Originally Posted by
GhostRider62
I bought it and read it. Confirmation bias is a wonderful thing. It is a good book, it has many pearls of wisdom. Some of it might seem very basic but I bet every older cyclist could learn a thing or two from this book. It isn't a training book. The only downer were that the case studies were all negative, it would have been nice to have had a shining example of an athlete who did it right.
The one champion cyclist MD was pretty clear, 90% riding should be below VT1 or as he said, 60-70% of max heartrate. The other 10 or so percent should be higher intensity but he says it should not be too high. Maybe I do my intervals too hard, I don't hold back. If the session is not going really well, I stop. He is saying doing them at 105-110% of FTP, I do them at 115-118%. Thought provoking. I have always believed intervals have to be done at your absolute best and if you are not fully recovered, why do them. Just go home and rest a bit more. They are saying do them at a little bit lower intensity, maybe add another rep or two but do not do really high intensity. Very interesting. I'm going out now for an interval session on my hill, I might give it a try for 4-6 weeks.
My fave set, back when I was your age, was 4 X 8' X 4 @105°. I didn't have a PM then, but now I know that's what I was doing and what I do now. Sometimes I do harder 3' ones, but not as often. Another favorite set was 3 X 45" X 5' OOS hill sprints.
I read the book, too. My only real beef with it was the pedaling business. I do what he says not to do, him saying that's not now the pros do it. From my experience, I'd say that's poor reasoning.