Phase 1 is Complete!

All 4 weeks of Base 1 are done.

Yesterday I did my first fitness test. It was a 30min all out test to get my LTHR. This time I took 45min to warm up. I basically used a warm up you would use to get ready for a Crit. Easy at first, the about 15min zone 3, and a few zone 4-5 efforts.

The test - with a good warm up it was very easy to get my HR up to 170. After 5min, I was at 176 and working very very hard. I thought it wouldn't last. Then 178bpm, I was going to blow up. I kept it there. I faded a little bit in the last 10min but not much. So my avgHR for the 30min was 176bpm. My avgHR for the last 20min was 175bpm. Not bad of an old man!!

For my training, I will take that 175bpm result a bit down to 173bpm. So now my zones are:

Z1 113 - 141
Z2 142 - 154
Z3 155 - 161
Z4 162 - 172
Z5 173 - 189

I think the test was a good estimate of my current LTHR. I was well rested and highly motivated. I think keeping my cadence high through the test helped. I didn't have the muscle fatigue in my legs to slow me down. My avgCAD was 105rpms.

I have a Muscle Endurance workout on the schedule tomorrow. I am going to make sure that I am comfortable in Z2 before I start. The goal is to ride in Z3 for 30-40min at 90rpms. I want to ensure that I keep good tension on my quads throughout the 30-40min.