A NEW TAKE ON AN OLD TRAINING METHOD

THE PYRAMID STRUCTURE of training has come and gone out of favor ever since the heart rate monitor first came on the scene. The Norway/Finland gurus continue to push the boundaries...

... and we follow along

Because results matter.

When I did my original deep dives on this I came up with my own theory and it worked quite well.

After each ride, I'd load the amount of time I spent with my HR in each of the 5 zones into an Excel doc.

My goal...

• 5% zone 5
• 10% zone 4
• 25% zone 3
• 60% zones 1 and 2

... was a pyramid.

Then, I would just dial up or down my training volume based on the next race on the horizon.

Because my group rides were so brutal, borderline racing...

... hitting zones 4 and 5 came naturally.

I'd just peg it, hard.

For the 60-90 minutes of suffering.

I was wanting to bring that back, but not wanting to do it manually any more...

... to the point of having my tech guy write the code to suck data from Wahoo.

When I found this on Strava... 

I can quickly look at a 7 zone breakdown over...

• 7 days
• 1 month
• 3 months

... which is really cool.

To lay it over my old thinking, I'm shooting for these power numbers...

• 5% Zones 5-7
• 10% Zone 4
• 25% Zone 3
• 60% Zones 1 and 2

... it's going to be a fun test, leading up to Sea Otter.

The trickiest part, and the one I've been lacking in the last few years, is that last 5%.

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