Over 5 years of answering questions from athletes about the benefits of slowing down and keeping the heart rate in the aerobic range I have heard many excuses. But my friend Roman Mica who writes a popular triathlon
Blog just blew them all away. Here is the story.
I went to Boulder yesterday to run some errands and get my third outside ride of the year. I called Roman and my friend Dave and we coordinated to go for a 2 hour ride. The forecast called for rain and cold temperatures so we all had our rain jackets. But the sun came out and it turned into the best riding weather yet for Colorado. Dave was a Kona training partner many times last year so we always ride steady and aerobic but Roman is of unknown value. He has a rocket looking bike and a power meter to guide him. When I asked him if he had a heart rate monitor he replied “I forgot it”. Ok then I said. I am not really training for anything so I was going to have some fun with Roman and ignore my heart rate monitor.
The ride started easy but as we approached the hills Roman was in the front dictating the pace. I just stayed on his wheel and after the hill I asked him what his power meter was at. 300 watts Roman replied. That is a big number but as soon as we hit the flats it was under 200. Given that Roman did not have a heart rate monitor I asked him to go up the next hill at 200 watts. He did but had to get his bike on a really easy gear to do this. That is normal but it goes hand in hand with heart rate. Yes you can put out 300 watts going over the hill but at what cost. My guess is that the heart rate was 160 to 170 for sure. A steady heart rate ride usually has a steady wattage output.
Dave was a little smarter so he backed off the pace when Roman or I pushed the pace with our little paceline but Dave was also out of the zone. This was one of Dave’s first rides outside so after 90 minutes or so he was ready to go home. Roman and I added a few more miles on the way home to insure a two hour ride for us. But before Dave went home on a shorter route we had some entertainment. After one of Roman’s turns in the front he turned around and said “I can’t go slow on this bike”. We immediately cracked up. He is not kidding.
People that train hard and push up the hills and are constantly seeking that burn to validate their workout have a skewed view of what a good workout is. They can not possibly go home and not have felt out of breath or a little pain. As a result they become very used to this type of training and they can just not help themselves. Roman really can not go slow but is not the bike is his head. After the ride I told Roman that the ride reminded me of my early triathlon days. That is how I trained when I was young. It works to some extent but it also makes it hard to develop a good aerobic base. I tried to give him a few lectures but it is hard to convince friends sometimes.
I am hoping Roman comes to my camp at the end of April and maybe I can convert him eh? Maybe a PowerPoint presentation will do the trick. It makes it look more official.
I imagine this is what happens to our athletes when they go on rides with people that are not under our program. But hopefully our guys do better on race day and soon enough more people begin to see the benefits of our methodology.