brentcu

Tabata makes me sprint better on climbs

I’ve done a few sets of interval training in the last four week, mixing it up a little so as to not get bored:

• Four 400m ‘sprints’ with a few minutes rest between each
• Eight 200m sprints with a minute or two between each
• Eight Tabata sprints (20s full-onsprint, 10s rest, repeat 8 times)
• Queen Anne hillclimbs on the fixie (cycle a block uphill at max speed, recover going a block across the hill, repeat)

I think the training has made a difference. Riding home from the pub the other night I rode up the hill my usual way and sprinted up the first block. Previously I could ride halfway up the block on anaerobic power then start to breathe heavily and slow down the rest of the way. This time I sprinted the whole block without any heavy breathing and could cruise up the shallower slope on the rest of the hill. I had plenty of gas in the tank and the rest of the hill was equally easy.

Queen Anne got her revenge. I rode back from Don and Joe’s Butcher yesterday with a shoulder bag full of raw meat (weight of bag – 21lb). I took the route up Dravus on the West side of the hill, which is a steep way up. It kicked my arse. If anything it has made me more motivated to lose any extra pounds. Riding with an extra 21lb made a huge difference, imagine carrying that around all day as surplus fat? I’m sure I could drop 15lb of my own bodyweight. I just need to keep up the hard work.