We can all make a list of the reasons why one dreads
indoor training: boredom, the sound
drives the dog crazy, no Strava KOMs, no impromptu town line sprints or
Starbucks caffeine stops. We all have
our favorite way to make the time pass, whether it is an iTunes playlist, taking a tour in Sufferlandia, or on a CompuTrainer with an
ErgVideo. One thing we may forget to
do….think about the translation of road hour to trainer hour.
When you look at a power file of an outdoor endurance
training ride (absent intervals), we see a great deal of time spent in Zone 1
and low Zone 2. From the need to stop to
drafting behind someone, our energy expenditure on the road is more volatile
than on a trainer. While on the road to
nowhere, our trainer time will, on average, show less time at both the lower
and upper ends of the training zone spectrum, which affects the type of workout
one can efficiently complete on the trainer.
The math bottom line:
If you are headed outdoors for a 3 hour endurance ride and want to
convert it to something indoors, shorten the duration and add some tempo
intervals to bump up the intensity. Our
math exchange rate: 1 hour on the
trainer = 1.5 hours on the road for endurance efforts.
