Ok, I’m sat at home 6 days before Christmas, about to start the night shifts that will see me behaving much like a zombie up until Christmas Eve, and my annual winter cold/flu has set in. I won’t be riding today, so what else is there to do but put up the promised stats post prior to the real onset of training for next year.

 

Now, that isn’t to say that I haven’t been training thus far, just that I never really had a goal, or a target. And after all that is one of the key drivers of efficient training. More about that later…

 

So, about me;

 

I’m 26, 1.7m tall and weigh a measly 57kg. That’s 5’7” and 9stone exactly to those of you still using old money. My maximum heart rate using the old 220 minus age theory is 194bpm for those of you who didn’t do the maths when I told you my age. However, using a repeated efforts test in June I measured at 208bpm. On repeating the test in November this had dropped to 205bpm. This was after a period of commuting to work, linking to the fact that increased fitness lowers maximum heart rate.

 

Let’s turn to Strava for some numbers, year to date I’ve completed 1963.5km cycling, and 134.1km running and on average, only 2 rides per week. These are numbers that are going to have to increase if I’m going to have any chance at being competitive come the spring/summer.

 

Over the last few months I have increased the frequency with which I’ve cycled to work, a daily commute just shy of 50km, this has been a great way to build some base fitness, with rides aiming to keep my average HR around or below 170bpm. This has, however, proved tricky with the undulating nature of the route. This is where Power Meters have a distinct advantage over HR training to maintain consistency.