The session is a great way to develop your ability to maintain a nice steady Time Trial (TT) pace whilst tired, as well as elevating your top-end speed and intensity.
Each Wednesday I’ll post a Windtrainer Workout that you can do in about 60 minutes to enhance your cycling. See a previous post about training intensity (Levels) to know how hard to work. If you are working directly with Coach Ray he will in most cases prescribe either a Power Zone or Heart Rate Zone to work within if you are training with these tools.
This session is a touch longer than the 60 minutes that I usually try and use for these articles. I gave this session to a client a couple of weeks ago and she absolutely NAILED it, so figured it would be a great example to use.
6x 2min VO2 Max, 25min Threshold
- 10min WU Level II;
- 6x 2min Level V, 2min RI Level I-II;
- 25min Level IV;
- 10min CD Level II;
- 10min Stretching
The first 10 minutes of the Warm Up (WU) should be done at an intensity that is steady but not over consuming at Level II.
The main set Is made up of two sections. The first section is designed to pre-fatigue you with some higher intensity efforts, followed up with a 25-minute Time Trial type effort.
The first set involves six reps at Level V for two minutes. After each rep continue riding for two minutes Rest Interval (RI) at levels I-II. Once you’ve done your six reps continue on for another 25 minutes riding at Level IV.
Conclude the ride with a Cool Down (CD) of ten minutes riding at Level II.
Finish with 10 minutes of stretching to assist with your recovery.
If you would like further advice feel free to contact Coach Ray.
My client Di (that’s her in the photo above) did this session on the road. You can view the Strava file here. In the graph on the side, after the Warm Up, you can see the power (pink line), speed (green line), and Heart Rate (red line) all go up for two minutes straight after warm-up. At the end of each rep, they all drop down for the Rest Interval. Then after she has done all six reps (and had the rest interval after the last one), the intensity climbs back up but not as high as the previous Level V efforts this time she is at Level IV for 25 minutes. After that effort, she cools down for ten minutes. Not only did she hit all her power output goals for this session, but she also maintained a really effective cadence through all intervals or segments of the workout. For those of you that think Di is probably a professional or elite athlete……..she is a recreational athlete, a mother, a grandmother of 6 and she works. This season she is training for Challenge Wanaka.
If you would like further advice feel free to contact me.
I am the Head Coach & Director of Qwik Kiwi – Endurance Sports Consultant.
I specialise in assisting first-timers and recreational athletes to achieve their sporting goals. I can be contacted at coachray@coachray.nz and 021 348 729. Make sure you sign up for my informative newsletter.
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