Regarding intervals ... I had a professional training session with a coach last fall, who gave me a training schedule, which included intervals. Some of his intervals involved starting in my easiest gear and moving up a gear every 30 seconds (or 60 ... not sure). It took a long time to go through all the gears. Other times he told me to go a mile per hour faster on certain stretches of familiar routes. This was kind of hard since I wasn't sure what my exact speed was on those stretches. I could tell you what my "average pace" was for a section, because I had started using the lap feature on my computer (more on that later) ... but what speed I was going at any given time might change if the grade changed a little, or I might have had momentum going into that climb, so went faster in the beginning.

That was in October/November and I took December off from riding. When I started again in January, I felt slower than ever. After a dismal club ride, I decided to get serious about intervals and decided to come up with my own ... what made sense to me and was simple. There's a particular route I most often do my intervals on and it doesn't matter if I ride with my friend or not. She knows when we hit certain sections, always a climb (though pretty mild), I would take off and ride as hard as I could. I think the first time I did this, I did the first interval for 30 seconds, then realized I could go further, so I did 60 seconds for the next and a few others afterward. The next time I rode I pushed it to 1:30 and now do 2 minute intervals (though I haven't done them in a while). When you read about intervals, I'm sure you'll learn that it is recommended to get a good recovery in between. I usually try to get like five minutes at a pretty slow pace. Feels slow and is kind of frustrating, but it's necessary to fully recover so you can get the most out of the next interval. I also read that the first couple of intervals make the biggest difference in your training, so if you don't have it in you to do more than a couple, you're still getting the benefit if that's all you do.

I actually didn't do all that many interval rides before I saw big results, so I HIGHLY recommend it. The first difference I noticed was in my breathing. I always seem to be the one breathing the hardest at the top of climbs or when going fast on the flat. I remember getting to a red light with the club once and, in between gasps, uttered, "Why am I the only one breathing hard?!" Since doing just a few interval rides, I have noticed a BIG difference. I get to the top of climbs and I am not breathing nearly as hard and can therefore keep going when I sometimes used to stop to catch my breath.

Some of my intervals are distance intervals. There's a specific stretch between two signals, which is a mild climb of maybe 2% or so. It's only six tenths of a mile. My friend and I now routinely push it as hard as we can on that stretch to see how much faster we can do it. I was exhilarated the last time I did with her and stayed right with her the whole way. I only did it 2 seconds slower than her. This is huge.

Regarding laps, if you want to work on your speed, I highly recommend getting a computer that offers this option. I hadn't figured out mine did it and used to figure out laps myself. I'd get to the bottom of a climb and look at what my time was at that point and say it over and over again to myself so I wouldn't forget it. At the top of the climb I'd note what the time difference was and the next time I stopped, I'd enter it in the notes section on my phone.

One day I had a "duh" moment when I thought, "I have a Garmin. Surely there must be a lap feature on this thing that will figure this out for me." And there was. And I taught other people in my riding world how to use this feature, including my "know it all husband", who was not aware of this feature. I have the Garmin 305 (soon to be 500!) ... so I have a screen I can switch to which tells me my current lap distance, time, and average pace.

It's a wonderful way to compare how you're doing. I used to focus primarily on over all average pace, but there are a lot of things that can affect that. Signals, or riding with a group that is riding slower than usual. On my Saturday club ride, I don't worry too much about over all pace anymore, because you never know how fast the group will do the first ten flat miles. But there is a big climb, which I am always trying to improve on. So when I get to that climb, I hit my lap button. It doesn't matter what the rest of the club is doing. Everyone thins out on the climb. I just do my best and compare myself to ... myself.

When I get home I enter my stats on Bikejournal.com (another tool I highly recommend. It's free, unless you add more field options, which I did).

I even go so far as to write previous lap times and paces on my wrist with a Sharpie before a ride. I'm the only one I know that does this and my cycling buddies think I'm nuts, which I am. But when I get to a lap that I want to kill, I know exactly what I'm trying to improve on without trying to remember it. When I beat a previous time, it's a PR ... personal record. PR seems to be more of a runners term. Maybe you've heard of it since you run. But I've yet to meet a cyclist that is familiar with the term. But I'll note in my journal if I PR'd a lap or an entire ride.

So, once again I wrote you a book. Hope it helps.