British immigrant to USA, in higher education. Interests: #cycling, #science, #philosophy, #reading, and #writing on my website.
I'm here for discussion.
| Website | https://ianbgibson.com |
| Resident of | South Carolina |
| Born & Bred | Lancashire |
A Change of Pace
For almost four years I've been training very seriously as an endurance cyclist. The effects have been amazing: I lost over 30 kg/ 70 lb, reduced previously sky-high blood pressure, lipid and blood sugar numbers to the low end of the normal range, and transformed the way I feel about myself. All great things.
But now big changes are underway: I'm abandoning endurance training...
Cycling Training Plan
I've made some huge, fundamental changes to my training plan over the last few months: as well as a general microcycle reorganization, I've implemented large volume reductions, substantial tweaks to my high-intensity sessions, and put strength training front and centre.
It's really taken shape into something that I think is going to take my cycling to the next level. I'm really excited and impatient to implement it!
https://drive.google.com/open?id=14-IYXhKPb_iZDpANaJlnhjom04wxPGVA
Training Notes: September 2020 – January 2021
Here's a brief update about what I've been up to.
The big changes continue. My garage gym is fully operational, and I've spent the last couple of months figuring out a decent strength training regimen; finding a good balance between strength training and cycling; as well as actually working on the technical performance of each lift.
I've mentioned before...
https://trainingnotes.ianbgibson.com/training-notes-september-2020-january-2021
2020 Season Review
It's certainly been an interesting year, albeit mainly for the wrong reasons. I'm going to limit this discussion to cycling, but I think everyone has been affected by the pandemic in many ways. In my case, my personal circumstances lead me to avoid all group rides for almost the entire season from March to October. That came as quite a shock...
Training Notes: August-September 2020
The final mesocycle of the In-Season was a continuation of the approach I established over the summer: relatively low volume and high intensity. After seeing good results from this in the previous mesocycle, I wanted to make sure that it was sustainable by continuing in the same vein.
It worked. I added another 3 Watts to my 20-minute power, but the biggest improvements were higher up on the power curve...
https://trainingnotes.ianbgibson.com/training-notes-august-september-2020
Training Notes: July-August 2020
This block marked the start of a 3-month experimental phase with which I'm going to close out the season.
I've reduced my training time, averaging around 12 hours per week on the bike throughout this period, and upped the average intensity (although much of this intensity increase is a consequence of the reduced base load).
Analyzing my ride data over the past year or so that I've had my power meter showed...
https://trainingnotes.ianbgibson.com/training-notes-july-august-2020
Cycling: Volume Versus Intensity
Alan Couzens is a coach of champion endurance athletes, and has some very interesting articles up on his website.
Today I want to talk about one in particular: Are you a volume or intensity responder?, which is certainly something I've been longing to know the answer to. If you're in the same boat, read on!
https://cycling.ianbgibson.com/cycling-volume-versus-intensity
Training Notes: June 2020
There's been some substantial changes this month.
I've remarked a few times about how my fitness has been consistently improving all year, and I still think that's the case. My heart rate variability (HRV, an indicator of autonomic stress) has been steadily increasing, my resting HR trending downwards, and my best efforts at a wide range of durations regularly improving. All that is good...
https://trainingnotes.ianbgibson.com/training-notes-june-2020
Reading Roundup, May 2020
My reading continues apace, again, like last month, almost entirely fiction. The exception to this is Bertrand Russell's A History of Western Philosophy, which I have just started rereading to ease me back into philosophy and adjacent subjects (Alan Ryan's On Politics is also high up on my list). I think having one fiction and one non-fiction book going simultaneously will work well, but right now I'm just having...
