Feedback on my bike training wanted

Triathlon Forum
1

Hi gang!

I’m training for a 100-mile ride in October (Tour De Poway) as well as a couple of flat 20k time-trials at Fiesta Island in Sept and Oct. My longest training ride so far has been a 50-mile on July 4th. I’ve been in training for about 7 months after being quite sedentary for years due to illness. I’m just starting to build up my miles and would like your feedback and suggestions on my current training schedule. Please note that I’m only training for the bike events - no running or swimming - although maybe later after I get my weight down a bit more… I’m at 210 (down from 330 a year ago) so continued weight loss is also a key goal.

Mon: Weight training, no biking

Tue: Aerobic intervals (5x2min@85-90%max/6min recovery) then 20 minutes @70-75%max, 10min cooldown. Usually about 20 miles total.

Wed: Weight training, 10-15 mile easy night ride

Thu: hill intervals (5x4min@80-85%max alternating high/low cadence/standing followed by a 1-minute climb at 90% max up 15% grade, 10-minute cooldown)

Fri: Weight training, 5-8 mile easy night ride

Sat: 40-60miles moderate endurance ride

Sun: 5-15 miles easy recovery ride

NOTE: Weight training alternates upper body/lower body and sessions are 35-45 minutes using progressive resistance (Body-For-Life approach). I’m gradually increasing the weekly miles by about 10% per week but then every few weeks I wait a week or so before increasing again.

Thanks for any feedback!

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Wow, that is some incredible weight loss!

I would say that if you are 210 pounds you don’t need to do weight training. Until you get your body composition down to a pretty lean weight then the best thing for you to do is just ride and then right some more.

I don’t even know if I would get too wrapped up into doing interval training either. I kept getting faster and faster on the bike by increasing my training volume without any type of structured workouts. There are plenty of hills where I lived, so climbing the hills worked to give me some long high aerobic workouts and the rest of the time it was just riding along at a comfortable pace. After six months of that, I could really hammer when I started doing some short intervals before my peak race in June.

It also takes you much longer to recover from interval workouts, thus you might not be able to maintain as much volume while doing them.

Improvements in aerobic efficiency can go on for years, but according to Arthur Lydiard (a fairly famous run coach) about 6-8 weeks is all it takes to gain maximum advantage from interval training. After that you have to go back and build up your aerobic engine to see improvement.

Chad

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Tue: Aerobic intervals (5x2min@85-90%max/6min recovery) then 20 minutes @70-75%max, 10min cooldown. Usually about 20 miles total.

Like Chad said, those short hard intervals are of questionable value as a year-round thing. For TT racing of ~30 minutes and longer, you’re better off sticking with the long “tempo” intervals. A TT classic workout at Fiesta is 3 of the short loops, done at a nice tough pace (where you start to have doubts halfway through the third loop). Rest 2 minutes, and do another 3 loops, pushing to the max. Those will be long enough (~20 minutes each) that you won’t go deep into oxygen debt and send your lactate skyrocketing (inhibiting recovery) but intense enough to trigger powerful training adaptations. IMO, it’s the perfect bike workout.

For variation, I sometimes do 3x 2-loops instead of 2x 3-loops. Same approach applies – hit 'em hard, but at an effort you can stay on top of for each interval right through the end.

You can do these twice a week almost year round. If you hit a plateau or are really peaking for something, do 3 weeks with the short hard stuff. But the short hard stuff should still be longer – 5 minutes is about right. 5x 5’ on 5’ rest is your basic VO2max workout. 2’ intervals are too short for VO2max, and you don’t need much in the way of anaerobic training for a 20k TT.

And, oh yeah – skip the weights unless you do it for basic fitness. It won’t help your cycling. I do some weights too, but only for basic health purposes.

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Thanks for the great feedback.

FYI – I started my training in January doing 20-minutes on the trainer. When I first started riding outdoors in May, I was dying on the hills! So I started adding the hill interval work then. It has helped my climbing a great deal. I had planned on gradually decreasing interval training as I add more endurance miles. I’ve been monitoring my recovery very closely since my training has been quite ambitious!

The weight training has helped address the atrophy I experienced from years of being pretty much couch-bound due to illness (pituitary failure) but I also plan on cutting it back in the next few weeks. Frankly, I’d much rather be on the bike than in the gym!

This is great! I’m so excited to finally be back on the bike and be discussing training again!!! I guess even a 50-yr old can feel like a kid again…

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Thanks Ashburn! I really like your time-trial training workout suggestions. I’m going to give that a try. I was thinking that I would continue the hill intervals for a few more weeks until they conflict with my gradually increasing weekly miles. Actually,I’m not that far away. My feeling was as long as they don’t cause me to limit my endurance rides and I’m improving on the hills - that I would keep doing them.

My feeling is that within the next few weeks I’ll have to limit or drop them in order to keep increasing my weekly miles. Then I’ll go to 2 time-trial sessions a week.

The weight training is not for building bulk - I don’t have any interest in looking like a body-builder. It’s mainly for fitness and fat loss. I may cut it back in a couple of months - especially if I feel it is hindering my progress on the bike.

BTW – One reason for the interval training is to boost the metabolism and promote weight loss. I’ve been following the Body-For-Life program which calls for a 20-minute cardio session with progressive intensity levels - High Intensity Interval Training - 3 times a week. I dropped 67 lbs the first 3 months so I know it works!

Thanks again. I’m going to make some changes and let you know how it works out!

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One reason for the interval training is to boost the metabolism and promote weight loss. I’ve been following the Body-For-Life program which calls for a 20-minute cardio session with progressive intensity levels - High Intensity Interval Training - 3 times a week. I dropped 67 lbs the first 3 months so I know it works!

No doubt the high-intensity stuff works for general fitness and burning calories. But – you’re a time trialist now. You’ll get all the fitness and weight-loss benefits that the short/hard stuff gives you, but you’ll be a faster cyclist. The reason general fitness trainers use the shorter intervals is that many people don’t have the huevos to do the long hard stuff. It’s a good way to get people going. I have a hunch you’re over that hump and are ready to go a little deeper into aerobic development.

Like they say: Speed hurts. How fast you wanna go?

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Ashburn - I think you hit the nail on the head!

I’m still 210 at 5’10". My best weight is probably around 170-180lb. I’m anxious to do whatever it takes to be the best I can be on the bike. Frankly, it’s not really about competing against others so much as it is about making the most of this opportunity and being the best I can be. And I never feel more alive than when I’m working at time-trial intensity. Yep! I enjoy the pain!!!

My #1 priority is to get the weight down. It’s critical so that I can better manage my hormonal disorder. Every time I lose about 20lbs, I go into a minor tailspin because all of my hormonal medications need to be re-adjusted. But once I get down to a normal weight I can stabilize the dosages.

#2 is time-trialing

#3 is to occasionally do a century.

I was sidelined for several years and I’m anxious to dig deeper than I ever have in my training. I guess part of that is that I need to feel a sense of victory over the illness and to believe that those years weren’t wasted but were simply part of my mental toughness training…

So I’m open to a suggested training plan that will meet my priorities. My only concern is that I have known cyclists who do endurance riding for years and are still 20-30 lbs overweight. I want to make sure I get the weight down as quickly as possible.

Thanks again!

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bump

Great feedback so far!

Hoping for some more input…

Thanks!

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Hi Jim

Time trials at Fiesta Island are a great way to get a feel for the TT bug without having to travel too far

'06 is a break through year for me, I am diving into TT racing head first, training up for Nationals in Park City and Calif states in LA, and after a long break in racing (sance March) I have lost a little sustainable power but not sure about lost speed as I have a new TT position that I am testing, as well as some new gear. I have been racing since '99 and this is the first season where it feels “real”.

For the century, you need to build your endurance, meaning long rides of up to six hours in length on varied terrain. I suggust riding up to Rainbow and back, or heading to the 101 via the 56 and go north to San Clemente, then back. This weekend I am riding from Mission Bay/ or Del Mar, to Dana Point and back. That’s a good endurance ride.

For Fiesta Island yoneed to work on muscular endurance, meaning, for starters, riding at 100 to 105% of your sustainable average 60 minute power/heart rate. You can figure this by riding 4-5 laps at Fiesta Island as hard as you can (sustainable) and record your heart rate, averaging the last 20 minutes, or use a PM if you have one.

I think I am at 300w for CP30 right now, on the trainer, which is 20w lower than my race power last season, but I just started training and have a new position on the road bike, so it is tough to tell. I am slower, I lost some speed through lack of training this summer, but the break felt good.

I hope to go 325-335w avg for the 40kTT’s next summer. Time will tell.

www.timetrial.org has some training article I pinned up under Training

when you are ready, join Cyclo-Vets (www.cyclo-vets.org) to really boost your riding ability

Good luck

Gary

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Thanks Gary

I did a 10-mile baseline a few weeks ago maintaining the highest heart rate I could. That was 158 which is 85% of my max of 185. My interval work sessions have been between 159-166bpm. From the feedback I received it seems like I need to increase the work session length from 2 minutes to 4 or 5 minutes each and back off on the intensity a little.

I see that Cyclo Vets has TT training on Tuesdays. I think I’ll give that a try and probably go ahead and join.

My planned ride on Saturday is Carlsbad->San Clemente and back. The last time I did that ride was 1995. Hard to believe I was out-of-commision for so long…

I like your suggested routes and will give them a try soon. Good luck on your training and I look forward to meeting you somewhere along the way - maybe a club ride or event.

And I’ve just gotta emphasize how great it feels to be a cyclist again!