Time Crunched Cyclist?

[Crazydad]

Anyone ever tried one of the training plans in The Time Crunched Cyclist? I am starting the "new century" plan tomorrow so we shall see how it goes.

[Tall Cool One]

I am on my second round of new century. My first time through was last year which was my first year of riding. I got to week 5 and could no longer get my heart rate up enough and stay within cadence limits set by the workouts so I ended up quiting the program. This year I'm hoping to get through 8 weeks of TTCC.

[socalrider]

Many times if you have trouble getting your HR up, it is a sign of fatigue..

[Tall Cool One]

At the time it felt like my cardio was ahead of my legs. I just couldn't get them to work hard enough to affect my heart rate. Looking back, I probably didn't have enough base to do the TTCC program. I started it 6 weeks after I got my road bike. At the time I didn't have the skill to stand up and pedal up hills without falling over.

[MrClyde]

I tried it last summer. You need to have a good base before doing this. I tried the New Racer plan, and found it tough to finish. I think it might work better with power instead of HR. Some of the short intervals are hard to do based on HR due to the lag time between starting an intense effort, and your HR reaching the target zone. I think I was over-exerting most of the time in the first 1/2 of the intervals.