Originally Posted by
Heathpack
Ok, I just want to make sure I fully understand each part of what you've written. So I'll take it one bit at a time.
First, your comment about increasing speed climbing makes 100% sense to me, thanks for explaining it so logically. I instinctively feel like the hill climbing is key, and now I have some knowledge to support that.
Second, I will try to do the heart rate thing on Wednesday mornings ride. I'll scurry up that hill and she how high the HR goes. For the sake of further discussion for now, let's says its 185.
Third "work on recovery from the hill climb going from zone 4 to zone 3. So what exactly does this mean? You climb the hill in zone 4 but then somehow keep your heart rate up in zone 3 when descending. I'm not sure how I do that, the effort is over. Even in the big ring pedaling as fast as I can, I will probably be in HR zone 2 going downhill.
This is from today's (easy) ride:
Note the biggest of the hills is actually comprised of 4 little hills. Heart rate raises when I climb and drops when I descend. Or are you perhaps meaning something else?
Thanks so much for this help. It is a lot to take in, hopefully I don't seem too dense,
H
Ah, I thought you had a single 900' climb, which would be perfect. Around here, we have one nearby 1000' climb, but mostly shorter ones like yours. So that makes it harder to get your LTHR by simply doing a long climb. You only have about 400' climbs, which you should do in 10-15 minutes, too short. OTOH, if one takes you 20', that would be perfect. You could do the 2 X 20 sticky at the top of this forum. Even 2 X 15 minutes would get you close.
By "recovering in zone 3", I meant if there are flats or rollers after your descent, keep some pressure on until the next climb. This route is just one climb after another, so you'll recover just a little on the descents and then hit it again. See what you can do. Looks like a hard course. Looking at your HR graph, you seem to have a lot of peaks around 150. If your MHR is really 185, my guess is that your LTHR is around 166, which you don't even touch. But maybe it's much lower. Anyway, the theory of climbing is that you make a constant effort. So coming into the climb, don't slam your HR up there. Go as fast as you think you'll be going at the finish of the climb and hold it. Wait for your HR to come up. If it stops coming up before you are panting like a broken steam engine, add more power. Keep doing that until you do start panting uncontrollably. That's too fast, back it off a hair until that quits.
When you breathe, breathe from your stomach. When you breathe in, it should look like you're pregnant. Fill the bottom of your lungs first, then the top. You want to completely fill your lungs every breath and do that as fast as possible as you add power until you just can't control it any more and start to pant. That's too fast, back off and note your HR. If your legs hurt, suck it up. You can't really get fast without them hurting pretty good. It's called banking the pain. You bank enough pain, you can make withdrawals against it in the future.
I'm leaving in the morning on a 10-day backpack. You have fun now, OK?