Friday, January 13, 2012

34 Weeks Update -- Testing and Training

As I mentioned in my last post, the schedule for this week hasn't been too heavy, primarily because there were a few test sessions involved.

I did the first on Thursday morning. A bike test of 20 minutes all out. I did the test on one of my gym's spin cycles, since they have a watt meter and HRM installed on them. I don't train with power on my bike, but at least I can use that as a reference point for future tests. After warming up, I dove in, and felt pretty good about the effort:

Time: 20 minutes
Avg HR: 161, with a max of 171 near the end.
Avg Wattage: 296
RPMs: 96

This morning was a run test. After warmup, 4 miles, with 1-minute rest periods, each at 70% of my Heart Rate Reserve (HRR). The idea is to see if you're able to maintain speed without spiking up the HR. If so, it's time to ramp up the intensity of the runs a bit.

I think the results were good. Speed stayed the same or got faster as I went along, while keeping the AHR below the 70% HRR. I was surprised to find myself running at marathon pace with such a relatively easy effort -- guess the discipline of holding back this winter has been paying off.

1 - 8:24 - 134 AHR
2 - 8:17 - 138 AHR
3 - 8:15 - 140 AHR
4 - 8:20 - 138 AHR

We'll see what Coach Debi has to say about where I stand, but I'm feeling pretty good about that.

The rest of the week is pretty light: an hour easy ride and 4 mile run on Saturday, then an 8 mile run with some speed towards the end on Sunday. I'll post totals and look ahead on Monday.

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