Just got some feedback from a user who reported riding his PC’s in an Oly and setting a PR. One thing he is doing is using his PC’s in the following manner.
He takes a trainer to the track. then rides the PC’s 10 minutes on the trainer followed by 1 minute run (I suspect a 400 meter run), then repeat. Etc. I see the usefulness but I personally would think a 5 minute/ 1 minute mix would be superior but, since I haven’t done this I am just guessing.
For the PC’ers out there, has anyone done anything similar? If so, what kind of benefits did you see? If not, what do you think of this?
60 seconds is not that fast. It is fast, but not that fast in the context of track. It is silly blazing fast after any 10 min ride no matter how much soft pedalling you do. To run 60 seconds, you need to be at a full sprint 14 second per 100 m speed in 10 strides. This is not possible off a 10 min ride even for most triathlon olympians, track olympians (the biking part would mess them up) or cycling olympians (can’t likely run that quick).
Frank, I fail to see the value of 1 min run repeats even in the context of Olympic tri. 800-1200 m would be more appropriate as you are never using your flat out pure 5K speed in an Olympic tri (you’d be doing lots of 400 m repeats to bring down your flat out 5K time).
1 minute for a 400 interval is pretty fast. Is this user an olympian or something similar?
Then again, maybe I’m just slow…
-Shep
the report I got was he was doing 10 and 1. I presume the times are approximate, not that he is running 60 quarters. Clearly, it seems like it is a speed workout and nothing else.
Others have told me their best track workouts have come after commuting to the track on their PC bike, when they would have expected to be tired but it didn’t work out that way.
Frank, 2 summers ago I did a number of mornings, where I would bike with PC’s for 30 min to work, then I would run 20 min to the track, and do a set of 4x400, 2x1600, 4x400 and then run back. These were pretty good workouts, but I am not sure if the PC’s helped as I did not ride directly to the track. But overall, yes, running off a PC warmup ride on the rollers always feels good.
60 seconds is not that fast. It is fast, but not that fast in the context of track.
In this context (400 meter brick repeats), that would be pretty fast, even for ITU type guys.
Frank, 2 summers ago I did a number of mornings, where I would bike with PC’s for 30 min to work, then I would run 20 min to the track, and do a set of 4x400, 2x1600, 4x400 and then run back. These were pretty good workouts, but I am not sure if the PC’s helped as I did not ride directly to the track. But overall, yes, running off a PC warmup ride on the rollers always feels good.
This is simply the first report of someone actually taking a trainer to the track to directly integrate the PC’s into a track workout. It makes sense to me although I wonder how he came up with the timing that was reported to me. I was wondering if anyone else had done anything similar and what the results might have been.
Sorry, I’ve never done anything like this, mainly because I would have to drive to the track, and the parking isn’t feasible.
I will say, however, as I’m sure many others have, that I run much better after 15 mins on the PCs as a warmup than after I do my usual 1 mile walk warmup.
I would never show my face at a track riding a bike on a trainer, especially with powercranks. As much as I love biking these days, the high school track boy in me from 25 years ago would ridicule my middle aged poser self. I can just hear the teenagers pulling off sub 70 second repeats chuckling, “back to the rocking chair old guy…!!!”
I would never show my face at a track riding a bike on a trainer, especially with powercranks. As much as I love biking these days, the high school track boy in me from 25 years ago would ridicule my middle aged poser self. I can just hear the teenagers pulling off sub 70 second repeats chuckling, “back to the rocking chair old guy…!!!”
I think the fellow in question is a college student, so this “problem” probably is not a consideration for him.
Dev, I just invite them to go on my 1 to 2 hour cross country run and no one will join me. I just love to pass those young kids at the end of a tri race when they are dying!!
Well…graduate student, not college student. At 28 I’m older than most of the people running on the track here.
At the IMF expo, I test rode a computrainer, which was sharing a booth with PC. The computrainer guy looked at me and said, “Hey, aren’t you in the PC video?”. You made me famous!!
I would never show my face at a track riding a bike on a trainer, especially with powercranks. As much as I love biking these days, the high school track boy in me from 25 years ago would ridicule my middle aged poser self. I can just hear the teenagers pulling off sub 70 second repeats chuckling, “back to the rocking chair old guy…!!!”
No way, you’ve got to revel in that shit! Ask them to give the PCs a try and then get back to you!