This is the first year that I have gotten serious about staying consistent and base building in the off season. I have a late spring marathon planned and then IMFL 2007. I need to balance the prospect of burnout with solid and consitent training. Swimming and running I have dialed in I think. Riding is another story.
I have a Cycleops fluid trainer, but I don’t think I use it properly. My tires constantly slip on it and I have no idea what kind of mileage I am getting out of the workout. Is there anyway to simulate hills, how long do people actually sit on these things? Maybe more importantly, how cold is too cold to ride outside?
Continental makes a trainer specific tire that is a softer compound, you can also try cranking down the resistance a little more on the trainer.
My wife and I rent dvd’s from the library because they’re free. Another option is too just turn on the tv and spin during the program and increase the effort during commercials.
I’m trying to stay outside as long as possible. Last night I went for a ride mostly on the bike path with my single speed MTB. If I get off the road bike I can ride in lower temps as there is less wind chill. Slower speeds also help with visibility issues. I am reluctant to ride much outside once it is below freezing, hitting a patch of ice in the dark is not much fun.
What sort of winter weather do you have to deal with?
How many years have you been training at this level?
Why the spring marathon?
As for the trainer, the Cyclops is a good unit. As other’s have suggested, try using one of the Continental Trainer tires or some cheap road tire - Conti Supersports are good for trainer use. The mid to high-end road clincher tires, as good as they are, do note cope well at all with being used on an indoor trainer.
Pretty much awful. Gets cold, real cold and stays that way for a while. Riding becomes tolerable in mid-March and enjoyable in late April.
At this level? Never really, I used to take the winter off almost entirely. IMCDA this year was my first IM. I trained for IMOO unsuccessfully in 2004, but my body was unprepared. I battled injury and fatigue throughout. I took almost a full year off, started in with some solid base work around this time last year and then did a 20 week IM program, that included 8 rides over 80 miles with a peak of 120 and 6 runs over 13 with a peak of 22. My body responded really well to the training. Since then I have been training on average 4-6 hours a week consistently. Knock on wood, totally injury free for over 1 year, but I have put on about 5lbs since the race.