Computrainer - 40 Minute Intervals

Sometimes I don't have a lot of time to do a longer workout so I came up with a shorter interval workout. It's based upon the Spinervals 3.0 workout but I eliminated the middle tempo work and the last two sets. The warm up is the modified warm up from PIG: seven minutes progressive build, two minutes recovery, five by thirty seconds at CP30 with thirty seconds recovery with an additional sixty seconds recovery after the last interval. The first set is five by sixty at 130% of CP30 with sixty seconds recovery. Three total minutes recovery after the last interval followed by forty-five @ 140% of CP30 with forty-five seconds recovery. Soft pedal for six minutes to make it forty minutes.

The Corner

Two days back-to-back. Maybe I'm finally turning the corner that began with daylights shifting time, new kittens and Houdini getting sick. Time will tell but things are looking better and Spring has arrived so it's time to kick up the riding.

Life Gets in the Way

Life got in the way of the Computrainer this week. I guess it happens and you just roll with it. Tuesday Houdini wasn't feeling too well so after watching him for a while and talking to a vet on the phone, it was off to the clinic. A few hours later it was midnight and neither one of us was happy. Losing three hours of sleep does not make for a pleasant rest of the week. I didn't really get my sleep back until Friday so there were a few missed morning sessions. Hopefully everyone stays healthy and happy next week.

Building a Computrainer Interval Workout

For my first interval workout, I borrowed from Coach Troy and one of my favorites, Suffer-O-Rama. It's an intense workout designed to increase anerobic capacity. As always, there were some minor things I didn't like so I made a couple tweaks along the way. The workout begins with the warm up I explained a couple days ago.

The first set is five killer minutes, one minute hard followed by a one minute recovery. Using Coggan's calculations and based upon my CP30, I estimated the wattage at 325 with recovery at 125.

The second and fourth sets were steady state tempo sets of five and four minutes respectively. Using Coggan and PIG feedback, I set the wattage of these to 225.

Set three was the first set I changed from Coach Troy. In Suffer-O-Rama, the set is 45 seconds hard, 30 seconds recovery. I lengthened the recover to 45 seconds based upon my reading of Coach Daniels where recovery is the same as effort. The set is now 45 seconds at 350 and 45 seconds at 125. Likewise set five was also changed to be five intervals, 30 seconds at 375 and 30 seconds at 125.

The last set is five intervals 20 seconds at 400 and 40 seconds recovery. Since this set is pushing the limits, the recovery is just a little longer. Warm down is at least ten minutes since this is a very intense workout.

Computrainer - Training Levels

Before building any training plan, you have to determine your level of intensity. Using the PIG numbers and Coggan's power zones, I came up with the following.

They line up very well with the PIG workouts and descriptions. The active recovery is a little more conservative and PIG didn't really have anaerobic capacity they don't match up exactly. You can find more information about Coggan and power zones at Coggan Power Zones.

Daylight Shifting Time

Yes I know it's called daylight savings time but we're not really saving daylight, only shifting it from the morning to the evening. Whatever you want to call it, I'm still struggling making the adjustment. The mornings are hard to get up and I feel totally drained. Hopefully this weekend will finally reset everything.

Computrainer - Building a Workout

One thing I liked from the PIG was the warm up. One thing I didn't like about the warm up was that there wasn't much time between the 5 x 30 warm up intervals and the start of the main set.

When I started to build my own workouts, I decided to start with the PIG warm up and tweak it a little. I kept the progressive warm up but shortened it by two minutes to eight minutes. With the extra two minutes, I put one before the start of five intervals. The other spare minute went after the five intervals. Here's how the results look:

Computrainer - Intervals

With a nod to Coach Troy, I created my first interval workout. The difficulty with Spinervals on a trainer is that you have control over the intensity. By creating an ERG file based upon my CP30, I'm able to define the workout and then work to hit the intensity. The result, a tough workout with a variety of different interval sets.

Computrainer Silver Cyclist

The silver cyclist must be related to the silver surfer. To just stay even I have to ride at least ten percent harder and don't even try to stay close on the downhills.

Computrainer Slogan Contest

If you're not on a Computrainer, you're just spinning your wheel.

Computrainer PIG Review

It's been twenty-two weeks since I took the first CP30 test (I know, the program is only twenty weeks long but there were some hiccups along the way) and I thought I would look back and see how it went.

First, the program is hard. If you're not going to be serious and committed, you shouldn't start.

Second, I think I did pretty good. In my first CP30 test, I averaged 193 but not satisfied with the effort, I retested a day later and achieved 224. My best CP30 test was 255 which represents an increase of 13.8 percent. The program promises a ten to twenty percent improvement so I guess it worked for me. Would I have like to been better, of course, but I know as a triathlete and with a full-time job, twenty percent is going to be hard.

The interval sessions were the hardest for me, especially when the interval was longer than five minutes. I struggled with maintaining the intensity for the longer durations. Under five minutes was just fine.

The tempo sets, both the long intervals in the last weeks and the long steady tempo sets were perhaps my best sets. I had the ability to get into a rhythm and just ride.

If you're a trithlete and attempting the PIG, I recommend doing it during the off season when you can reduce your running to maintenance levels. If you try to maintain high intensity running and PIG, I think you will get injured or either the PIG or run training will suffer.

Over the next couple days, I will be working on a modified PIG to use during the season as I build up my running and swimming. My goal is to incorporate so workouts based upon Daniel's, Coach Troy and Progressive Power. The goal is to continue to improve during the season and then try for another ten to thirteen percent improvement next winter.

Computrainer Week 20 PIG Test

Time for the last PIG test to measure how much I improved over the last twenty-three weeks. Ok, I know PIG is twenty weeks but it took me twenty-three to complete it.

The goal was to go out easy and smooth, increasing the wattage every five minutes. The targets were to start at 240, increase each five by five and finish at 265. The first five went by at 251 so I tried to easy back a little, not explode and begin the increases at fifteen. The second five came in at 250 which was just about perfect. I went through fifteen at 252 which was still looking good. I tried to increase over the next five and actually slipped back to 251. Definitely not the direction to be going. Over the next five, I tried to lift the wattage and get back to where I wanted to be. I held the output even from twenty to twenty-five but that wasn't the goal.

Did the test come out the way I expected? Not by a long shot but what can you do?