Training for Time Trials

[Eden]

My partner and some of his training partners as well as some of the LBS guys reckon a TT suit makes you faster than an aero helmet... I dunno... I think I would feel so uncomfortable in a TT suit I would slow myself down because I wouldn't be focused.

At a bike race everyone is so focused on themselves no one has the time to worry about how everyone else looks in their skin suits (unless you show up in a full body hot pink one ) that said, I think the aero helmet will make a bigger difference than a skin suit...
In a couple weeks I'll finally get to try mine out! Hopefully this year I'll have stronger legs to match too (I have my long awaited Giro - yeah!)

[RoadRaven]

I know that everyone is focused on themselves... but the problem would be I would be so focused on myself that I would worry about distracting others from their focus. I am sooooo considerate!
hahahaha...

So, seriously, what date for your next TT Eden, if its only a few weeks away?

And have you had much of a chance to train on your disc? I have decided I don't like disc wheels... they are heavy if the course has any slight hills (and you know me by now... I am not so fast on hills (still working on it...)

I have still not dropped enough in weight to use my last year's birthday pressie - Grammo Vipers (which have a 90kg weight restriction on them) - deep dish wheels and so sweet to look at. But I use my partners tri-spokes and he uses my front Viper with his Zip on the back... so we are both happy.

Looking forward to hearing about it - don't forget to post a race report please... there aren't many of us here that TT and although I can read TT reports on other boards they are usually by males and their speeds are so far from what I can achieve and the way they report is somehow, intangiably, different to the way our reports are written here...

[Eden]

First race of the year, coming right up on Feb 24th.
It's a shortie - 9 mile (14.5 km) flat TT - so really it might be too short to really see much of a quantitative difference from the helmet... I did do the same course last year (hopefully I have the results somewhere so I can compare this year to last)

I don't really train on the disc - its a tubular, so its a real PITA to change the tires... I'd hate to be training on it and get a flat, so if I train on the TT bike I do it with regular wheels. The disc is a bit heavy, but I think on a flatish course its well worth it. Rolling is OK, but for very hilly I'd leave it off. I use my road bike for hillclimb TT's - its just lighter all around and you don't get going fast enough to take advantage of aerogear anyway on a hillclimb.

I'm going to talk you into a skinsuit someday I don't know how much of a difference it really makes, but d*mn it feels good (fast) to wear one...

[RoadRaven]

Hey there Eden - I didn't mean training all the time on the disc, rather just trying is out in different winds to see how it feels.
Sorry, I wasn't very clear in what I was asking.
You def wanna make tubbies last asap - and never want to get a flattie in a race!

I have regular wheels to train on too - now I am used to them, the tri-spokes only go for actual TTs.

*ignores comment about skin suits*
lahlahlahlahlahlahlahlahlahlahlahlahlahlahlahlahlahlah.....

[Starfish]

Please forgive me if this has been asked. I tried searching, but it didn't get me what I was after...

What kind of HRs do you women tend to average when you are either training for or racing in a time trial of, say, 10 miles?

I know it will vary...that each person's lactate threshold and fitness are different, etc, and everyone's a different age, etc. I'm just curious.

I just spent about 2 hours on a ride with an average HR of 154 (about 85% of max) and lots of longish stretches at about 164 (about 91% of max). I got in some intervals close to max on hills.

I found myself wondering what kind of HR I would be shooting for holding onto for, say 10 miles, if I attempted a beginner's time trial?

[Eden]

I shoot for right around or just above my LT.

[RoadRaven]

Yup... I'm like Eden... try and lurk at or above my LT.

Typical HR pattern in a TT as follows...

In a TT I usually leave with such a rush of adrenilin that my HR seems to spike up to about 168-175 which is approaching my max, but after about 500 metres it settles and I then I wind myself up til it is sitting on 156-158bpm
158bpm is my lactate threshold as measured in a sports lab in 2007.

At the turn-around, or the half-way point in distance, I wind myself up more. I know I can sustain a good power output several beats above my LT for about 10km or 18mins and if my body is responding well I try to keep my HR at 162-165 for the last half of the course.

In the last 2kms I try to lift the speed/power output more and my HR often sits at about 168bpm for the last 1km of the ride - thats 10beats above my LT.

My distances for TT are between 18km and 25km long. 18-20km TTs are ideal for me, but I am still having trouble pacing myself over 25km... that extra 5km makes a significant difference.