[franmorper]

franmorper on March 20, 2021 at 6:34 am · in reply to: Singlespeed Mountain Biking Base and Cross Training Value? #52228

Hey Garret,

Sorry I had not seen I got some feedback, thanks by the way!

Yes, I’m using HR and zones determined by a (running) gas exchange test. I was not expecting that HR zones would be different by sport (running vs biking) as I had assumed that my aerobic threshold would be the same no matter the activity.

Would you happen to have any article explaining that difference? I’m just curious about the science behind.

Because I had thought that the time biking on Z1 would help me increasing aerobic capacity and becoming better fat adapted even if biking requires a higher power output.
I was aware I was losing specificity but I was hoping biking would help me to add more training volume/time with less impact and less risk for my ankle.

Before my injury I was running 12h/week (6 workouts).
Now (still not fully recovered) I’m training 15h/week (9h in 4 running workouts & 6.5h in 2 biking workouts).
Plan for peak week: 21.5h/week (18.5h in 5 running workouts & 3h in 1 biking workouts).

(Time per sport progression attached)

I’m going to investigate about power meters, sounds like a smart investment. Thanks for the advice!

Cheers,
Fran

[franmorper]

franmorper on March 8, 2021 at 11:35 am · in reply to: Singlespeed Mountain Biking Base and Cross Training Value? #51730

HOLD ON! I think I’m lost in translation; English is not my first language and I’m new to bikes so just learning the vocabulary. My bike has a single front chainring but several speeds in the (rear) cassette (thanks google!), so I guess it’s not a singlespeed, right? This would explain why my HR doesn’t go up.

Anyway, feedback to my approach to training would still be very much appreciated!

[franmorper]

franmorper on March 8, 2021 at 9:36 am · in reply to: Singlespeed Mountain Biking Base and Cross Training Value? #51715

Hi there,

Bringing this topic up as I’m experiencing something different to what was described in the thread.

I started training on a singlespeed MTB recently without previous bike experience and it doesn’t seem to have an impact on my ability to stay in zone. I’ve been building my base for months prior to that and I’m used to train controlling my HR. I’m currently training for a 100km trail run (Eiger 101 mid July).

Some context: A bit more than a month ago, I sprained my ankle during a long run. My foot looked awful & massive but two days later I could walk almost normally and started doing basic rehab exercises. My physio said I could train on a bike, so I took my brother’s tiny multispeed MTB and started riding it on road to avoid bumps. As the ankle was getting better, I moved to trails and decided to buy my own singlespeed MTB.

My progression:
Before injury – Consistently running 12h/week
1st week after injury: 6h MTB on road
2nd week: 11h MTB (singlespeed)
3rd week: 9,5h MTB
4th week: 9,5h MTB + 3,5h running
5th week: 8h MTB + 5,5h trail running
6th week (starting today): 7h MTB + 7h trail running

Last 3 sessions as example:
MTB – 47km / 1000m D+ / 3h – Avg HR: 130bpm (lower end Z1) / Time in Z1: 2.8h, Z2: 10min
Trail running – 22.5km / 1050m D+ / 3h / Avg HR: 137bpm (mid Z1) / Time in Z1: 2.5h, Z2: 30min
MTB – 52Km / 1200m D+ / 3,5h – Avg HR: 137bpm (mid Z1) / Time in Z1: 2.5h, Z2: 1h, Z3: 1min

As mentioned, staying in zone doesn’t seem to be an issue.

Before I was running 6 days a week, now I’m planning to swap 1-2 running sessions for MTB sessions. The idea is that this would allow me to train more hours while giving a break to my ankle. Example of a a Late Base Period week, introducing high intensity, which will happen as soon as I feel my ankle fully ready to go again.

Tuesday – Trail running – Z1-Z3 interval training – 1-1.5h
Wednesday – Easy MTB – Stay as much as possible in Z1 or below – 2h
Thursday – Trail running – Hill sprints – 1h
Friday – Easy MTB – Stay as much as possible in Z1 or below – 2h
Saturday – Trail running – Z1 – 3.5h
Sunday – Trail running – Long run in Z1 – 5h

Thoughts? Can you see any red sign? Any feedback would be massively appreciated.

Cheers,
Fran