Catrin
08-11-2010, 05:42 AM
I wasn't sure where to put this question, so it wound up here :) Sorry for the book, but it might help to put my question in context.
As some may remember, I am "training" for a 200k brevet in mid-October. Part of my schedule includes one long ride a week. I do not increase more than 15% a week, but I do not increase every week. For example, the last three weeks my long rides were 48, 49, and 55.5 miles. The 55.5 miles actually felt better after the ride & the next morning than any long ride ever has - it basically felt like I hadn't done anything. Time to bump it up to a metric :) I am also trying to work on hill climbing at the same time.
I have two real options for Saturday - one is go head for the southern Indiana hills which is a 50 mile ride. The other is to stay local for a club ride and get my metric century - one of the available loops on the ride does have some rollers and a few steep hills (though not like southern Indiana).
I do not know enough about the southern region to expand the route another 12 miles - and am unsure that my legs are quite ready for 62 miles of southern Indiana. My thought is that I need to go for the distance this week and get what hills I can and seek out more hills for my short rides Friday and Sunday.
I am mapping out my schedule between now and the first of October - as my long rides get longer they are requiring more thought about how to get the mileage done. The brevet starts on the SE side of Columbus (outside of Galloway, Ohio) so my assumption is that it won't be brutally hilly.
I recognize that I may not be able to fully unleash my inner hill-climbing beast in a single season - my fitness is much better but still developing - and I was in very bad shape for a great many years.
So, am I over-thinking this? I do that :rolleyes: Does it make since to focus on distance 3 out of 4 Saturdays and find a strong hill-climbing route one Saturday a month as my "long" ride? I do seek out whatever I can find locally on almost every ride.
As some may remember, I am "training" for a 200k brevet in mid-October. Part of my schedule includes one long ride a week. I do not increase more than 15% a week, but I do not increase every week. For example, the last three weeks my long rides were 48, 49, and 55.5 miles. The 55.5 miles actually felt better after the ride & the next morning than any long ride ever has - it basically felt like I hadn't done anything. Time to bump it up to a metric :) I am also trying to work on hill climbing at the same time.
I have two real options for Saturday - one is go head for the southern Indiana hills which is a 50 mile ride. The other is to stay local for a club ride and get my metric century - one of the available loops on the ride does have some rollers and a few steep hills (though not like southern Indiana).
I do not know enough about the southern region to expand the route another 12 miles - and am unsure that my legs are quite ready for 62 miles of southern Indiana. My thought is that I need to go for the distance this week and get what hills I can and seek out more hills for my short rides Friday and Sunday.
I am mapping out my schedule between now and the first of October - as my long rides get longer they are requiring more thought about how to get the mileage done. The brevet starts on the SE side of Columbus (outside of Galloway, Ohio) so my assumption is that it won't be brutally hilly.
I recognize that I may not be able to fully unleash my inner hill-climbing beast in a single season - my fitness is much better but still developing - and I was in very bad shape for a great many years.
So, am I over-thinking this? I do that :rolleyes: Does it make since to focus on distance 3 out of 4 Saturdays and find a strong hill-climbing route one Saturday a month as my "long" ride? I do seek out whatever I can find locally on almost every ride.