Training and listening to the body

[staceysue]

Hi, I'm new here and this is my first post although I've been lurking.

I'm 39 and I got on a bike for the first time since childhood 3 years ago when I bought a beach cruiser (3 gears, pedal brakes). I've enjoyed it so much that I actually rode it 30 miles once (it took me 3 hours - can't get the thing past 21 mph even on the downhills) and have taken several 15-20 mile rides. I hadn't ridden since last year, until a couple of weeks ago when I started riding every day again. Every other day I do a long ride, and on the remaining days I just take the dog out for some exercise.

I've decided to start taking it a little more seriously. I'm getting a new bike (Trek 7200 - any opinions welcome because I haven't got it yet. I need something that I can ride down the gravel road to the paved road) and I want to start doing more 30-mile trips, maybe some 60-milers if I can work up to it. I'm not going to be racing, but I'd like to at least get to the point where I'm averaging 15 mph.

How does your body feel when you're exercising just hard enough to continue to improve? I've been riding about 13 miles every other day and trying to pedal just hard enough to feel a continuous mild burning in my quadriceps. I don't push it past that. I haven't got too out of breath doing that - I think my muscular fitness needs to catch up with my cardiovascular fitness, maybe.

Thanks in advance, for the advice!

[alpinerabbit]

How does your body feel when you're exercising just hard enough to continue to improve? I've been riding about 13 miles every other day and trying to pedal just hard enough to feel a continuous mild burning in my quadriceps. I don't push it past that. I haven't got too out of breath doing that - I think my muscular fitness needs to catch up with my cardiovascular fitness, maybe.

You will find when you read up that there are different training zones for different purposes.
Right now you are probably at a stage where your muscular endurance is not very high yet - there will come a time when you can avoid burning muscles (i.e. lactate production) for a whole long ride....

You have the long moderate rides which mainly affect your metabolism - you train your fat burning system.
And then you have the strenuous work - hills or intervals - that build muscular strength.
Both of these variants make you improve, but they feel very different.
People usually go by heart rate but if you don't want to buy a HRM, never mind.

Just have a few different routes of different lengths and intensities and eventually you'll know your body and how it "feels" at different levels of exercise.
And you'll know you have improved when you can ride 26, 39 miles... etc... etc. It never ends...

[OakLeaf]

For me, if I'm not a little bit sore and depleted the next day, I'm not improving.

A lot sore, or soreness that lasts more than two days, isn't good. But a little bit tells me I've done enough micro-muscle damage that they'll rebuild stronger.

It's not always easy to tell during the ride. But if you're not there on the rides you're doing, go just a little harder or longer the next time and see what happens.

Riding every other day, and walking on the days in between, is a good way to get the recovery time your muscles need to build.

[staceysue]

This sure is a friendly and helpful group. Thanks!

A heart rate monitor is hanging around here some place. Another thing I haven't used for years.

The day after a longer ride, I feel perkier and wake up earlier. I'm not sore or depleted at all but my slow 2-mile ride with the dog seems kind of difficult. Maybe I should push it a little more.

[Cataboo]

stacey, you might need more gears before you feel yourself getting out of breath - If I mash my way up a hill in a high gear, my legs are pretty strong and don't really complain all that much... it's slow getting up there though and I stand up at some point.

if I spin up hills in a low gear - my legs are more than fine, I go fast, but then I'm out of breath and sometimes get a cramp in my side on extended hills - it's a much more cardiovascular workout.

[staceysue]

stacey, you might need more gears before you feel yourself getting out of breath - If I mash my way up a hill in a high gear, my legs are pretty strong and don't really complain all that much... it's slow getting up there though and I stand up at some point.

if I spin up hills in a low gear - my legs are more than fine, I go fast, but then I'm out of breath and sometimes get a cramp in my side on extended hills - it's a much more cardiovascular workout.

I DEFINITELY need more gears. I spin going down moderate hills, and have to pedal so slowly going up hill. Of course - that's to be expected when I'm using a beach cruiser!