Testing – Do you know your current training zones?
Hey Team,
The local fall rites of passage – the Dirty Dozen and the Punk Bike Enduro – represent a definite END to nearly everyone’s 2009 training season, and the beginning of the fantastic year to come. There are only 360 days until next year’s Dirty Dozen, But more importantly, only four full months until the first Mingo race, so let’s get started training now!
If you have not recently done a field threshold test, plan to do one in the next 1-2 weeks.
Testing is important for 2 major reasons.
Reason #1: To establish your training zones. Training intensity is one of the 3 components of training that you can manipulate to improve your overall fitness (the other two are frequency and duration). Just as you wouldn’t haphazardly start out on a ride not have a plan for how long you’ll ride that day, you don’t want to haphazardly guess at what intensity level you are training at. You should have a progressive plan that specifies how hard (how intense, what HR or power zones) your training rides will be, whether steady efforts or intervals.
Field testing is the best way to establish your CURRENT training zones. This is especially important for those of you with power meters. Your fitness has likely changed since the last time you did a field threshold test.
Reason #2: To monitor progress. Suppose you train all winter long then go out and do a field test in the spring to see if you are “ready” for spring training races… should you be pleased or disappointed with your results? You won’t know unless you have a baseline or series of tests to compare to.
Test yourself NOW at the beginning of your 2010 season, so that you have a measure of progress as the season goes along.
How often should you test?
I recommend testing a minimum of 4 weeks apart and a maximum of 8 weeks apart to monitor both items above. Write down your planned testing weeks in your training log (do you have a training log???) It’s OK if you are off by a week on either side, the important part is to just git ‘r done!
How do I do the test?
Here is a link on my website describing the testing protocol whether training by HR or by Power. Remember that it’s vital that you not only capture the HR and power data for the test portion, but also the distance traveled for the test. For HR monitor users, the only way you will know if you are making progress is to compare the distance covered under similar circumstances (wheather, wind, rested state, hydration, etc).
I will post the spreadsheet I use for calculating both HR and Power zones on the google groups site.
Email me with any questions!
Suzanne
Coach Suzanne
