What are some of the free courses that come with computrainer? Is Ironman Lake Placid one of the course, or is it available? Thanks.
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Re: free courses with computrainer [Jon]
[ In reply to ]
The full list is over on Computrainer's website.
As for using them for race prep -- take that whole thought with a great big grain (bag?) of salt. It's not the exact spacing and length of hills that gets you ready for LP. It's hours and hours of riding over rolling terrain at a steady pace. I'd suggest 10 or more 5 or 6 hour steady rides in the months before LP. Get in some solid one hour long hill climbs.
I think your Computrainer time is best spent doing specific strength building sessions, such as 4-5 reps of 8-minutes on a 6-8% grade at 65-75 cadence. The book that comes with the trainer has some of Friel's recommended bike strength workouts in it. They're just great. The rest of your IM prep is long, long hours in the saddle. If you do those hours on the Ctrainer, just pick (or build) a long course with rolling hills that take 10-20 minutes to get up, followed by 20-30 minutes on the flats. A 2-3% grade on the Ctrainer is about what you'll face in real life at LP (which is in the 2-4% range).
Good luck!
As for using them for race prep -- take that whole thought with a great big grain (bag?) of salt. It's not the exact spacing and length of hills that gets you ready for LP. It's hours and hours of riding over rolling terrain at a steady pace. I'd suggest 10 or more 5 or 6 hour steady rides in the months before LP. Get in some solid one hour long hill climbs.
I think your Computrainer time is best spent doing specific strength building sessions, such as 4-5 reps of 8-minutes on a 6-8% grade at 65-75 cadence. The book that comes with the trainer has some of Friel's recommended bike strength workouts in it. They're just great. The rest of your IM prep is long, long hours in the saddle. If you do those hours on the Ctrainer, just pick (or build) a long course with rolling hills that take 10-20 minutes to get up, followed by 20-30 minutes on the flats. A 2-3% grade on the Ctrainer is about what you'll face in real life at LP (which is in the 2-4% range).
Good luck!
Re: free courses with computrainer [Jon]
[ In reply to ]
What I find even better than making your own courses is to make your own .erg file. This file is used by the coaching software to put a load onto the trainer. For example, a long hill workout could be specified like:
0.0 150
25.0 200
30.0 150
35.0 200
This rougly would specify a 25 minute warmup where it forces you to output 150 watts, then a 5 minute "hill" where you output 200 watts. Next is a 5 minute rest at 150 watts, etc ...
Check the coaching software manual for the file specifics.
0.0 150
25.0 200
30.0 150
35.0 200
This rougly would specify a 25 minute warmup where it forces you to output 150 watts, then a 5 minute "hill" where you output 200 watts. Next is a 5 minute rest at 150 watts, etc ...
Check the coaching software manual for the file specifics.
Re: free courses with computrainer [tom]
[ In reply to ]
Re: free courses with computrainer [Jon]
[ In reply to ]
Yes, Lake Placid is one of the courses available.
Re: free courses with computrainer [Julian]
[ In reply to ]
I'd ditto this in spades. One minor point. The training you do on the Computrainer is harder than ordinary rides. It's non-stop, plus the resistance is slightly harder if calibrated properly. This is not a negative in my view. I love my Computrainer and have started calling her Sally. As in "Ride Sally, Ride". :), The Computrainer can replace almost all of your on-the-road rides, thereby insuring that you will be alive to die on race day. :),
-Robert
"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank
-Robert
"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank
I will disagree with some of the other posters and say, "To ride the course on the computrainer, 'tis a far, far better thing than ne'er to have ridden the course at all." At least you get some idea for the flow of up, down, appropriate pacing, etc. The courses can be quite variable in difficulty depending on the pedigree. There is an old "Wildflower" that is much easier than the "Wildflower" built using the topo software.
Per another thread floating around here, my CT is ~12% harder than the road based on flat 30' all-out time trials. My sense is the same applies to climbing, although this isn't based on actual data. Nevertheless, especially if you can't get to the course before the race, fer sure ride it on the CT.
Dan
Per another thread floating around here, my CT is ~12% harder than the road based on flat 30' all-out time trials. My sense is the same applies to climbing, although this isn't based on actual data. Nevertheless, especially if you can't get to the course before the race, fer sure ride it on the CT.
Dan