Trouble with speed work (Page 2)

velocomp - 2006-05-25 10:05 AM Not to disagree Mike... But I disagree with your last statement. If one was only riding 3x per week they would only be maintaining, but if ther person is also running and swimming, etc. they are improving cardiovascular fitness and strengh. Since they will be increasing strength through the other activities, they can successfully build their level of cycling fitness and will benefit from the side work, so they can increase their cycling duration/intensity/speed over time and not just maintiain Cycling only 3x per week. Again this is as long as they are "Working Out" more than 3 days per week.

>>First of all - that is a direct quote from Jack Daniels. So - you can take that up with him. :-) I agree with him 100% and here is a good example: All winter I worked hard on my swim, dropping my pace down a bit. I was swimming 4-5x per week. I did a 1k TT a few weeks ago - same exact time as Mid Feb - and since mid Feb, I have been swimming 3x per week. so, 3x per week only got me to maintain, not 1 second faster. I understand what you are saying, and you are right to an extent. Aerobic conditioning is aerobic conditioning. You can jump up and down for 3 hours and get aerobic benefit. BUT, if you want to become a better runner, you need to run more than 3x per week. Same for the bike and swim too. Something us coaches call "specificity". 

mikericci - 2006-05-25 12:07 PM

velocomp - 2006-05-25 10:52 AM One thing to remember is that as a "Beginner", a person has more room to improve. And you do benefit from your other activities. For instance... You burn calories. Well if you lose weight it helps your bike and run as your not carrying as much weight. Your cardiovascular endurance increases. So you may be able to run further because of your breathing control you've learned from swimming or your stamina from cycling. All the things you do increase your fitness which helps with specific exercises. Otherwise why would core strength training help you for cycling. Because all the exercises share muscles especially as you get away from the major muscle and look at the support muscles that are involved in major movements. I understand there are many views on this. And I understand your point of view from your fitness level, but someone trying to improve can improve working out 5 days a week but only doing each specific exercise 3x. I rode the triple bypass last year training for the most part only 3 days per week on the bike. I did swim and run a lot as well since I was competing in tris at the same time. But I never would have been able to do the Triple early in the season. I improved throughout the year.

mikericci - 2006-05-25 1:44 AM

Keeping the effort in Z1-2, watching your recovery, and getting enough sleep each night will do WONDERS for 95% of the people on this website. The LT work and all that is fine, but it's really only 5% of the training, and in reality, you have a lot more to lose then to gain by doing it. A pulled muscle or something will set you back for weeks, but keeping consistent and adding the appropriate amount of intensity will lead you to improvement. Getting rest after these tougher workouts, eating RIGHT, etc will go much further in helping you get faster over a longer period of time.

mikericci - 2006-05-25 11:47 AM

Really? Flat course? Sounds pretty cool!

the bear - 2006-05-25 11:17 AM

Fairly flat, this is how the RD describes the course:  The course is flat compared to most marathons, with a few short steep hills and one half mile incline.  The course follows a shallow river bottom, which results in the hills.   The course is not as flat as the Chicago Marathon. It is significantly flatter than Portland, Nashville, Marine Corps, Dallas and Amarillo. It is similar to Cleveland and Detroit.

I like how they use other marys as reference, especially since I've done Chicago, Nashville, and MC. Lets me know that the hills will be tolerable. My bigger concern is the temps, it may be Indiana but it's still June. A lot of my goal pace depends on how far into the 70s temps will get by the time I'm supposed to finish.