Lets talk cardio....

[OutlawDon]

NICE cervelo! How do you like those sram wheels?

My last bike was a lowly Allez elite that i built up with Sram Rival (which was awesome). I would love to get into cyclocross. But my toy fund gets spent on firearms these days...

Thanks! The SRAM S80's are great for flats and rolling hills, but heavy for any hills above 4-5% gradient. I've since sold the rear S80 wheel and am running a Mavic Ksyrium Elite rear wheel with a wheelbuilder disc cover. Even faster for flats but I was crazy enough to do a charity century ride last Saturday on that setup. Killed me on climbs but I was hauling and flying by people on descents and flats.

And same here, the firearms fund is taking main focus first right now.

[J-Dub]

Well i ended up running an 11:27 1.5mile. The crappy part was my shoes came untied TWICE. I know that cost me 30secs atleast.

I know i can run it under 11. I think i'll retest if i dont make the jan. academy.

[Varmint6]

I hate cardio but I have been running a mile after each work out
for the past month Ill bump it up to 1.5 in dec .
like I said I hate cardio

[BenBru]

If you're intent on increasing your cardio fitness there's a lot of different things to do. However, the only way to get faster at running is to run with goals in mind.

A lot of the great fitness minds out there will express that interval training is the best way to increase your cardio fitness and make you faster. I'll agree with them. CrossFit is a great way to increase your overall fitness but to lower run times you need to RUN, and you need to focus on running FASTER. It sounds dumb but going out for the ol' 5mile morning shuffle is going to stay just that... the 5 mile shuffle, but you'll be able to do it with less and less effort.

Do a search on interval training... lots of good info and good workouts out there.

[hiro]

Buy a heart rate monitor.

It doesn't need to be an expensive one but its good to be able to set upper and lower limits to a target zone. Training cardio is best done just below your anaerobic threshold; a h.r.m. will show you where you're at and let you train to the goal.

Working out things like your max h.r. and roughly where your anaerobic threshold is aren't rocket science, you can get into details but you dont need a sports science degree to use a h.r.m. effectively.

I like the Polar range, always found them concise and the easiest to use: www.polar.fi

[J-Dub]

If you're intent on increasing your cardio fitness there's a lot of different things to do. However, the only way to get faster at running is to run with goals in mind.

A lot of the great fitness minds out there will express that interval training is the best way to increase your cardio fitness and make you faster. I'll agree with them. CrossFit is a great way to increase your overall fitness but to lower run times you need to RUN, and you need to focus on running FASTER. It sounds dumb but going out for the ol' 5mile morning shuffle is going to stay just that... the 5 mile shuffle, but you'll be able to do it with less and less effort.

Do a search on interval training... lots of good info and good workouts out there.

Ya i've been doing intervals ( i do know what i'm doing i was a Sports/Fitness major).

I have to disagree with you on the crossfit, in my OPINION crossfit is one step above garbage. I get my cardio when i do cardio, i lift when i lift. I dont agree with trying to do both at the same time...