In order to burn 500 calories a day I have started cycling a short route of 7km three times a day. My 7km cycle went very well today. I have found the best way to motivate myself is to make short term goals that are doable.
I am using Runkeeper on my iPhone to track my progress.
I am cycling from my home North East on Alexander Drive, left on Melanie Drive, right on Elk Street, right on Talbot Street (#3 Hwy), right on Hacienda Road, right on Tobacco Line, right on John Street (#73 Hwy), and then right on Alexander Drive back to my home.
My goal is to do an average of 34km/h. Up until this morning my best cycle was on Wednesday where my pace was 1:58 and my average speed was 30.48km/h. Today due to there being no wind I was able to do a pace of 1:54 and an average speed of 31.59km/hr.
I am quite sure if I was carbed up and I tried this when it is more cool around 6am I would have pulled a 32km/h average.
Speed & Elevation:
As you can see in the above diagram I got off to a good start and took advance of the drops in elevation by picking up speed.
To increase my time there are a number of changes this diagram tells me I need to make. I need to pulse more often – on Elk Street I went from a top speed of 34.7km/h down to 27.5km/h with no pulsing. I did the same thing on Talbot Street, I build up to 36.1km/h and then when to 27km/h without pulsing. Also I finished with a speed of only 25.8km/h so I need to do better there.
One other thing I need to try to do is to increase my speed by 2km/h at my highest speed points. So half way down Melanie Drive and at the start of Elk I need to push to 37km/h. Then on Talbot Street I need to pick up my speed faster and try to reach a peak of 38km/h.
There is not much I can do on Hacienda Road as it is up hill but on Tabacco Line as soon as get to the 4km route mark Tabacco Line starts down hill and I should be able to do 42km/h there like I did on Friday’s cycle.
I am planning to retire early tonight and then get up for a early morning cycle and see what I can do. At this point an average speed of 32km/h is very doable and I may be able to even pull a 32.5km/h. But to hit 33km/h or my top target of 34km/h I am going to have to do a month or so of leg work outs.
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