GETTING IN THE ZONE FOR THE FERNS CHARITY CYCLE
With only three weeks to the big day and hopefully with a good few weeks training under your belt you are well on the way to being fit for the Ferns Charity Cycle in aid of Down Syndrome Ireland and Ballycanew Autism Unit which takes place on Sunday July 17 from St Aidan’s GAA club Ferns.
When you talk to other cyclists about training you will hear lots about heart rate monitors, power meters and training zones. Before these were used training zones were broken down as perceived effort. Below is an example of a simple 5 zone Perceived Effort Chart: ZONE 1: Easy ZONE 2: Moderate – You can have a conversation and train at this pace for long spells
ZONE 3: Hard – Your breathing is more laboured. Conversation only 1 sentence at a time.
Zone 4: Very Hard – Breathing is heavy and conversation is only a few words at a time
Zone 5: Maximum – Panting, Conversation not possible - you can only stay here a very short while.
For this sportive most of the training will be done at Zone 2 and Zone 3. This is where your body will build its basic endurance. Once you have a good endurance you can improve your speed by doing some efforts at zone 3/4. For example, after a good warm-up do 2x10 mins at zone 3/4 with 3 mins in zone 1 recovery between efforts. You can incorporate this into your training maybe twice a week. As your fitness improves you can increase the length and the number of efforts. Below is week 5 of suggested plan for a beginner/ improver which should get you to the required fitness level needed to complete the Sportive in comfort. The main aim with your training is to get out regularly and to gradually increase the distance week by week. TRAINING PLAN (100K PLAN IN RED): Monday Rest; Tuesday 20k, 30k; Wednesday Rest; Thursday 20k, 30k; Friday Rest; Saturday 30k, 40k; Sunday 30k, 70k; Total 100k, 170k For further information including routes and other queries visit the Facebook page Ferns Charity Cycle or visit the Tour de Leinster website at downsyndrome.ie/tour- de-leinster/.ie Rest means you can still do other activities such as walking, swimming, gym session etc or even a very leisurely cycle. Good luck with you training.
PAUL BOLGER, SLANEY CYCLING CLUB