Originally Posted by skydive69
Yes, those companies you allude to were the catalyst for the teaching of morality in business - they set the low standards.
The 155 seems a bit high - that would make your maximum heart rate 191. How old are you? For example, I did an easy 40 mile spin (about a 17.5 mph average) the day before yesterday, and I averaged 113 HR.
Below is my proposed change to your avatar!
Jeeezus! Who's that loser?!
It looks like some tool you'd see at a flying saucer convention in Roswell, NM! I was thinking about this pic for my next Avatar ... Tor Johnson from Plan 9 From Outer Space.
To make a short story long ... I'm 45 as of May. I just don't have fantastic levels of aerobic ability. I'm genetically predispositioned toward fast twitch things like powerlifting or other burst activities. I used to have a 400+ lb bench press and a 500 lb deadlift. For me to bench 350 to 365 (depending on if I were using an English or metric Olympic set) for 5 sets of 5 to 6 reps wasn't much trouble. Of course, that was way back when I was 23/34 years old and was at my peak. Since then, however, I've been mostly sedentary as I've been working toward an alleged career in the computer field. I should have stayed in shape as the career went to poop.
I started cycling in April, 2003 as I had decided that the career wasn't going to rematerialize and I needed to do something positive for myself. I've also been down with several respiratory problems since last Fall. On top of that I have asthma and allergies and suffer frequent bouts of chronic bronchitis partly due to the low humidity here in the Winter months.
Last September, before the respiratory problems set in, I did a solo century at 142 BPM or 74.34% of MaxHR of 191. Ride time was 06:15:47 or 15.9 MPH, which doesn't include 3 rest room/water breaks. A week after that I did my
best solo 50 miler at 159 BPM or 83.24% of MaxHR of 191. Total ride time was 02:56:16 or 17 MPH with no breaks. Keep in mind this was at my peak.
So far this Spring I've not been able to do too much due to respiratory conditions and lack of consistent training. But even if this Winter's training had gone as planned, I'd still only be able to do a 50 miler at around 17 to 18 MPH tops. I know
how to train. I've read numerous articles and books by the big named coaches (Burke, Charmichael, Friel), but alas, such are the best laid plans of mice and men.
