Short high intensity climb workout - last before resting up for race on Sunday. Legs tired and that shows in the slowness. 31' 44" - about one minute slower than current PB time.
Heart "Training Zone" time distribution for the actual climb:
AC (Anaerobic Capacity) 14%
AT (Anaerobic Threshold) 32%
ST (Super Lactic threashold) 17%
LT (Lactic Threshold) 32%
Technique
Noticed that to maximise the pull with the psoas muscles for bringing the knee up it is best to start the pull - not with the heel actually pushed down slightly at the bottom of the downstroke - but still "down" relatively compared to having the toes pointed down. This requires a slight stiffening of the ankle and tension in the hamstrings. The pull up though is not done with the hamstrings as most people seem to believe - it is done with the psoas muscles. Tension in the hamstrings only appears to help keep the stiff ankle. I'm sure that many more biomechanical subtlties will clarify themselves over time. I suspect now that my saddle might be slightly too high which makes it hard to keep the heel down low enough at the bottom of the downstroke and makes it tempting to have the toes poitned slightly too much downwards. This seems to lose the strenght slightly for the pull up. I need to experiment now with lowering the saddle by up to 5mm - to where it was before the last change. I'd thought that "toes down" would actually help with the pull - and that the straighter leg might be beneficial - but I'm not now convinced about it. Just a little bit lower then a "heel down" at the start of the downstroke should just fall into place and then a stiff but not fully extended ankle should help with the pull up. It might also help with the back soreness that has come along with that last 5mm saddle height increase.
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