Originally Posted by
Allegheny Jet
Last night was hill intervals. Just outside my subdivision is a 1.1 mile hill with an elevation gain of 160'. Not a big hill by most standards but in the right gear it is as steep as necessary. The workout was two sets of 3 reps with a recovery between reps of the ride back down the hill, with 12 minutes between sets. The instructions were to ride thru Z4 then maintain a high- Z5a to mid- Z5b HR. I was hitting the target HR well before 1/2 the hill was done and continued to ride in the Z5's the rest of the way. Two hours in the little ring tonight will be nice.
I hate to say this but you must get a power meter. You have had a lot of racing success. However, with your motivation, track record and skill, IMO, you will go farther training with power. Trust me on this one point... you do not know if you were at Z4 or not. You may have been there. My power and HR are very seldom connected and certainly not in short efforts. It is expensive but worth the price especially for athletes as serious as you who want to work hard and monitor progress. Tell Mrs. AJ it is cheaper than a mistress.
Edit: For example, on my VO2 Max intervals, the first one was hard but I was 60 to 80 watts over threshold. The second interval was similar. The third interval, my HR was high and my level of effort was very high, I was dying and my power was just slightly into VO2 Max. My HR data would have indicated my last interval was the best. My best interval was the first. And I had to work really hard on the last interval to hold VO2 Max. Food for thought...