Speed workouts help you pick up your pace and prepare you for the final leg of your race, when you may need to pass a competitor or maintain a lead. If you are a triathlete, cycling time makes up about half of your race, so boosting cycling speed is a good way to bring your overall race time down.
Time Frame
When you do an interval training workout, it’s best to warm up with 10 minutes of easy cycling first, recommends recommends Dede Demet Barry, lead author for the book “Fitness Cycling.” Also cool down with at least five minutes of easy cycling. The speed work portion can vary, lasting anywhere from 20 to 55 minutes. Speed work should be done on a trainer or a flat to rolling course. It also can be incorporated into the end of a moderate 75- to 90-minute ride.
Identification
When you pick up speed during intervals, use a rate of perceived exertion of nine to 10 during your intervals, recommends Barry. Rate of perceived exertion is often referred to as RPE. On a scale of one to 10, 10 is your maximum effort possible and one is your minimum. You’ll also see bike workouts that advise you to ride at 90 percent of your maximum effort, which would be an RPE of nine. When you are in the recovery period between your intervals, you should use a low RPE.
Function
To boost speed and prepare for a 40-kilometer bike race, do a threshold ride each week, recommends Matt Fitzgerald in the Bicycling Magazine article, “Blast the Bike.” Start with 15 to 30 minutes easy riding that are interspersed with four to six 20- to 30-second increases in speed that bring you to an RPE of nine. Next, ride for 20 minutes at the maximum level that you can maintain for one hour. Recover with 10 to 20 minutes easy spinning before you repeat the 20-minute interval. Recover again. This is a time trial workout, meaning it helps you maximize your steady-rate speed for a race and improves your ability to pull out a faster burst at the end.
Potential
Perform interval workouts to develop explosive power, which improves your top end speed, says Steve Pyle, USA triathlon coach, former National Cycling Team member and Triathlon Team USA member. For example, do six to 10 45-second intervals at 85 to 95 percent effort with 1 minute, 15 seconds of recovery between. Barry recommends ramping up your intensity with a 44-minute workout. After your 10-minute warm-up, do 15 one-minute intervals that have an RPE of 10 with one minute recoveries in between. Keep your RPM level at 100 during the entire workout. Shift your gears to change intensity. Your allotted recovery time is short, so you end up with a high heart rate. Intense concentration is required for this workout, Barry says.
Considerations
When speed training you need to work hard to maintain the intensity during your intervals so you do not fade during the last two repetitions, Pyle says. You may need to work especially hard if you do a pyramid workout, says Barry. This entails intervals as follows: one minute, two minutes, three minutes, four minutes and five minutes followed by four minutes, three minutes, two minutes and one minute. The recovery time between each interval is equal to the interval you just completed.
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