bigfred 

Unlike Carbonfiberboy, I love this stuff and can't imagine paying a coach to tell me what to do without understanding all the whys myself. To me, simply going out and attempting to do what I'm told would be hell. I need to understand what and why, how and when I should modify, what warning signs to keep an eye out for, etc. I ride for the sense of enjoyment and accomplishment I get and self training only adds to that.

That being said. Carbonboy's delineation of HR zones and the fact that they vary so much from what I use highlights the difficulty of using the term "zone" with relationship to heart rate and outside of the context of a specific training program.

First, if I read your earlier posts correctly it sounds as though you're performing your mid-week interval sessions on a trainer. It's my belief that trainers are excellent for this type of work, allowing one to precisely follow the prescribed time and effort schedule without concerns about terrain or traffic and allowing one to push themselves to their personal limit without concern of exhaustion and falling over into the path of a dump truck.

However, at least in my experience, indoor trainer and outdoor cycling heart rates are not identical for a given relative perceived exertion level. Typically I would experience a heart rate approximately 10 bpm lower when cycling on an indoor trainer at a specific RPE than if I were to attempt to maintain the same RPE on the road. The reasons for this are debatable. The theories I've heard that made the most sense to me included the reduced inertia that one experiences on the trainer in combination with the increased reliance on the lesser muscles used to generate power through the entire crank revolution compared to actually riding on the road. There are of course exceptions to this. But, it may be important to you to note the difference if you're trying to train both indoors and out to consistant heart rate zones.

It sounds like you haven't actually completed a formal LT or heart rate test. If you want to have meaningful discussions about your heart rate zones for a particular training program it would be very advantageous to have completed whatever testing protocol the designer of that program prescribes. But, don't worry about doing this before your event. And, to be honest, it's my belief that most low time beginners don't get a good test out of themselves anyway. Either they over estimate how hard they can go for the specified time(s) and go out too hard early, resulting in a significant drop in later performance. Or, they don't realize how hard they can push themselves and don't drive hard enough in the later part of the test. And, shy of sophisticated lab equipment and protocols, they're all just an "estimate" anyhow. And, we've already had enough posts on "zones".

Suffice to say, it's helpful to know what heart rate you can maintain for an extended period of time. In a very broad general sense I'll refer to that as LT. While we prescribe nice, neat, crisp lines to our "zones" the fact is that the body doesn't have any respect or concern for our nice, neat, crisp lines. It (the body) has a spectrum of power and energy systems that it progressively moves through, gradually varying how it proportions it's reliance on these depending on the effort you're exerting.


The further above LT our exertion, the shorter the time we can spend at the level before reaching exhaustion. As you've experienced, a plan like Carmichael's New Century is going to prioritize efforts right around LT for extended periods and not worry about harder efforts which can only be maintained for very brief periods.

Then, they're including some volume performed at a level significantly below LT. While the former is intended to build your strength and power at LT, the later is building your endurance and ability to spend Time In The Saddle, which will be key to your comfortable completion of the century.

The New Century plan doesn't include long Sunday rides. Instead, it relies on splitting your endurance training over Saturday and Sunday.

You're adding in a long Sunday ride of increasing length as though you're doing a classic 12-13 week zero to hero program. You're already doing the "Extra" you're concerned about. If you do an 80-85 mile ride this Sunday and an 85+ the Sunday that follows, you're set. As long as you don't start too fast on event day, you'll find the other 15 miles.

Assuming your 180 max/165 Lt rates aren't completely off and applying a bit of basic training logic, attempt to complete your long rides in the 135-150 bpm range. Your 137 bpm average is inside that range, but, just. Which would explain why you felt as though you could have gone harder. You probably could have. But, for the purpose of your training objectives, not by a lot. Just a little.

If you're looking for "more" to do: How much time are you dedicating to "Fast Pedal" drills or cadence work? Improving your maximum usable cadence is an area that is easily trained, quick to provide benefits and doesn't result in accumulating lots of additional stress/fatigue.

I hope you find this reassuring and helpful. If Time Crunched is your only training reference, I can tell you that it left me with plenty of questions. I was already using HIIT when I purchased it, looking for answers to some of the issues I was encountering. What I found was repeated references to hiring a CTS coach in order to learn more or over come the issues I was experiencing. If you're interested in self-training or at least developing a better understanding of your bodies energy systems and how to train for cycling I would recommend Friel's Cyclists Training Bible. It's a much more thorough book and will actually lead you down the path of developing your own tailored training plan. The catch is, that it's aimed at athletes who are wiling to dedicate signficant time to trainig.