E-Coach Training Tips
Week Three
Hope everyone had a good time at Black Fly this past weekend. We lucked out with the sunny weather. Anyway, this week’s tip will be the first of a 2 part series pertaining to how we monitor and analyze our training.
Pace…
Trying to say that you rode a specific course at 20mph average can be deceiving. Two or three weeks of training later, you may be upset to find out that the same course took longer and your average pace was 18.5mph. What changed, you should have better fitness. Many factors can affect this such as wind, fatigue, or nutrition. Maybe you went harder than you should have the first time you rode it or you were in a higher training zone than you thought. The same can hold true with pace or time to complete a specific interval such as climbing your favorite training hill. The same factors can affect your time each trip up.Heart Rate…
Probably the most popular, easiest, and economic choice. Most of us have our set Heart Rate Training Zones. While the Heart Rate Monitor (HRM) tells what our body is doing, this still has some pitfalls that one must understand. Heart Rate does not respond immediately to sudden changes in intensity, there is some lag time going in either direction. Heart Rate will drift over time. As we get older our VO2 and Lactic Threshold values will slowly decrease, especially from age 40 and older (yours truly). Once athletes are fit, heart rate zones will change very little. Other factors can affect HR which one needs to understand; hot or cold weather, hydration levels, pre-race jitters or adrenalin during the event, fatigue levels, nutrition (how much caffeine did I have today?).Next week, I will briefly review the more accurate training tools we can use to monitor our efforts and results; power and perceived exertion.