Lucy Hall's treadmill bike set and training plan

Lucy performs one of her key bike sessions each week on a special treadmill in the Loughborough Sports Science lab, which allows her to ride hard in controlled conditions

Published: July 27, 2012 at 9:26 am

Issue ID: June 2012

Lucy has all the tools of Loughborough University’s Sports Science lab at her disposal. When she’s riding on the treadmill, her coach can review her power output data live or by downloading it from her Garmin watch afterwards. Her target power outputs are derived from lab testing in the off-season and assessment of training dates to track her progress.

When Lucy is pushing particularly hard in the treadmill session, she’s supported by a safety harness, in case she slows down suddenly or loses her balance on the bike. This is a real danger when she’s pushing close to her limits, as she often does.

A typical session on the treadmill involves a warm-up followed by 5 x 8mins hard with 3min recoveries. Lucy is pushing out over 240 watts, sometimes as high as 260 watts for the reps, which is 20-30 watts higher than her average output during the 40km bike leg of an Olympic-distance tri.

LUCY'S EARLY SEASON TRAINING PLAN

Monday - 90min morning swim. Late-morning 2-2.5hr bike session, main set 4 x 15mins holding a set wattage, plus 5-10min run off the bike. Afternoon Pilates session.

Tuesday - 30min easy morning run. Late-morning 90min swim sprints. Afternoon Pilates session. Evening run session.

Wednesday - 90mins morning swim, aerobic long reps (800m, 1,000...). Late morning 2-3hr steady bike. Evening 30min run into strength and conditioning session.

Thursday - Morning treadmill bike session, 5 x 8mins holding a certain wattage. Evening prehab and core work, 30-40min job.

Friday - 90min hard morning swim (6 x 100m max and so on). Late morning run session on grass (longer reps than Tuesday). Evening core and prehab work.

Saturday - 60min morning run. Evening 3hr ride.

Sunday - Late-morning long run, then swim 60mins easy

Approx 25hrs total.