Mea Culpa - a cautionary tale

I am currently figuring out my mileage base schedule for the spring/summer to get my mileage where I need it to be for several key events in late summer/fall. I understand that I don't want to increase my mileage >15% per week for my long ride, or >15% for each month's total mileage.

Just to compare, since I do use MapMyRide, I went back to my log from last summer. I've always assumed that my mileage building was appropriate last summer, that it was a combination of factors that led to my injuries that took me off the bike after the Hope Ride, though, frankly, I should have come off at the end of August.

Numbers don't lie :(

In June I rode 390 miles, in July I rode 575 :D :eek: In June my longest ride was 34 miles, in July it was 72.5 (a mere 4 weeks after the 34 mile ride).... My short rides got shorter after July, though my long rides did not - that should have told me something.

I am posting this as a caution to other new riders who may be tempted to do what I did. I still think that it was just as related to the large number of activities that allowed my legs no rest as it was building my base too quickly.

Perhaps if I were younger, and didn't start all of this in my 50th year my legs may have taken it better - but I am not complaining. I am back on the bike, and, hopefully, a little wiser.

Your story also shows how important it is to keep a training log. I keep my log on Map too. It is important to record notes for each activity also, in case a person needs to review in later months, the notes will be a reminder of what happened. For example, my Saturday training group did a route that was all steep up and down with grades of 11-16%, a 10-mile loop that we would repeat, with the SAG stop at the starting point. I was planning on riding multiple loops for the hill training. At the end of the first loop, I was the 4th cyclist to finish out of 22 cyclists, so felt real good about the ride, but when I came to a stop for the SAG I had symmetrical pain in both of my upper inner thighs, a pain that was new to me. So I was cautious, didn't want to get an overuse injury, and did not repeat the loop. I recorded it to my training log and when I ride that route again, I can go back and remember to be careful, to not do loop repeats if the odd pain comes back.

Another reason why the training log is so important is to see at a glance that oops, better take a rest day, because there have been too many bike rides or too many spin classes or too many weight training workouts or too many hikes.

A quick question here. I've seen pretty much everywhere that you shouldn't increase your long ride by more than 15% (or 10%), but this is the first time I've seen a mention that you shouldn't increase your monthly mileage by more than 15%. In fact, every training schedule I've come across suggests--if you add up the numbers--that you should increase your monthly total by somewhere in the 20-50% range each month (a couple examples below). I'm following a plan that's basically similar to these, and I'd like opinions on whether I'm doing it wrong. Thanks :)

http://www.kanbike.org/pages/training.php
http://bicycling.about.com/od/traini.../a/century.htm

Others may have different advice, but that is what my trainer has advised me and he hasn't proved wrong yet. Younger bones, joints and muscles might be more forgiving. My century isn't until September, and my longer ride will probably also be in September so I've plenty of time.

I preface the following by saying that this is only my second season, but I did learn a lot last year - the hard way ;)

Something to also consider is the body does reach plateaus and it can take longer than we think to get to the next stage. Last year, I had a dickens of a time getting past 25 mile rides, and my next "barrier" was 75 miles. You also have to keep in mind that I just learned how to ride last year, so my body had never been involved with any endurance sport before - or any sport at all :o The good women of TE warned me about this last year and they were right!

The point is, regardless of your training plan, to listen to your body. I learned last summer that regardless of what plans we develop or follow - if'en we don't listen to our body then we might not reach our goals. Personally, if I tried to ride 6 days a week like your plan on the Kanbike site, I would quickly find myself injured again - but that is me. I will only ride 4-5 days a week - and my two rest days won't be together. IF I ride the day after my long ride, then it will be an easy recovery ride - or I will do something completely different.

I do question the training plan on the "About" page that has your longest ride to be only 65 miles before your century - unless they are really talking about a metric century. 65 miles to 100 miles is one he*l of a leap! As an older cyclist, I want to be able to reach an 85 or 90 mile ride before the actual century ride - I've read advice that younger cyclists can go for a century after reaching the 75 mile mark.

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Originally Posted by Catrin

The point is, regardless of your training plan, to listen to your body. I learned last summer that regardless of what plans we develop or follow - if'en we don't listen to our body then we might not reach our goals. Personally, if I tried to ride 6 days a week like your plan on the Kanbike site, I would quickly find myself injured again - but that is me. I will only ride 4-5 days a week - and my two rest days won't be together. IF I ride the day after my long ride, then it will be an easy recovery ride - or I will do something completely different.

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Catrin gives good advice, and that is listen to your body. The plans for adding bike miles look great on paper, but everyone is a different age with different limitations and riding in a different climate on different terrain and on a different bike.

I can ride 6 days a week, but then I am eventually riding tired all of the time, so what is the point to it. When I do my challenging rides well-rested, either with respect to distance or climbing, I have a better ride with respect to speed, power and stanima. When I do a metric or century, I don't get on my bike at all for the two days before the ride, to ensure that I am rested, particularly if there is a lot of climbing involved.

How I train doesn't relate to the guideline training plans at all because I train for climbs as well as distance, and I keep my riding schedule flexible so as to accommodate any changes to my physical condition. In other words, I listen to my body rather than conform rigidly to a schedule. If I do two days of hill repeats with a lot of elevation gain, and on the third day my intent was to ride 60 miles but I wake up and my legs are still sore from the climbing, then I don't do 60 miles.

To answer your question, look at the training plans as a quideline only, ride your best, and always be flexible with your schedule, take extra rest days if needed so as to give muscles time to heal and recover, and to avoid injury. If on a long ride, one where you just increased the miles by quite a bit, if when you get home all you want to do is crawl into bed and go to sleep, then stop adding miles for a few weeks until your body adjusts and gets stronger. Remember, rest days are just as important as the cycling days.

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Originally Posted by DarcyInOregon

... Remember, rest days are just as important as the cycling days.

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This was the most important thing I learned last summer - and would have avoided having to be off the bike from September until March if I had done this :eek: :o

Thanks, guys! I have been trying to listen to my body. I think it's easier since I'm not planning on any events (yet!), so I know I can put off my first century as long as I need to.

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Originally Posted by Espresso

Thanks, guys! I have been trying to listen to my body. I think it's easier since I'm not planning on any events (yet!), so I know I can put off my first century as long as I need to.

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Espresso, your first event ride doesn't have to be a century. Most of the century event rides have other routes also, a metric, a half-century and a short ride of 20-45 miles. Sign up for a short ride because cycling in an event ride is a lot of fun, meeting other types of cyclists, getting caught up in the excitement of the ride, and completing a short ride is just as meaningful as completing a full century; make the short ride your long ride for the week, part of your training for the century. However don't assume that a short ride is easy because it is short. Many of the short rides go over difficult terrain and may have a lot of climbing. And don't assume cyclists on a short ride are all new or inexperienced, because many experienced cyclists choose a short ride for a variety of reasons.

I was kind of afraid to mention this because I'm new here, and I'm not sure how you guys will react, but I don't actually have a bike yet! I've been doing all my training on various exercise bikes at the gym. I want to get to where I can do 100 "miles" at the gym before I really decide if I want to fork over the money to get a bike that would be good enough to allow me to do endurance events.

I would really like to do actual events (other than the driving involved... I hate driving), but it's a lot of money to spend for a bike and all the accessories needed. And I like reading at the gym, and I'm not sure whether reading or actually going somewhere will work better at inspiring me to bike more. I've worked up to doing four-hour rides at the gym, in which time I can read a whole book. I like accomplishing two things at once :)

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Originally Posted by Espresso

I was kind of afraid to mention this because I'm new here, and I'm not sure how you guys will react, but I don't actually have a bike yet! I've been doing all my training on various exercise bikes at the gym. I want to get to where I can do 100 "miles" at the gym before I really decide if I want to fork over the money to get a bike that would be good enough to allow me to do endurance events.

I would really like to do actual events (other than the driving involved... I hate driving), but it's a lot of money to spend for a bike and all the accessories needed. And I like reading at the gym, and I'm not sure whether reading or actually going somewhere will work better at inspiring me to bike more. I've worked up to doing four-hour rides at the gym, in which time I can read a whole book. I like accomplishing two things at once :)

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They're really 2 different things. Even if you're in amazing shape from stationary biking, cycling will use different muscles, and you'll need to learn how to ride. There's so much more to it, traffic, balance, coordination, just to name a few, that you'll need a bike to learn on.

I think you should start thinking about getting a bike if you do intend to do events soon. You won't know if you like it until you ride one outside. You don't have to spend a lot of money on gear. A lot of the stuff you wear at the gym will work. You'll need a helmet and gloves, which you can get both for for around $50. Although there's a big expense in getting a bike, you can always sell it if you don't like it. Bikes hold their values pretty well. Can you borrow a bike? You can also buy one used.

Also, there's no shame in riding indoors if that's what you like.

No reason to be shy, I didn't even know how to ride when I joined this forum :)

You don't have to ride a century to have fun on a bike. One of the strongest and most avid cyclists I know has never done a century, and from what I can tell, never intends to do so. There are so many different ways to have fun on the bike, and very cool events to participate in that are much shorter.

It is quite different to be in the bike outside than riding in a gym, not that there is anything wrong with the latter. It is a great way to connect with the world around you - and you don't have to spend thousands for bike and gear. Sure, you CAN, but you don't have to.

There is also nothing wrong with riding at the gym :)

I will definitely be sure to do a lot of training on an actual bike before I do any events. I did bike a good bit a few years ago (before my bike got stolen), although I was doing much shorter distances, so I think a lot of the coordination-type stuff shouldn't take long to come back.

My body type is a little unusual (short with really short legs), so I haven't found anybody to borrow one from yet, and buying one used might be tricky as well, although I'm definitely keeping an eye out on craigslist, etc.

Sorry I derailed your thread so much, Catrin! I'm glad your training is going better this year :) Thanks everybody for your advice :)

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Originally Posted by Espresso

Sorry I derailed your thread so much, Catrin! I'm glad your training is going better this year :) Thanks everybody for your advice :)

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It is interesting just how hard it is to pull back and develop better habits with this - I go pretty much all out with everything I do. No reason to apologise, the entire purpose of the thread was to, hopefully, give other newbies who might also be prone to over-doing things, a little heads up.

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Originally Posted by Espresso

I was kind of afraid to mention this because I'm new here, and I'm not sure how you guys will react, but I don't actually have a bike yet!

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What!? An imposter! *shocked face*
Seriously, I like your plan of rewarding yourself for an achievement in the gym by buying a bike. It's ok with me if the nice weather entices you to reward yourself early. I think you'll love biking outside!