard my body is truly working versus how hard I perceive my body to be working. Understanding that relationship, between the HR and perception, will lend itself immensely to knowing what I can do any given day.
1. Eight weeks of base riding in Zone 1 / Zone 2.
2. Eight weeks of base riding with Power, Tempo, and Fast Pedal Intervals (covering all Zone’s)
3. Eight weeks of increased Power, Tempo, and Fast Pedal Intervals (covering all Zone’s)
That’s the first 24 weeks of the training schedule. There’s more detail, of course, but the basics of that plan coupled with sound nutrition will allow me to hit the target weight in late February, early March. After that it will be about tweaking and conditioning …
Fingers crossed, I’m four days into Week One … here we go …
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