Hi,

I want to know what are your opinions on doing base training. Mark Allen says to stay below 75% of Max hr, Joe Friel says that during base 1-3 your sessions go up to zone 3 which is just below threshold. I do not have a problem with my hr during base training but I'd like to know at what cadence should base training be done. When I did base training three months back I stayed below 75% of max hr. In order to built cycling strength (because I don't believe in going to gym) I do hills in a heavy gear whilst keeping my hr low. The problem I find with this is that it brings me up to a very good condition very fast and thus shortly after I feel drained and it feels like I need to rest. But it is only base training and I kept my hr low, I have not even started intervals yet and then I need to rest and thus I have not reached my potential. In order to do proper periodisation I believe now that the low gear strength building sessions should now be done in Joe Friel's built period only. I do not follow a structured training program but I do have rest weeks, every 3rd or 4th week. Now my question is should the base period consist of mainly long low hr kilometers with high cadence speed sessions thrown in? What adaptation will high cadence, low power give me during the base period? Any ideas on your favourate base training sessions?