So the answer, indoor training. Yup for those of us who live with sessions, that is "winter" and cannot afford to gallivant off to warmer climes to get in quality miles, in shorts a T's and I am going to shut up now because I am getting jealous. Right were was I, yes indoor training.
First, find a space inside that you can train without driving everyone around you mad. Spare room if you have one works well, I do so check.
Second, bike and here I am very fortunate to have been able to buy a new bike this year with the promise to get rid of my old one. Good job I didn't otherwise where would I get a dedicated training bike from, good thinking on my part - check.
Third, trainer, now that was more of a challenge. I wanted a realistic feel but did not want to wear through tires like old boots and unlike old boots tires are darn expensive. I see a good excuse to buy a new toy, I mean trainer. Hours of research, ok an impulse buy at my local bike shop followed by hours of buyers remorse research lead me to the Wahoo Kickr.
It was as I mentioned an impulse buy but not totally without understanding (that's my story and I am sticking to it). The Kickr ticket the boxes of: Wheel off, no wearing out tires, built in power meter, open source so no proprietary software, Ant+ compatible so it works with my Garmin 810 for tracking, it is quite, innovative and looks beautiful (I am a sucker for Black and Blue). Now there are other choices and although I have not tried it the Lemond makes a well reviewed wheel off trainer that is supposedly more realistic. Having used the Kickr for a number of session I am very happy. Trainer - Check.
Fourth, is it really this complicated to train indoors, I remember when a set of rollers, a bike and the radio was all that was needed. Oh that is still an option but for us serious "DO IT" types that just does not cut the mustard these days. Ah yes and then there is the tedium which all this effort is designed to at the very least reduce and best case completely eliminate. Sorry rambling again. Training Program. Now this presented me with a few more hours of research. Did I mention I actually wanted to train. Sucking it up I did my due diligence and landed on www.Trainerroads.com. They provide a monthly subscription that provides access to both workouts and training plans and as a bonus the software syncs with the Kickr and Ant+ allowing for integration of all my devices, now that was cool. All fired up I put my bike on the trainer, flipped open the laptop, fired up Trainerroads and searched for devices - bugger. As a PC user Bluetooth 4.0 was not supported and I needed an Ant+ dongle for my laptop to connect to the Kickr. More bloody research later and a little help from the Trainerroads website (should have looked there first dummy) and a Suunto USB dongle ordered from Amazon. Training Program - Check
Fifth, you got it -> train. With the arrival of the Ant+ dongle I was ready to go. I have to admit that it all works very nicely except for a minor error that comes up on my Garmin when the Kickr power reading changes but it is in no way a show stopper. Training on the Bike - Check
Prior to setting up my indoor torture chamber, I mean training room I had the chance to experience the www.Sufferfest.com videos with my local club. I was impressed and decided to purchase a number of the videos as well as there training program. Having used a number of the videos I get the sense that they are great once you have a good base but the intensity prior to building base does concern me so I have stopped using them for now and started to concentrate on base training. Here trainerroads helps out as they have a number of base workouts and I am currently using them along with winter outdoor rides. Later in the session I will start to use the Sufferfest videos again once my FTP has increased and I feel they will provide a longer benefit
- Well here goes (wish me luck)
Heres an example of a Trainerroads workout
No comments:
Post a Comment