vo2 workouts.....

once a plateau has been hit with regards to aerobic conditioning.....the basic conditioning to survive a road race, u need to work on the high end to improve your ability to move with very fast attacks or the ability to bridge to another group shopuld u get dislodged from the pack.....

here are some examples...

Vo2

1. 3sets of (3mins hard, 3mins easy). these are done as hard as u can.

2. 5 sets of (20secs sprint, 40 secs rest) stay in same gear for recovery

3. 12-20 reps of (30 secs sprint, 30 secs easy) stay in same gear for recovery

4. 4, 3, 2 intervals...4mins hard, 1min easy, 3mins, 1min easy, 2mins hard, 5min rest (2sets)

* if possible, try to do them on a trainer, it is easier to control. i like to warmup outside and cooldown with a longer spin outside but do the meat of the workout on the trainer.

doing them a minimum of 2x weekly will improve your system rapidly.

i like it when a plan comes together.....4th place!!!

sooo.....race day came and went. first race of the season and the adrenaline was flowing good before the race. i chose sen.3 to start this year and make the jump up to sen.1/2. our race was 74 kms long and a series of short punchy climbs acentuate the second half of the course in sucession. the course is 18.3kms around. i did everything that i was told to do as best i could in the race. stay near the front and keep out of the wind. our field was put together with the juniors and under 23's....where the field ballooned to over 100 racers. the start was fast and frantic. i was at the back and got up to the front about half a lap into the race. the yellow line rule was in effect and it was a little difficult to navigate up to the front. there was alot of jockeying for position going into the bottom of every hill, as u want to see what is happening. i could tell early on that i was feeling good in the legs, which i normally do, but this time it was different as i was able to watch the race from the front, so any energy lost at the back of the pack is not when u can see the flow and adjust for it accordingly. i took one bottle with me, a sports drink, which was enough to keep my thirst at bay. i was nervous because i wanted to getthe upgrade points that r offered to the top 5 men. lets take a look at how my body worked to get 4th place. AVG SPEED WAS 38.5 FOR THE RACE. AVG H.R. WAS 155. CALORIES (dont think this is right) 3419. MAX SPEED WAS 65KM/H. MAX H.R. WAS 195. RACE TIME WAS 1 HR 56 MINS. at the end it was a full on sprint, and with less than 100meters left i was leading the damn race, but i got pipped at the line by bryan king, a friend i train with who had an awesome last 75 meters, who took the race, 2nd and 3rd were just a half wheel in front. to say i am happy with this is the understatement of the year!!!!! its been 2 years since i finished an o-cup level race and to nearly win with some of the best juniors and under 23' s in the country is mind blowing considering i am the oldest guy in the race at 38. time and patience played a big part in the result. something i have lacked for a long time. but i had to believe that i could do it. and it payed off.

next up is either calaobogie 0-cup #2 or paris to ancaster......its a toss up as calabogie is 5 hrs away and p to a is 1/2 hr away. points on the line in calabogie though.......if i hear back from friends in kingston, i might go.

btw, thats me in the middle out of the saddle. we r going thru the start/finish at 45km/hr... finish was really fast..somewhere around 55 to sprint, wind was at our backs too. my legs were DONE!!!!!!

race time is almost here!!!!

as the belgian spring classics are into full swing, our race season here in southern ontario is about get into action with the season opener on friday. i will race the sen. 3 cat. and try to make it into the sen.1/2 cat. with in a couple of races. i will jump from racing from75-85km to 120-180km!!!. i have been laying down some really big numbers as for hours on the bike which build overall basic strength and mixing it up with threshold rides and sprint sessions of intensities and duration. my goal was not too do to much at this point in the year and hopefully save myself as the season continues throughout the summer and into fall. I have fine tuned the road steed, as one of my shifters went to the great shifter garden in the sky. i am not one to change my bike or components every couple of weeks, i have had this carbon bike now for 5 years and the ultegra 10sp grouppo has survived probably 30,000kms of harsh climates and tons of aggressive shifting. it doesnt' owe me anything.

as for the week leading into the race, here is how the training went...

sunday 3 hrs all intensities went out to the o-cup course and hammered over the hills with a large group.

monday off bad snow storm went thru dropped 15cm of snow on us.

tuesday off getting a bit better weather wise

wednesday 45 mins 20 * 30 secs on, 30 secs off all indoors.

thursday 2hrs easy spin

friday race day!!!!!

i will post after the race with data off the garmin and how the race went.

as i write this..its is snowing way too hard!!!

the tour of flanders was run on sunday....stijn devolder doubled up with another ronde in his palmares. another solo ride after putting the hammer down on the mur! i had a couple leffe's for him..fine belgian blonde ale to go along with the race.

as for my week, it was a down week.....a little recovery....

sunday march 29 off recovery

monday 2 hrs endurance...nothing hard, zone 2

tuesday 2 hrs indoors 4,3,2 intervals 4mins 350 watts, 1min rest, 3mins at 360 watts, 1min rest, 2mins at 370 watts..5 min spin...4 mins at 360 watts, 1min rest, 3mins at 370 watts, 1min rest, 2mins at 390 watts.

* rode in the evening with my buddy cliff, he did his workout and i rode shotgun....1.25 hrs ridden at a fairly quick tempo and lots of wind.

wednesday 1.25 hrs easy

thursday 3 hrs intervals 1.25 hrs at race pace hr.r at 165 to 175, 2 * 5mins at 15 secs on, 15 secs off, then 8min t.t. with 200m sprint at end.

friday off

saturday off

* in all 9.5 hrs ridden and some really good intensity. legs feel great.

kieth kelly has been posting on his cycling build up and has now joined usa cycling and is on a team for 2009, all of this to compliment his return to running at some point once his knee is sorted out. i have been helping him with some intervals for his training and overall structure for his time on the bike. wish him all the best as i think the freshness of a new sport is lighting a fire under his ass.....