C'trainer. 4 hours. Flat. Avg HR 122; Avg Watts 118.
Though the CompuTrainer can serve as entertainment to help with motivation for long hours on the indoor trainer )with all the courses and visuals) it's primary value is as an ergometer.
In my training I'm looking for units of measure (weight, HR, watts, mph, distance, etc) that I can build a plan on, something that allows me to measure changes over time. I can't do that with resistance that simulates inclines and declines (CompuTrainer courses); too variable to measure change.
So I've been training on a `pancake' flat course that goes on for a hundred miles and more.
`Nickel' blocks. One hour has twelve 5 minute `blocks.' I'm finding that the only figure that really counts on long distances (short distances, too) is `watts.' (And then there is this thing called `power to weight ratio.' I'll work on the `weight' end of that come January.)
Several times over the past few weeks I've broken up the training hour by `blocks' of 5 minutes. By varying target watts and target heart rates I can build a measurable training plan, a plan that records outcomes.
Today I broke each hour into 9 consecutive blocks of HR between 110-120 bpm and 3 consecutive blocks of 160+ watts. The first 9 blocks holds HR constant and the watts varies. The remaining 3 blocks holds watts constant and the HR varies.
By modifying the ratio of HR to Watts blocks and target HR and Watts ... I've got the basis of a plan I can build, modify and learn from. And this is where `Periodization' comes in.
PERIODIZATION - RIGID OR FLEXIBLE?
Classic Periodization is a rigid system that may get results for those willing to put the rest of their lives at risk while they sacrifice everything for their sport.
Given the many other demands on my time and the limits of my body I am simply unable to get up every morning and `do' what my training plan has scheduled for me. (For example, I rode 9 hours on Friday and spent all day Saturday dozing off in between movies that I more or less watched.)
So I conform to a `flexible' Periodization strategy. The days, or even weeks, vary from the plan schedule but the overall compliance is spot on. At least that is how it is working out thus far.
Here's a quote that `splains it better:
"The term cybernetic describes the science of control and communication in which feedback from the output of any system is used to modify the input to the system. -- http://www.performbetter.com/catalog/matriarch/OnePiecePage.asp_Q_PageID_E_82_A_PageName_E_ArticleSiffPeriodization
So this can be done without a CompuTrainer, right?
