HIT Intervals - interesting observation

I did some HIT intervals this morning in class called "Over/Under Intervals", fashioned after a workout I got from a Trainright newsletter (Chris Carmichael's training company). They were definitely hard to very hard. And yes, I took myself to that intensity as well, because my students know and trust me, I know each of them very well, I had no new students, and I didn't need to be off the bike coaching (if any of the latter weren't the case I would recommend that the instructor not push him/herself as high in order to coach accordingly).

My interesting observation is that although I did work very hard to the point of breathlessness, I didn't sweat nearly as much as either of the two aerobic rides I did in yesterday's classes. I mopped my face a lot with a towel as usual (it's hot in there) but my litmus test is my jersey. After class I usually have to take my jersey off right away because it's so soaked (I HATE soaking wet fabric against my skin and I immediately get cold because of it) and replace it with my long-sleeved jersey. This morning, yeah it was wet, but not requiring immediate removal like both classes yesterday.

In yesterday's profile, I spent 5 minutes a few beats below LT, and the rest of the time in various increments lower than that. Today, I spent a total of 18 minutes a few beats below LT and 9 minutes 4-5 beats above it. That's up there...

I guess sweat isn't always an indication of intensity, and aerobic efforts can produce as much or more sweat than higher efforts.

Oh BTW, I'll be sharing this Over/Under interval profile and playlist with you in a week or two. But coming up shortly is a very interesting study I want to write about on using heart rate monitors. I'll be asking for your help in that study.

Also, even if you read yesterday's post on the HR Pyramid, go back and reread it because I edited it with additional comments after the second class I taught in the evening.

Thanks as usual for reading!

Spinning Profile, Stage 3 of the Tour of California

I have been glued to my computer screen watching Twitter reports and videos of the Amgen Tour of California the past few days. Twitter is amazing because this new technology allows second by second updates, not by the press, but by people who are there experiencing it as it happens! Even some posts by some of the coaches in the team cars. For example, Johan Bruyneal (Astana team manager) was "tweeting" live for a few of the stages - when he wasn't driving the team car, as he did yesterday. Jonathan Vaughters of Team Garmin Chipotle tweets occasionally, as do some riders.

Lance (a Twitter addict) tweets before and after the race from his cell phone - things like, "Hitting the sack early tonight. 2 days in pouring rain has worn my old @$$ out. Good night to you all." and "On the way to the race - still pouring. This sucks" or "I'm getting a massage now, listening to Calexico's Carried to Dusk" (hey, I betcha didn't think you'd ever get song ideas from Lance Armstrong!)

I decided to create a profile of this soggy race in my Spin class and yesterday's stage had it all - climbs, breakaways, pacelines, and a sprint finish! I put the profile and playlist together late last night and submitted my class to the torture this morning at 6 am! A rude-awakening, I must admit. But they really seemed to enjoy it and worked their butts off. Good thing the ATOC didn't happen during my Base Building period - no way you can do a class this hard. 

Oh, I can see it ow - this particular profile will get TONS of downloads because it's 'hard'! The 'easier' aerobic profiles get far fewer downloads...isn't that interesting?! You guys like your hard-core workouts, that's for sure. ;-)

I searched my iTunes for songs about California, and only had a few high-energy ones that would work well in a profile like this - last night late I didn't feel like purchasing any iTunes songs! But in case you want more California song ideas, here's a thread from Pedal-On with suggestions of songs about California.

For the first time ever, I used Bruce Springsteen's Rosalita. I know, it's a favorite IDC song around the world, but I'm a die-hard Boss fan from waaaaay back - I saw him at Meadowlands in 1983 (and 3 other occasions) and even painted a lifesize mural of the Boss and Clarence from the Born to Run album cover (I was an art student at the time) on my Santa Barbara dorm hallway back in the early 80's! - uh oh, dating myself a bit there...

So Bruce has rarely made his way into my Spinning classes - it just didn't fit my Spinning personality (though I did use a newer Bruce song for the election day ride). Until now. Rosalita is good for a paceline flat because the ATOC will be heading south in a few days "down San Diego way."

Anyway, I think you'll enjoy this profile. It's hard, it's fast, it has breakaways, pacelines, leadouts and a sprint finish! Click here to download the pdf. 

I'm going to ECA NY next week and one of my sessions is called "The Suitcase of Courage" - on breakaways, attacks, leadouts and sprints, so this was a chance to practice on my students. I'll do something similar next Wednesday, with more colorful commentary. Expect a report on that as well!

Let me know what you think...