How to Start Training?

[li10up]

The full title should be "How to start training for someone who hates training?" I hate "exercise" but I like to play. What I mean is I hate stationary bikes, treadmills, rowing machines, stair-climbers, etc. But I love to play...ie, racquetball, volleyball, softball, bike riding, etc. I can play for hours but when I exercise I'm ready to quit in like 10 minutes.

On the other side of that coin is me being tired of being the worst rider in the group. The Sat. morning easy/beginner ride I lead is the only time I'm not the slowest rider. When I ride with my bike friends they are all stronger than me. This is good because I am getting better. But I'm not getting better fast enough. It would be nice for me to be able to pull into the wind for a change rather than having to sit on all the time.

I used to ride alone but now I've found I prefer the company. But I probably need to ride alone at least once a week to do some training. So, what can I do - and I'm talking baby steps here - to start training. Once I get out there any thoughts of training are gone and I just decide to ride for fun. I really need some help on how to start training for someone who hates that type of stuff.

Anyone have some advice for me? Remember - BABY STEPS.

[Veronica]

Do you have a local ride that you just like to do? Turn it into a training ride. Time yourself on it, pick certain parts of it where you'll work on different things.

V.

[li10up]

On the local rides I'm just trying to stay caught up.

[Veronica]

I meant go out and ride them by yourself.

V.

[RoadRaven]

If this was one of my students telling me they 'can't' write essays, or that theory is 'too hard' to understand, I would tell them to change the messages and explain how we can change the way we think by repeating something every day for a few weeks - even something we don't believe - and our brain will begin to believe the words we say... kinda like self-imposed brain-washing.

Veronica has given great advice. Start with a course you enjoy and make the ride a specific ride.

You want to get faster to stay with a group... I am guessing you need to increase your hearts ability to work at a higher power output. Intervals are a one way to do this. So make one ride a week a specific training ride, and if you choose intervals, then start with 2-3 intervals during that ride.

Ride as hard as you can for a minute and then rest for a minute then repeat.

Ideally you should work up to riding as hard as you can (if you use a HR monitor, ride into - or as near as possible to - your lactate threshold zone and stay there for 3mins, resting still for only one and repeat about 6-7 times. Its exhausting, but it is one way to improve pack-riding skills on a solo training ride.

Like V says, just start with one ride a week and vefore and during that ride, change the messages you are telling yourself.

Stop telling yourself you hate training. Start telling yourself, this ride might be tough but I will not keep getting dropped. Training rides build my mental toughness, not just my legs. I am an athelete and one thing atheletes do is ride with a purpose.

When you are ready to make a second ride a week a training ride, do it with one of your faster friends. Ask them to ride just above what you feel is your top comfortable speed (they sit at that speed, no surging or slowing) and you just hang on and sit behind them. This is a great way to improve your speed. Not only do your legs learn to go faster and push harder, you get a psychological edge... because suddenly you know you CAN ride at that speed and that is a great thing to know.

Yes... baby steps... yes... time... but if you make even one ride a week specific, you'll find it easier to achieve your goal.

[li10up]

RoadRaven - I'm not saying I can't do it; I'm saying I don't like to do it. I don't enjoy it. And since I'm a grownup (sort of) nobody can make me do it. :) You have some very good points/suggestions. But I was hoping for some suggestions to make it fun at first and then maybe I might actually sort of enjoy "training rides." Intervals, and heart rates and training zones and thresholds...yuk...just makes me want to go watch TV instead. ;) I quit wearing my heart rate monitor just because I kept watching it all the time and wasn't enjoying my rides. Once I took it off I enjoyed my rides a lot more.

I've been thinking about this quite a bit. What about if during a solo ride I sprint for a road sign, or a specific tree, or the next intersection. And if I did that several times during my ride, not necessarily at any certain time interval, would that be of any benefit? Wouldn't that be sort of like interval training without the regimented aspect of it?

I'm just trying to come up with "fun" ways of introducing myself to "training"...of just getting in the mindset and hoping it will take over. Maybe by slowly introducing my body to this additional stress my mind and body will accept it more easily?

[maillotpois]

Why are you training? What are you training for? I find that a concrete goal is the first step to beginning a training plan. You say you just don't want to be the slowest rider in your group - that may not be specific, achievable, etc. enough to be a real goal. How about finding a ride you want to do - a century or metric - and use that as your inspiration. Or if it really is just "be faster", how about a goal of doing a usual ride in a specific time - and then work on that?

[Veronica]

There is no easy answer. You have to make it work for you. We could all tell you what our training routines are, but ultimately, you have to make yourself get there. Change come from within.

V.

[SnappyPix]

RoadRaven - I'm not saying I can't do it; I'm saying I don't like to do it.

And the difference is? (Yes I realise you're physically capable of training, but if you lack the motivation, there is no difference).
As someone who's recently struggled with motivation (or lack thereof), I can certainly relate, but I think you have to start by being honest with yourself and concentrate on WHY you want to train and the specific goals you're aiming for.
Without specific goals, you'll never find the inspiration to do something you dislike.

Unfortunately there isn't a quick fix for power and strength without putting in the legwork.
I realise you know this, but RR's right - a change of attitude is definitely the first key. Concentrate on the positives, your goals. Trust me, concentrating on the negatives will never get you off the starting blocks (I know, I've been there) - and sometimes a complete change of attitude is better than baby steps - it's as much psychological as physical. Baby steps are just one step away from sliding back into not going training at all.

But be realistic - don't tell yourself you're going to do an hour of intervals, if you know in your heart of hearts that you'll only do 3 separate sets.
If you're not doing any intervals at all, even one set on a solo ride would be an easy start and a realistic base to work from - just decide before you go what you'll do.
Don't call them intervals, if that turns you off before you start.
Power surges, sprints - find the jargon that works for you.

I heard a good tip recently for the days when you really don't feel like going out on a ride. Put your gear on anyway, before you decide. Chances are, once you're standing there in full kit, you'll go out for a spin - even just a short one.
Good luck with the training.

[SnappyPix]

Took me so long to write that, I was pipped to the post by V and Maillotpois!

[li10up]

There is no easy answer. You have to make it work for you. We could all tell you what our training routines are, but ultimately, you have to make yourself get there. Change come from within.
V.Isn't that one of the main purposes of this forum? To help others learn from our experiences? Telling me that I basically need to figure it out for myself isn't really all that helpful...even though I believe you were trying to be helpful.


Why are you training? What are you training for? I find that a concrete goal is the first step to beginning a training plan. You say you just don't want to be the slowest rider in your group - that may not be specific, achievable, etc. enough to be a real goal. How about finding a ride you want to do - a century or metric - and use that as your inspiration. Or if it really is just "be faster", how about a goal of doing a usual ride in a specific time - and then work on that?I didn't realize how difficult this question was. Why isn't wanting to be able to keep up on group rides a specific enough goal? When I ride on my own I don't have others to help push me. So my rides are slower than when I ride with others. I'm hoping to learn a way of riding by myself that is productive without seeming a chore. Isn't there a way to introduce recreational riders to training without getting into all the technical aspects of it?

[li10up]

SnappyPix-you and I must have been posting at the same time. You and the others are right about motivation. It's just that so many things are learned in life by making games or making it fun somehow. I guess I was just hoping for something like that to translate to this. If I could just find something to make it fun at first I might see improvments in my riding and that would then generate more motivation and make me wanting to train in a more serious way.

I guess I'm just not making my thoughts clear...or maybe there really isn't any easy transition into training. :(

[SnappyPix]

Telling me that I basically need to figure it out for myself isn't really all that helpful

To be fair, lots of people seem to have taken the time to give you advice, just because it's not the advice you particularly want to hear, doesn't make it unhelpful.

[Veronica]

I'm not telling you to figure it out for yourself. I'm telling you to do it yourself. Your reply to RR makes it sound to me like it's all about attitude and no training plan is going to fix that. You want it to be fun, you have to make it be fun.

I find it fun to keep my HR in my zone. It beeps at me when I go out of the zone. It's a game to see how fast I can get the beep off. But you don't want to wear your HR monitor.

MP is right, you have to figure out exactly what you want.

V.

[SnappyPix]

Oops, slow on the uptake again!

I think that to make it fun you have to focus on the good stuff. I honestly do understand how hard the lack of motivation is. Just making the conscious decision to start a training programme can be a boost. You don't have to go the whole hog of intervals and power blasts, keep at it in small doses and the gradual improvement WILL become fun. Honestly.

[maillotpois]

Why isn't wanting to be able to keep up on group rides a specific enough goal?

Because it's completely subjective - how fast are the "others" going from one day to the next? How do you feel v. how they feel on a particular day? V's original idea of working on certain things at different points in one of your usual rides - similar to what I suggested (trying to improve your time on a specific ride you do) - will help you. I find that in order to make myself follow an actual training program I need a real goal: a certain ride or race or whatever. It seems that you may lack motivation more than suggestions for training ideas.

[spazzdog]

OK... dis is da spazz talkin at cha! And I am queen of "having no motivation", "don't like to train", hate to ride by myself", yada-yada-yada.

V. and MP (and others) ARE being helpful in that, in someway or another,we've all been on the short end of the fitness stick for any number of reasons.

RR is also correct that by changing the messages we give ourselves, we can change our atitude.

I finally went out on a ride this past weekend... initiated it, and went with a buddy. In times (recent) past I would not have gone if my buddy had bailed and not come, but I decided in advance that I was doing the ride by myself if need be. The really wierd thing was I suddenly got excited about riding... and had a blast on my little ride (yes my buddy was there).

The point is I changed my message... I decided the ride was important to ME.

If it's important to YOU, it's amazing how much training you'll suddenly want to do. And the gals are right; having a goal (arace, a particular organized ride) makes the training all that much more fun and rewarding.

As for "keeping up", perhaps you're ridng with the wrong group, or the wrong part of the group. Ride with a slightly slower bunch every so often... do't beat yourself to death trying to keep up with folks all the time.

spazz-istotle

[li10up]

Ok, this is frustrating...and probably more-so for you ladies who are trying to help me. The thing is I do have goals. Last year my goal was to ride a metric. This year it is to ride a century. But my overall goal is to be able to keep up on the moderate group rides. I keep a log. My rides are faster now over known routes than they were last year. My avg. speed has gone up from 13.9\14.5 to 14.8\15.5. I've even had a 16.x in there a time or two. I am excited about riding. I'm riding 4 or 5 days a week now. Sometimes more. If the weather is bad and I can't ride I get "upset." I am very motivated to ride and I like riding with my faster friends because they push me. It's because of them that I am faster now. But I am still struggling to keep up...especially on windy days or when there are hills involved. Maybe I'm looking at this all wrong, maybe it's supposed to be really hard. Maybe they are struggling more than it looks...to me it doesn't look like they're having to struggle at all. So I AM motivated to start training. Just not in the lactate threshold, TT heart rate, etc. type. I need to ease my way into it. That's basically what I'm looking for. Suggestions for wading into it, not jumping in with both feet and finding myself over my head. Isn't there a Training for Dummies book out there? :confused: I just want my solo rides to be productive without being torturous.

Anyhow, thanks to all of you who responded. I appreciate each and every one of the suggestions. I guess I will just have to try to figure out what makes it fun for me but still helps me improve.

[Veronica]

For example I have my regular after work ride. There are two smallish hills on it, that are pretty close together, so not much recovery time. I get out of the saddle and push as hard as I can and I try to have the same speed at the top on both.

Coming back on this ride I have a one mile shallow up hill. Whatever speed I am doing when I get to a certain telephone pole, I have to maintain to the end, so for about 7 tenths.

I don't do this every time I go out and ride this ride. Sometimes there are other folks out there and I ride with them. Sometimes I just ride and look at the critters and the hills. Sometimes I push hard the whole ride.

V.

[RoadRaven]

OK... fun factor...

Sorry if I misunderstood... I just associate my cycling in a different way I guess.

So... why do I do it and how?

FOCUS
Getting fit I guess is one major. My parents are both obese now, my father morbidly. I get a strange satisfaction knowing that I am fitter than either of them have ever been. Thinking about my mum's figure (sorry mum) really motivates me onto the bike and I relish being able to feel the intensity in my muscles and breathing.

ROLE PLAY
I am motivated by my partner and sons, and although I do not ride often with them, we talk about it often - their cycling, mine, our bikes, loacl cyclists, the elite guys and gals in NZ, pro-tours... that makes what I do fun and what I think about sometimes on the bike. Sometimes I am Floyd or Lance, or Onoene Wood, or Sarah Ulmer and that makes it fun.

GAMES
I set myself tasks and try to race myself - and a few of the gals have given some good ideas... try to climb a hill faster than before... try to stay above or below a certain heart rate... try to reach that cyclist ahead before the next corner...

ANAL RETENTIVENESS
A good deal of my pleasure comes from my training diary... and while all in my family record distances and times, mine is affectionately called by the others retentive! :p Not only do I have time, speed, distance - I also have who I rode with, weather, wind, temperature, bike, ride type, course, plus an extra column "just in case". In my log book (a large hard cover A4 book) I also have two threads from this forum printed and glued in, I also have print-outs from tests done in science labs, AND, to just confirm it is truly retentive :rolleyes: I have several excel spreadsheets of various race/TT courses with the times of the top ten women in my cat, overall top ten times... and spreadsheets also of various courses or bits of courses I measure myself on... and these are all printed and glued in my journal so i don't have to wait for a PC to boot...
As soon as I get back home from a ride - before getting changed or showering or eating, I write in my training log - I just get so much pleasure from adding more kms in there.

So... to sum up...

:cool: Focus and be anally retentive but always make time to role play and play games... :p

[spazzdog]

Rent (buy) American Flyers... race someone in your head.

and li10up... lighten up :D

You've very obviously improved. You may just be at one of those infernal "training plateaus" where nothing changes in performance for a while.

Or, as tough as this one may be, you may have hit your "performance" high point.

Whichever, the most important thing is have fun with it. Ride with the enjoyment of a kid on a new bike.

spazz - who is working on that 2nd (3rd??) childhood

[RoadRaven]

So I AM motivated to start training. Just not in the lactate threshold, TT heart rate, etc. type. I need to ease my way into it. That's basically what I'm looking for. Suggestions for wading into it, not jumping in with both feet and finding myself over my head. Isn't there a Training for Dummies book out there? :confused: I just want my solo rides to be productive without being torturous.


I am afraid that the only way you will improve your speed is to get your heart working more efficiently.

Go back to my first post in this thread... I didn't mean for you to make every ride a specific ride.

Just choose one... say, you Wednesday ride. Tell yourself something like... "Every Wednesday, during my ride I will ride as hard as I can in the biggest gear I can for 2 minutes, then I will rest and then I will do it one more time."
That's all... after a couple of Wednesdays you will do your two intervals and think - "Hey, I still feel fine, I'll do another one or two..." Voilah... without realising it you will have baby-stepped yourself into a cruise interval training ride.


Or maybe Wednesday doesn't work for you, and you don't want to work on surging and keeping up with the group. You get dropped on hills. And, hello, on Tuesdays you happen to have a steady climb in the route you normally ride that day. OK... ride as per normal, but when you get to the top, turn around, go to the bottom of the hill and climb it a second time. Try and do the second climb as quickly as you did the first - or more quickly!
Voilah again... in a few weeks Tuesdays has become a specific hill rep day to make you stronger, give you more endurance and ensure you are less likely to get left behind on hills...

I don't know your rides, or the people you ride with... But just start by setting one day/ride aside as a formal training ride. Don't give yourself a choice. Just decide to do it... but record what you do and you will see the improvements and that will hopefully give you pleasure and help you to approach the next training session with a fun attitude of "hey, wonder how bad I can whup my own *** today!"

[Bike Goddess]

li10up- I'm on medical leave right now,but since I've ridden a lot in the past few years, I thought I'd put in my 2 cents.

You mention that if you make a game out of your training it would be more fun. I can certainly relate to that. Yes, doing intervals between telephone poles, even if you just do one each ride will help you. The point is to get your heart rate up as well as your endurance. Going faster requires both.

Intervals are an excellent way to push yourself. I often do them on my solo rides when I'm thoroughly warmed up which means after about 20-30 minutes. I will do a couple of intervals, and yes, between telephone poles on the way home. I also will see how fast I can go down the last stretch of street before I turn the corner to go into my driveway( about 3/4mile). I make note of these instances in my ride report which I post on www.bikejournal.com a free site for posting rides with lots of good info as well.

I also do hills. I found that if I do hard hills on my solo rides it increases my endurance and speed when I'm riding with my club. I'm one of the oldest riders in the group so whenever I can pass someone who is younger than me on the hills I'm pretty pleased.

I know you said something about hating stationary bikes. However, I will say that spinning class is a fast way to get in shape for road riding. Since you're working at your own pace, you don't have to worry about keeping up with the group. And, you'll find that after a few classes you'll notice a big improvement in your endurance as well as your ability to spin faster on your road rides. The instructors I have make it fun as well as challenging.

Since you mention you want to do a century ride this year, I would suggest that you set a goal for how long you want the ride to take. That way you can begin to see what kind of training you need to do to accomplish this goal.

Hope this helps.

[li10up]

Ahhh, now this is what I was looking for:

Just choose one... say, you Wednesday ride. Tell yourself something like... "Every Wednesday, during my ride I will ride as hard as I can in the biggest gear I can for 2 minutes, then I will rest and then I will do it one more time."
That's all... after a couple of Wednesdays you will do your two intervals and think - "Hey, I still feel fine, I'll do another one or two..." Voilah... without realising it you will have baby-stepped yourself into a cruise interval training ride.

Or maybe Wednesday doesn't work for you, and you don't want to work on surging and keeping up with the group. You get dropped on hills. And, hello, on Tuesdays you happen to have a steady climb in the route you normally ride that day. OK... ride as per normal, but when you get to the top, turn around, go to the bottom of the hill and climb it a second time. Try and do the second climb as quickly as you did the first - or more quickly!
Voilah again... in a few weeks Tuesdays has become a specific hill rep day to make you stronger, give you more endurance and ensure you are less likely to get left behind on hills...Things I can do without having to monitor heart rate or stay in a particular zone. I think I can do these.

Spazz - you made me cry with the suggestion that I may be at my performance high. ;)

RR - wow, that is one journal! I do list some of the stuff you mentioned; like who I rode with, what route, etc.

I ride about twice a week with the 2000 UCI Masters World Champion and 2003 NORBA National Champion. Yep, rainbow on his sleeve and all!!! This man is amazing! His wife is pretty good on a bike too. I've seen him put the hurt on guys half is age!!! So, I'm honored to ride with him and he motivates me to try to improve. But it's just too easy to just take it easy on my solo rides. I have some things I think I can try that will make it fun. Thank you.

[Pedal Wench]

li,

I do try some of the fun things to train. I have sections on my solo ride that I pretend are group sprints. Just easy flat sections, and I go all out to the red mailbox. Another section that I try to beat a traffic light. Another section that I pretend I'm breaking away from a pack and go as fast as I can to the stop sign. I've never realized that they were intervals. They're just really fun sections. Is there a section on your ride that you like to go fast, and where you actually can go fast? Use them to your advantage.

[spazzdog]

Hey li... why cry? A lot of us would be very happy to be performing as well as you are. And realistically, performance highs happen... that old genetics and phsiology thing.

I guess, I just don't get "the need to keep up" when I ride. I'm either with folks or not... I'm not going to drive myself crazy (or beat myself up) because I can't hang with the fast puppies.

Good luck to you grrl! I hope, above all else, you're able to have fun.

spazz

[li10up]

This is probably lame to a lot of you but I actually went out solo with a specific plan and actually stuck to it. I was supposed to ride early on Sunday but my friends both bailed on me (they had good reasons). By that afternoon the weather was just beautiful so I HAD to ride. I decided to do this one section of hills that I've been putting off trying on my new bike. I decided I'd ride up them, turn around, and do it again. Well, about 10 minutes into my warm up I started having second thoughts. But after I was warmed up and started feeling good I decided to do it. Now I don't know how long this set of hills are (I'll have to check) but the total elevation is 233 feet (according to Goggle Earth). I don't know if that's much to most of you but around here those are some pretty good hills. They kind of go up, flatten out a bit and then go up, again, repeat. Anyhow, the first time up it took me 12:17. The second time it was 11:51. Now the numbers at this point don't mean all that much to me....just the fact that I went out with a training goal in mind and stuck to it. That was the first time I was able to do that. That in itself was rewarding. Maybe next time I'll do some road sign intervals. Hopefully I'll be able to keep at this. Thanks for listening!!!

[mountainchick]

Good for you! Sounds like you had fun out there too which is important! :) Keep up the good work.

[jobob]

This is probably lame to a lot of you
Good grief, not in the least. We all had to start somewhere ! even maillotpois, I suppose

The key is to start and stick with it. But even more important, like mountainchick said, is to keep it fun. Don't let it become a chore.

Best of luck - I hope you look back at your post a year from now and feel really happy with how you progressed.

[RoadRaven]

Way to go, li!!

You hill-repping monster you!

Training/planning to train is easy huh?
Don't worry about the stats... you decided to do hill reps and you did! I find that a big mental effort cause hills are such a challenge...

I collect little more for my journal than my time on the bike and number of reps when doing hill reps, after all, doing the reps/knowing you have done the reps is the important thing.

Fantastic.