Bike Marker Sets

A bit of background on this topic. As a coach, one of my key goals in building IM training programs is to have the athlete continually dial-in their AeT pace/power/effort -- using all data but mainly using the "breath test" that I talk about on my tips page (see gTips, www.gordoworld.com).

We'll fine-tune their "steady" zone based on race and training performance. Novices and short-course athletes nearly always over-estimate their steady zone -- training more intensely than they need to achieve the desired endurance adaptations.

Regardless of what physiological testing indicates, a key determinant of an appropriate endurance training zone is the athlete’s ability to back-it-up across their plan and recover from the sessions. In many cases, Heart Rate "Zn 2" work (as defined by Friel) is too intense for athletes to absorb (the bottom of Zn 2 is a good starting point for AeT, though) – so the breath test combined with monitoring recovery and training performance is a good check.

How often should zones be formally checked? Every workout is a chance to test and dial in zones -- comparing RPE to power/pace is a great way to monitor fatigue, a big challenge for IMers.

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On the bike, I think that the most important data is main set performance, particularly long aerobic efforts that are done in a fairly tight HR range, generally 5 bpm range.

For example, say we think 130bpm is AeT for the bike. This is a workout that I use with my own training as well as my experienced athletes. It’s a mixture of tips that I’ve learned from Scott and Dave.

5 Hour Set: Main Sets I, II, III
60 mins just ride
I. 40 mins hold AeT effort/ middle 20 mins standing/cap of 130 bpm
50 mins just ride
II. 50 mins hold AeT effort/alt 5 mins big gear with 5 mins TT cadence/cap of 135 bpm
10 mins just ride
III. 50 mins hold AeT effort with TT cadence -- no cap just use effort
40 mins cooldown

The average HR for the first main set would likely be <130 -- normally about 127.
The second main set would probably have an average in the low 130s
The final main set would have a mid 130s average -- if 134 or higher than the athlete is probably riding "too hard" for this set.

Benchmarking would come from looking at average power/HR across these main sets. Benchmarking average steady-steady power/RPE/HR in both the flats and climbing is a useful way to track aerobic development. I think that main sets that are done late in a ride are particularly useful as they build in an element of aerobic stamina. Many short course athletes are able to produce excellent numbers in workouts that are less than three hours duration. However, their power declines materially in a 5 hour session.

Another thing that I do is to lift the goal intensity of the final set to somewhere between IM and HIM effort -- if the athlete has over-ridden the early part of the workout then this will show clearly in HR and power data (inability to lift). In the workout above the instruction for the final main set would change to... build to the low 140s over the first 20 minutes and hold there.

With my own training (and the training of the athletes) my powermeter has been great for me to learn how slow HR is to respond early in a session or with low cadence -- for me to elevate my HR to Zn 3 in a big gear set requires close to a Functional Threshold effort when measured in watts -- also -- if I've only had a short warm-up then I can push Half IM wattage for at least a half an hour at an apparent Zn 1 effort. Useful stuff to remind myself about early in a race.

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How to find the bottom of your cycling steady zone?

A good starting point for cycling AeT is 20bpm under the average heart rate for a Half IM bike leg where the athlete ran well. My AeT is 130 and I'll average 150 on the bike at most HIMs -- aiming for 147-ish in the first hour of the bike then 152-ish.

Most athletes will tend to over-think their zones. The main thing is to focus on breathing and effort – and resist the temptation to chase watts or HR. Simply "check in" on your data using effort as your main guide. By using subjective perception, I think it's easier to relax and perform smoothly.