Mon 13 Aug
2007
TRAINING WEEK 1
I always find it fascinating, when you start training again, on how quickly the body seems to shed off the first few pounds. After the first week of training, this body is down 3.5 lbs. Not bad, and to be quite honest, a bit surprising. But this is usually the case when I start up again, but when things start to normalize heading into the third week, there’ll have to be a more concentrated effort to stay the course.
Lower body weight gives more power …
Everyone who cycles with some degree of seriousness knows that. But again, after being off the bike and then climbing back on, it’s always amusing to see all the written words and talk up front and in your face. All last week I was registering and average of 145 watts over hour long rides; with a HR average of about 127 bpm for each ride.
This morning saw averages of 152 watts for power and 122 bpm for the heart rate. I rode with a cadence of 91 rpm for the entire hour (lowering it when I got off the saddle as my ass still needs to get used to it again). The intensity remained the same. Even the slope I used on the trainer, the Tacx Flow, remained the same. So, what did change?
The weight was the differing factor. It still grips me, every time I see the numbers, at just how much a few less pounds affect the body. Not only do you look better, but you just perform better. Even the thinking and effort to concentrate is “easier.”
Base Building can be boring work … but you can spice it up a little
With the first week under the belt, there’s another seven weeks to go for Phase 1 of the Base Building. Through various online resources and several books in the library, I’ve put together a plan of a Base Building cycling that will last 24 weeks (divided into three phases). The main goals of which will be to get darn close to the target weight and to basically ride for three hours on the trainer, nonstop.
Well, those are the biggies, but there are other goals like average power output, average HR, and being able to keep the HR below a certain level, but I need to ride this first phase of Base Building, before I can set realistic goals for those.
Phase 2 and 3 of the Base Building will be a little more fun, I think. I’ll be incorporating different riding exercises designed to increase the VO2 max (tempo and intensity riding) and warming up the fast twitch muscles by pedaling at rpm’s of around 120.
I’ve yet to fully lay out the plan after the Base Building. A couple of factors are influencing the delay on that front. The dates for events I want to participate in aren’t set in stone and I’ll need to see where the body is, physically, and performance wise. But there still plenty of time to get read on that.
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