Jeremy Zeigler began his PowerCycling training in earnest this week and produced a very successful first Performance Series ride where he backed up his lofty 342 watt Power Threshold number. Jeremy is training with this Power Threshold based on previous testing that has been done and now the real fun begins as his weekly training load is based on this intensity level. What Jeremy will find out soon enough is that with each Performance Series ride and the feedback that you receive from the computer you are able to constantly evaluate your progress. This aspect is what makes PowerCycling so much fun and effective in creating positive changes in your fitness.
I have seen athletes, over the last 4 years that I have been offering the Performance Series, consistently increase their Power Threshold by 5-10% which means that Jeremy has within his reach a Power Threshold of 360-375 watts by Spring. With the addition of some nutritional peaking strategies that will help him drop a few unwanted pounds, and some added pop in his legs developed through strength training he may be very close to producing his goal of averaging 25 mph on the bike in a triathlon next Summer.
The emphasis for his first ride was to challenge his ability to ride in his Level 4 or Threshold wattage range with two 10 minute intervals and just a 5 minute recovery between the two. Jeremy showed up ready to ride as he produced a solid first interval just beneath his Power Threshold of 335 watts and then looked to really settle into the effort needed on the second interval when he averaged 353 watts. His ability to crank out 10 minutes above his Power Threshold is a good indicator that he has the potential to train at a higher level very soon.
One thing that I am learning about Jeremy that can work to his advantage, but can also work against him at times, is that he has a very strong desire to better himself and he is not afraid to push himself to his limits. I am hoping that he develops a whole new sense of his limits through his Performance Series experience and this will allow him to effectively pace himself for any distance that he may participate in the future.
Thank you for the good ride Marc. This was challenging and confidence boosting, I have a feeling at some point I will not be as successful from week to week as these continue to get more challenging progressing through the performance series.
ReplyDeleteThis was a challenging ride for me mostly because it required me to pace myself through the first interval and trust that my threshold numbers are correct. I will admit shortly into the first interval I was a bit concerned as I was feeling my heart rate climb that I wouldn't going to be able to recover and better my first effort. Luckily I was able to get my heart rate down into a manageable range relatively quickly, which allowed me to get the well needed recovery before jumping into the second interval. The second interval became shear will power for the last three to four minutes, but with the finish line in sight I was determined to finish what I started. I did manage to find the highest heart rate I've seen during training in recent memory, the final minute of the last interval required a good bit of fortitude.
I great sense of accomplishment sets in as I started the cool down. Similar to gliding through the finish line of a race as you set a new PR. And yes I took the next day off in celebration!