Barry P’s “balanced run program” thread got me thinking about what a “balanced bike program” might look like. Certainly most of the same principles apply. Here is my question:
Once all of the bike mileage or time goals are met and the long ride has been established what would be that weekly, year around bike workout that would improve fitness and support the other rides in much the same way that the tempo run does? However, a workout that also doesn’t leave you trashed and can be worked into the rest of your swim,bike,run program.
Please include Heart Rate %'s, RPE, or Power %'s if you use them.
Not surprisingly, a tempo ride. Coggan defines tempo as 76-90% of FTP. RPE is the same as run RPE. HR %, I don’t know. You should be training with power on the bike.
I think you’re talking more about a threshold run: 20-40 min @ T pace or similar that’s prescribed in many training plans as a weekly workout?
Same thing for cycling: something like 2x20 min @ 95-100% FTP power. It should be a standard workout throughout the year or some variation thereof… 2x20 min can get a little boring so mix it up.
2x20’s is a pretty difficult workout and not along the lines of something that is hard but “not leaving you thrashed”. granted they aren’t designed to kill you at 90-95% of FTP but i don’t think this is the “tempo” that is being referred to.
I would agree with other posters that the tempo ride is most likely equivalent. Just a step down from the 2x20 type effort. w/o power or hr, basically go out and go hard for 60-120min.
It is CyclingPeaks speak for Functional Threshold Power, or the power you can hold for an hour. Most power folks base their training zones off this number.
Not surprisingly, a tempo ride. Coggan defines tempo as 76-90% of FTP. RPE is the same as run RPE. HR %, I don’t know. You should be training with power on the bike.
Yes , of course the tempo ride :-). However, it seems that bikers seem to overcomplicate things as compared to runners. Biking books seem to be filled with all sorts of workout variations that fill pages and pages. I own many including the one mentioned above and have gleaned useful information from all. It just seems that it should be simpler to organize a bike workout that achieves the majority of those gains that one would associate with the tempo run. If choosing one weekly bike workout to supplement and support your endurance work (much like the 20-40 minute tempo run) what would it be? How long, what format etc…? Is it as easy as doing a 20-40 minute tempo bike as you would for running or is it different? I guess that is my question.
I don’t want the thick book, I have read it. I want the cliff notes so that I can get back to training. Thanks in advance.
You’d go longer. Figure a 10k and 40k TT are equivalent. So you’d do 50% more time in z3 during a tempo ride than tempo run. So if a tempo run is usually about a main set of 60’ tempo, a tempo bike would be approx 90’. 90min-120min in z3 is usually about how long my tempo ride main set is.
Yes, people like to overthink things. The tempo ride is simple. 60min warm-up / 90-120min tempo / 30min cooldown. How’s that?
I tend to think that in running a tempo run is more like a steady state type bike workout, what those who follow Coggan/Allen might refer to as sweet spot training. That is, very near your threshold pacing/power. You might do an hour total of tempo running…and 1-1.5 hours of sweet spot training.
A tempo bike workout to me is more like a ‘steady state’ run, which is about open marathon goal pace. Easily up to 1 hour of running and 1-2 hours of cycling.
I guess it comes down to semantics or differing definitions.
Of course it’s defined differently in different training programs and measurement systems (watts, pace, HR, etc.)
Universally it’s: 50 to 75 percent of your RACE distance or race time (for that discipline) done at 80-85 percent of your maximum output (I use 80% of current race pace.)
In cycling gearing and cadence are usually considerations.
Olympic distance example: 50mins. at 18.5 MPH at 70-75rpm in the 53X12, or 14, or 16, etc (insert alternative gear here) or 18miles at 155bpm HR at 80-85rpm.