Training for Century, need to know how to use HR Manitor

Hi all,

I am pretty new to cycling, started last summer. This year my goal is to complete a century ride in August. It will be a flat ride with one long hill towards the end. Reading articles about centuries I came across the importance of HR manitors, so I went and bought one. So, I was wondering if any of you who use heart rate manitors can share the info on how you use them. In what % of MHR do you train, and actually try to ride the century in. Your info will be appreciated as always :D Thanks:)

Good work on getting an HR monitor. It is a great training tool. Do you do spin classes at a gym by any chance? Sometimes the instructor will tell you how much time you should spent at what % of your maximum. I think the rough forumla for max heartrate is 226 minus your age. Do a search on the net and you should turn up some suggestions for building a training program. I've used my monitor for almost 2 years and love it.

I agree - there are a lot of good books out there which can give you training programs. Most of your riding should be done at an endurance pace - I believe, but am not certain, that this is about your 80% of max level.

I think Veronica trains with a HRM and when she gets back from her trip she can probably give some pointers. I gave up the HRM years ago and haven't looked back! :cool:

"Sally Edwards' Heart Zone Training: Exercise Smart, Stay Fit and Live Longer"

Sally Edwards has one of the more popular, in-depth HR training books out there.

Nanci

Thank you all for responses... I do take cycling classes 3 times a week, one double class. What I noticed is that when my cycling instructor says she has 80% mhr, I usually have about 82-85%. Not sure if it's good or bad, maybe she has different resistance on her bike, maybe she is using her VO2 better, who knows.... I know that on my sprints i go to about 92-95% and that I think is pretty good according to some info i found on net. All in all , my average is about 75% for a cycling class.

Just note that even a double cycling class will hardly prepare you for a century. MY opinion.

Long term endurance training in the 130-140 bpm range is the basis everyone should do. So I hear.

I def. understand that, I am doing double classes just for the heck of it, plus the instructor is great and it's a shame to miss a class with her. On the other side i am trying to make up for the rides that i can't do outside during the week, On weekends i am planning to do long rides.

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Originally Posted by FreshNewbie

I def. understand that, I am doing double classes just for the heck of it, plus the instructor is great and it's a shame to miss a class with her. On the other side i am trying to make up for the rides that i can't do outside during the week, On weekends i am planning to do long rides.

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While there may be no substitute for actual road miles, I've found that my endurance and climbing skills have improved since I've started spinning at the gym. I used to use my trainer at home and watch Spinervals DVDs, but I wasn't pushing myself as hard as I should have.

I agree, on the first ride this season I didn't feel like i was out of shape, in fact i felt much stronger physically than last year. So, yes the classes do help a lot, esp if you combine them with yoga.

Spin classes are GREAT for maintaining fitness during the week. I can't build fitness with spin, because my rides all need to be much longer. But I work fulltime and 2 classes a week plus an occasional "hooky" ride here and there mean I don't lose fitness between my weekend epic rides.

with the rain we've had, I've started taking a spinning class now and then, and I need to step it up. Would twice a week be to much, along with whatever training ride I can get in on the weekends?

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Originally Posted by shadon

with the rain we've had, I've started taking a spinning class now and then, and I need to step it up. Would twice a week be to much, along with whatever training ride I can get in on the weekends?

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That shoud be fine.

I understand that 70-75% of max is a good zone to sit in, however, every now and again you should train at just a little higher and it will increase your body's ability to cope with the lactate that builds in your muscles.

I think I have that right? Anyone?

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Originally Posted by RoadRaven

I understand that 70-75% of max is a good zone to sit in, however, every now and again you should train at just a little higher and it will increase your body's ability to cope with the lactate that builds in your muscles.

I think I have that right? Anyone?

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That is my understanding as well. Training at 70-75% of max is excellent for building and maintaining a base fitness level. But to increase your fitness you periodically need to push out of that zone so that your body can adapt to increased demands on your cardiovascular system. Combined with the hard work you also need to schedule in down time so that your body can rest and repair.

Joe Friel (Cyclist's Training Bible) suggests a schedule for over 40 athletes that includes 2-3 weeks of training (with increasing intensity of training over those weeks) followed by a week of low intensity training to aid in recovery.

This is my second year of following this training method and I'm definitely seeing significant improvements in my fitness.

My weekday training rides with Coach Troy I push myself to stay around 85% of my max HR or higher during each set. For me that means staying around 170 - 180 bpm. I typically do two videos back to back now. But I didn't start there. :D

Maintaining such a high heart rate is harder to do when I ride outside. Outside is more fun, but from a training point of view, I get more from doing a video.

My long weekend rides I try to keep my heart rate below 165 bpm - 80% of my max, even when climbing. I was pretty stoked that the last time I climbed Hamilton (5 miles, 7% average grade) I averaged 165 bpm. And on Sierra Rd. (3 miles, 10% average grade) I averaged 168. And that was 75 miles into the ride. :)

V.

Veronica-

How do you measure your average grade for a hill? I have no idea how that compares to what I normally ride - guess I need an excuse for my HR to be sky high:D :D

Carrie Anne

My HRM monitor software calculates % of grade for me. You can do it the old fashioned way. If you know how tall something is you can divide that by the length you traveled to get up it.

When I first started riding my HR would rocket on hills. Since I'm training to do Ultra Distance events, I've been focusing on controlling my HR. I don't want to burn out on the climbs.

V.

yesterday, I did my double cycling class, i noticed that my HR is starting to improve. I do my sprints in 90's zone and hill work is in 85% On short recovery intervals it gets down to 75%.

Veronica, share the secret of how do you deal with saddle problems on long distance training? This weekend i went for a ride that was longer than usual since it was only 3 time out this year. We went for about 35 miles and at the end the saddle nose was hurting me a lot. What do you do on your endurance rides to minimize this? I just ordered the Sell SMP saddle, hoping that maybe that will help. Are there any other tricks?

I have a Brooks leather saddle and I wear shorts with a chamois that works for me, currently the wicked expensive Louis Garneaus from TE. :eek: And I ride a lot.

It took some experimentation to find what worked.

V.

What HR monitor do you use, Veronica?? I seem to recall you were the one who posted a really cool graph of a ride with elevation and HR. No altimiter, so no way to do it the old fashoined way (unfortunately).

I posted under another thread - I'm looking for something to track elevation (long story, but I'm training for a hill ride and want to make sure I'm riding enough elevation to prepare myself...) - but I want to make sure I can still use my "normal" wireless very simple bike computer...

Many thanks!

Carrie Anne

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Originally Posted by traveller_62

Joe Friel (Cyclist's Training Bible) suggests a schedule for over 40 athletes that includes 2-3 weeks of training (with increasing intensity of training over those weeks) followed by a week of low intensity training to aid in recovery.

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Friel's book is still in the big pile next to my bed, but the periodization concept is generally accepted. It is also important to mix up your daily rides. You should not do high intensity rides every day, or even consecutive days. Very important to mix up your daily plan and have rest days.

If you try to ride fast all the time, you'll end up too tired for speed. You'll be able to maintain a decent pace but not really be able to put out the power when you want to.

If you want something a little less daunting than Friel's book, you could try Gale Bernhardt's The Female Cyclist. She has some simple training plans based on various goals and methods to test your lactate threshold. Everyone's resting heart rate is different so you can't use someone else's numbers.

On another topic for those that may be interested, she has some interesting chapters on female physiology, anatomy, menstruation and cycling during pregnancy.

I use a Polar 710. The newest model is the 720 I think. I use it and a speedometer. And soon I'll be adding a GPS. :D

V.

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Originally Posted by SadieKate

It is also important to mix up your daily rides. You should not do high intensity rides every day, or even consecutive days. Very important to mix up your daily plan and have rest days.

If you try to ride fast all the time, you'll end up too tired for speed. You'll be able to maintain a decent pace but not really be able to put out the power when you want to.

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Yep, SK is right. I don't ride that hard every day. More like every other day. :p

V.

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Originally Posted by CA_in_NC

What HR monitor do you use, Veronica?? I seem to recall you were the one who posted a really cool graph of a ride with elevation and HR. No altimiter, so no way to do it the old fashoined way (unfortunately).

I posted under another thread - I'm looking for something to track elevation (long story, but I'm training for a hill ride and want to make sure I'm riding enough elevation to prepare myself...) - but I want to make sure I can still use my "normal" wireless very simple bike computer...

Many thanks!

Carrie Anne

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Carrie Anne -

I have the Ciclosport HAC 4. It works great.

How much climbing is there in the ride you are training for? You'll want to get a long ride close to that amount of climbing in a similar way to how you would train for distance (for example: to ride a century, get a long ride of 80 miles under your belt.)

I'm presently coaching a group of riders for the Death Ride in California. I'm working with a program developed for us by Wenzel with some modifications of our own. The Death Ride has about 14,000 feet of climbing in 130 miles. My longest training ride will probably have about 11 - 12,000 feet in 120 miles. I say probably, because I'm developing new ruotes that I have not ridden yet (this is all a test program for a larger coaching undertaking for team in training), so it may be more. Topo says our one ride is 19,000 feet but Topo TOTALLY lies!! I expect this ride closer to 10 -12,000.

Anyway, make sure you know how much climbing is in your goal ride and get a training ride with 80 - 90% of that.

Sarah-

Thanks for the advice!

The first ride I'm plannig is www.bloodsweatandgears.org. I'll probably shoot to do the 47 mile version with 5800 feet of climbing, as realistically given where I am now, I'm not sure I can be ready for a century with 13k feet of climbing in 2 months.

The second is the Hilly Hellacious Hundred http://www.blueridgebicycleclub.org/hilly/ It's 2 months later - I'm shooting for the full century which is 8k feet of climbing.

I live in an area with some hills, but nothing like there will be on these rides - so I think I have lots of hill repeats in my future;)

Of course, all of this is job dependent - I left a bad (for me) job last fall and am really ramping up my search for a new firm now. Could be a relocation in my future...which would likely interfere with the biking plans, unfortunately....

-Carrie Anne

The other thing I forgot to mention is: what is the climbing like? Is it mostly rollers and short climbs, or is it long, sustained climbs. Familiarize yourself with the route profile and train for that as well.

Those rides sound like a good challenge. Good luck with the job thing. I know that makes things tough.

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Originally Posted by maillotpois

The other thing I forgot to mention is: what is the climbing like? Is it mostly rollers and short climbs, or is it long, sustained climbs. Familiarize yourself with the route profile and train for that as well.

Those rides sound like a good challenge. Good luck with the job thing. I know that makes things tough.

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Thanks - I'll let you ladies know how it goes:) Choices right now are stay in NC or move to DC. Should be interesting;)

Good point - the rides have lots of long and steep climbs (they're in the blue ridge mountains). So...what's the best way to train for those when you only have "little" hills?? Just ride lots of repeats, or ?????

If it is long steep climbs and all you have are short hills, do repeats. I like to do drills where you time yourself on the first repeat and try to keep the time the same for subsequent repeats. This is harder than it seems, and requires you dial it back a bit on the first ones. I'd suggest hill repeats 2 times a week (not on consecutive days) and try to go one more repeat further each time than the time before.

You should probably move to Florida- the biking opportunities make up for the low salaries!

Nanci

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Originally Posted by Nanci

You should probably move to Florida- the biking opportunities make up for the low salaries!

Nanci

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Hee hee -

I'd consider it, except that it would mean taking another bar exam - YUCK!!!!!:eek: :eek:

...DC is kind enough to let you waive in, which is why it's in the running...:cool:

Would be nice to truly be able to bike year round - would get rid of the problems associated with the fun rides being too early in the training season:D :D Guess I just need more warm biking clothes:D :D

As an aside - my last job assured me I would be paid in "sand and surf" if not $ - the week before I left, they told me they expected 12 hours per day, 7 days per week. Um....not a hard decision to leave!

You will want to limit your anerobic workouts. Your recovery from these take twice as long but you won't feel it until nearly 48hrs later. If you are not recovering properly, you'll drag yourself down in time, get sick and not be able to train at all.

It is important to get some muscular endurance built into your training that isn't so cardio intense - like weight training at a gym if possible. There are other gym free methods too - so whatever works for you.

If you want to challenge yourself HR-wise, do activities on off days that are not on a bike - like aerobics or swimming or running. This is the best way to challenge your muscular system and HR because it doesn't build the monotony that only biking will do.

For a century ride, you are going to need strength in your legs - as well as in your lower back and stronger abs. You can work on these in an isolated manner that will all benefit your riding.

Don't rely on your HR monitor alone. It will not tell you that your legs are giving out.