You have logged in all of your base miles and at this point in your training your bike workouts should begin taking on a new dimension . It’s time to start adding more intensity. When adding intensity to your rides it’s not uncommon to try and push the pace for the entire ride. While this does have performance and training benefits, it it not the only type of intense riding you should be doing. In fact, it will not help you make significant gains in speed. Research suggests that your power production will improve much more considerably when you add efforts well above your projected race intensity pace. A power meter or heart rate monitor can help you to determine what intensity to target when completing intervals.
Here is a great 2 hour workout that you may want to consider if you are new to intervals.
- 30 minutes of spinning – incorporte short acceleratiions to prime your body for the work it’s about to do.
- 5 x 5 minute efforts at 115% of your race pace intensity(determined by heart rate or wattage). Recover for 3 minutes with easy spinning between.
- 10 minutes of easy spinning
- 5 x 1 minute efforts at 130% above race pace intensity. Recover 2 minutes with easy spinning.
- 20 – 30 minutes of moderate intensity 85% of race pace intensity.
I would suggest doing this workout once a week. Remember to also include easy recovery rides in your training.