Motivation for Hard Intervals?

[RoadRaven]

Could someone explain exactly what intervals are?

Hey there T!
Yup, you have described them, and Pedal Wench has described them.

You can base your intervals on several patterns... heart rate, time or distance.

I do two types of intervals; one based on HR and one based on distance.

The heart rate one goes like this...

-warm up for about 30mins - low intensity riding, HR elevated but not so you can't talk (for me, about 120bpm)
-lift your speed/intensity til your HR hits lactate threshold or close and hold for 30secs (for me 158bpm or more)
-then relax and let HR drop (for me, under 120bpm)
- as soon as your HR has dropped, hit the gas again and try to get into your LT again

The distance one goes like this... I have 1.3km of false flat I do this on

-warm up for about 30mins - low intensity riding, HR elevated but not so you can't talk (for me, about 120bpm)
- I go flat out "up" the false flat, I focus on power output, not speed, my HR lifts of course
-as soon as I get to the turn-around point I go into recovery mode as I pedal "down" the false flat
-repeat

OK... important things about intervals... realise that you may only be able to do 2-3 to begin with. Accept that and don't beat yourself up if you aimed to do 3 and only managed 2. Listen to your body - thats important.

Don't do this type of interval 2 days in a row. It is important for this type of training to be effective that your heart has fully recovered from the exertion - sometimes your heart can remain slightly elevated the next day - particularly the more you are doing.

I typically do about 7 intervals on an interval day... I have done as many as ten, I have often stopped at about 5-6 - it is tiring - prepare to be very tired afterwards.

Do make sure you cool down for 20-30 minutes - you will have just pumped a heap of lactic acid through your muscles, you need to spin those muscles out...