Hill Repeats on the Computrainer

One of the workouts Tony gave me to help increase my lactate threshold is short hill repeats on the bike. The idea is to raise my heartrate from about my aerobic threshold (115 bpm) to about 10 beats above my lactate threshold (155) as fast as I can, then drop it back to 115 quickly, then repeat nine more times.

After some experimentation, I've developed a loop course on my Computrainer that allows me to accomplish that. I start out gradually increasing the grade from 0% to 2%, to 4%, and eventually to a little over 5% at a point that is about .3 miles from the start line. If I hit the virtual hill hard, then my heartrate will be at about 155 at the top. The virtual course then trends downward for another 0.3 mile at about -3%, then flattens back to the start line. I put little s-curves in the course near the top of the hill and just before the start line to serve as visual indicators during the repeats.

Last night I did 1o repeats and got gradually weaker toward the end. Next time I plan to compete against my previous recorded repeats, but try to start slower and see if I can end up stronger during the later repeats. It's a great use of the 'race against your last ride' feature of Computrainer.