Training Plan...

[han-grrl]

i happen to be looking at that very same plan last night. i have been racing sport for several years now. and well, not very good at it either. but i did my 24 hour solo this year, and well, now i had a taste of "real" commitment to training. and i well, should be committed, but i want to do MORE of this. and well, race expert. We have a local series, and i decided i am going to attempt expert (means an extra lap) and i still don't know which of the Quebec Cup or Ontario Cup i would like to focus on. anyway, i have been doing my own plan for the last couple of years, and well, i think i have taken myself about as far as i could go on my own. i need a little more guidance. i am not sure a canned plan is best, as it doesn't take into account my weaknesses...

as an aside, i had taken the last two months off, not that long on purpose (i was sick the last two weeks). today i did my first road ride in TWO months. it hurt. and i loved it. i actually maintained my usual average speed...just not so much the average heart rate from two months ago. i still loved it. two months ago i didn't want to think of long rides. now i can't remember why i stopped! i hope thats a good thing. i am looking forward to getting back into training now. i want to invest in a power meter (the ibike i think,its well, budget friendly), but i think i need something better to train on indoors as well.

anyway i am babbling, probably from the excitement of my ride today.



Han

[velogirl]

I haven't used the iBike yet. At $400 it's a great deal and much less expensive that PowerTap or SRM. Some of my friends have been field-testing the iBike (while still having either a PT or SRM on their bike). The iBike seems somewhat accurate, but there are definitely situations where it isn't (pack riding, descending, changes in position on the bike during a ride like going from the hoods to the drops), due to the way it estimates power output. I think it might be a decent tool if used to train alone in certain circumstances, but I would probably wait until they make a few more revisions before making the investment. And understand the limitations.

[han-grrl]

I have been reading various reviews. It does sound like a pretty good deal.
I think seeing as my power is well, not exactly that ummm...powerful, i am not too worried about times it tends to flake out. plus, i do most of my training on my own anyway...

[velogirl]

So, there's been lots of ibike chat on the wattage forum lately. Apparently, one of the downsides is that you can't use it on a stationary trainer or rollers. Just something to think about if you do any of your winter training inside.

[Offthegrid]

I have to plan my training because I'm working on the three disciplines of triathlon, so I need to work in (for now) 2 swims, 2 fast walks, 2 bikes and 2 strength training sessions. I just use a simple calendar template I downloaded from Excel, then log my training into Trainingpeaks (the free service). Of course, it's easier for me because none of my workouts are over an hour yet and I don't worry so much about speed.

But now it seems that my new personal trainer is going to work with me on that part of it.

I have no idea how much online planning costs, but you might want to see with a local coach to see how much different the price is.

[han-grrl]

Sigh...i have been trying to figure out what is best for spending money on...

right now i am looking at getting the ibike and a trainer that has power on it (the Tacx flow i believe has it, and there is one at nashbar as well).

so together (in canadian$) will be roughly 1000$...which i think is still less than the price of setting up the power tap...

[Cassandra_Cain]

I gave the iBike a serious look before finally deciding on getting a PowerTap Pro. It has been, for me at least, overwhelmingly the right choice.

The iBike has some serious issues with dropouts and rough terrain, not to mention it is useless indoors. The polar is a better option and more reliable, but then it too is useless indoors.

There's a whole other way to go at this though....

The trainer I have, (and use extensively, kurt kinetic) offers an option of a computer that gives wattage readouts (average, max, current) - for just an extra $50 over the price of the trainer itself. I've compared the published power curve for the KK and found it within 10% of my powertap readouts, so I'd say it is useful and reasonably priced. If I didn't have a PM, this method would be my choice.

I won't mention coaching because in doing so once, the words name-dropping and useless were said....

[velogirl]

Sigh...i have been trying to figure out what is best for spending money on...

right now i am looking at getting the ibike and a trainer that has power on it (the Tacx flow i believe has it, and there is one at nashbar as well).

so together (in canadian$) will be roughly 1000$...which i think is still less than the price of setting up the power tap...

Actually, have you looked at the PowerTap prices lately? Once they introduced the wireless, the prices of all the other models fell. And, there's a surge of used PT Pro & PT SL on eBay from folks who are replacing them with the wireless. I'll probably do the same and I've got two that I'll be selling.

Yes, I'm a big fan of PowerTap. It's science-grade accurate, easy to switch from bike-to-bike, and light enough to race with. Oh, and it's easy to use as well.

Of course, no power meter will make you faster unless you know how to train with it!