Are commuting miles and training miles one and the same? I’ve recently started commuting to work on my bike 2 days per week. It’s approx 76-80 miles round trip depending upon the route. I’ve skipped my normal workouts of 1 hour- 1 hour 15 minute interval sessions. I still plan on doing my normal 3-5 hours rides on Saturdays. There are a few areas where I can bust out some short bursts or even a 5 minute interval but the reality is there is a lot of traffic/stop signs/traffic lights on the commute. Can’t really sneak in any more rides due to my schedule at work, family and other training.
I’m doing the cycling as commuting to log more miles but at the same time don’t want to give up quality intervals if it’s going to slow me down in the end. Any suggestions.
don’t give up the intervals. I commuted 30-40 miles roundtrip 4-5x a week for a summer and by the end of the summer just looking at my bike made my legs hurt!
Similar for me, spent several months commuting 4-5x a week, 30-40mi roundtrip. By the end I had really good endurance & my 40k tt time hadn’t really moved. You need the fast/hard longer threshold work to get faster for time trialing.
Similar for me, spent several months commuting 4-5x a week, 30-40mi roundtrip. By the end I had really good endurance & my 40k tt time hadn’t really moved. You need the fast/hard longer threshold work to get faster for time trialing.
Why couldn’t you throw in some intervals while commuting? That’s my plan. Every hill on my route, I will attack.
It is a perfect way to get some training in while saving money and family time. Is it perfect? No, probably not. But it will certainly give you some decent base and then you can do some hard TT work on the weekends. I commute year round in Canada. I really only get quality cycling workouts on the weekend, but I still manage to be top 15 or so in the bike. I use my time on my weaknesses of running and swimming during the week.
I’ve recently started commuting to work on my bike 2 days per week. It’s approx 76-80 miles round trip depending upon the route
That’s almost exactly what I’ve been considering mileage-wise for a commute to work. It would let me squeeze in good mileage and still allow for getting the kids to soccer and baseball when needed with the added benefit of saving some gas. I’ve just been waiting for it to start getting light a bit sooner before I take a dry run (hoping it’s viable…).
I was also wondering about the intervals, although I thought I’d probably try to ride mostly at “SST” or low L4 when I’m not stopping for lights, etc. with a couple of harder intervals (likely on hills) mixed in as well as someone else mentioned.
You just have to take advantage of every minute on the bike, even if it’s a commuter. I commute on a touring bike loaded down with panniers. In the past, I just did the ride to get to and from work without paying for gas and wear on a car. Now I ride hard, doing intervals, etc. It replaces most of my riding and I’m getting in good shape.
Why couldn’t you throw in some intervals while commuting? That’s my plan. Every hill on my route, I will attack.
Sigh…if only I had hills…
Mostly couldn’t get in good quality workouts because of other commuters, runners, dogs, stops. It was possible to do fartlek-like workouts, with varying intervals, but the setting of city bike paths and streets just isn’t conducive to a good threshold session. Not to say I didn’t get them in when-ever possible, it just wasn’t as effective as open country road or trainer in the garage.
Now my bike commutes are short (7-10mi each way) and I jump on the trainer after for a true unleashed threshold session at least once a week. Previously my commutes were artificially long to get in more miles. Don’t get me wrong, as other posters have said, its a great way to get in lots of miles, just not the highest quality threshold sets. Forget about doing many VO2max sets on trails and in commuter traffic - thats an accident waiting to happen.