February 15, 2009
Jennifer A.

I’ve been taking a biking class using Computrainers with a triathlon training group for the past month. I’ve never taken a biking class before (not even spinning). The Computrainer measures the power you generate, mph, calories burned, etc. The first class was to see what your fit threshold power was. I was happy to say I had the best FTP amongst the women in the class (and even better than one of the guys). It’s a great class filled with drills to push your power and cadence. Since your power and settings are in the computer, the resistance on the trainer is calibrated to your power at the beginning of each class.

During our last class, Mike, my instructor must have heard how much I love those single leg drills. We did 2 sets of 4 (30 sec) drills. During our "cool down," Mike challenged me to do some more single leg drills... so I did 1 more set of 2. He said I did the best during those last 2… but my form tends to tire out after 20 or so seconds. They definitely work on strengthening your legs though. We did spin ups and steady state drills as well.

I must be getting stronger, because Mike has to keep upping my power/resistance on my trainer during class. I'm usually at the highest gear even with the 85% times. So, he went up to 15-20 points higher on my FTP. Then he had to change the resistance further (not sure how high the power rating was since we didn't recalibrate to see as it was during a steady state). Maybe I didn't give it my all during my initial FTP. It will be interesting what my FTP will be when the class ends when we remeasure it. I’m hoping to improve.

Another good thing about these trainers… you can bike a course of any local, national or international triathlon course they have from Kona’s world championships to the local sprint triathlons. The resistance on the trainer will change based on the road condition of the course. Since I won’t be going to the camp at the end of March, I’m going to set up some time to do the Longhorn ½ Ironman course during the training season. I’m happy to have such a resource available. :)