Distance Climbing Help

Were you eating and drinking enough on your ride yesterday?

Can you control your heart rate during a climb to keep yourself from spiking? I can set my HRM to beep if my HR gets too high or too low on a ride. When it's too high, I control it by either down shifting if I can or slowing my cadence slightly and breathing evenly.

V.

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Originally Posted by Veronica

Were you eating and drinking enough on your ride yesterday? Can you control your heart rate during a climb to keep yourself from spiking?
V.

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1) Eating enough is always a challenge on early morning starts. I ate about 1000 calories spread out over the ride...starting about 1.5 hrs before the ride (when I woke up). Accelerade, banana, bagel & PB, Power Bar, yogurt. Got up at 6am, on the road by 7:15. I am on an afternoon/evening work schedule, so don't get to sleep until midnight or 1am, usually. Getting up too early to eat gets brutal.

2) I do use my HRM & zones...I can keep myself from spiking up to about 11% climbs. When the hills are shorter (1/8-1/4 mile) but go into 14-16%, I really can't, yet. Even in granny with slow cadence, my HR soars. It comes down nice and fast, but it gets way up there.

some rides turn out to be harder than they "should" be. often it's impossible to know why. V's questions about food and HR are on point.

I think you will have more endurance/recovery zone stuff during the week as your weekend rides get harder. but don't forget to try a day or 2 in there of harder interval training. I think that's what I've been missing and I paid for it yesterday.

that Carmichael plan sounds good. you can never go wrong with a base building week thrown in. and I think you have plenty of time to try it out.

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Originally Posted by maillotpois

don't forget to try a day or 2 in there of harder interval training. I think that's what I've been missing and I paid for it yesterday.

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I've been wondering if I'm just trying to do too much. Improve my climbing, my speed, and my endurance, all at once.

The more I read on these forums, and when I ride around other people, I am realizing that I am a seriously slow rider. Sometimes I wonder if I am biting off bigger goals than I can chew right now.

But, I am NOT giving up on this Shasta goal. Even if I can't finish, I'll have a fun ride and learn more about what I can do.

It is tough to try to improve climbing speed, endurance and overall speed all at once (as you noticed I'm struggling with this a bit myself!). It's all a big balance. I find that my speed only really increases when I am riding with people who are faster than I am, which I haven't been enough this year. Climbing speed and endurance I can work on by myself, but overall speed I really need to push myself by riding above my level.

And while maybe you won't be as fast as some, I truly believe that everyone can work on speed and get faster - or at the very least become more comfortable riding the pace that suits them, if that makes sense. So don't give up on working on it!

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Originally Posted by GLC1968

Yep, what MP said!

I can also give you a more moderate picture of what we were doing prior to my work/illness issue.

An example of one 'cycle':
wk 1: 65 miles, 4500 ft climbing
wk 2: 55 miles, 5500 ft climbing - this was tougher than it looks because those climbs were much steeper than our normal terrain in order to get to 5500 ft in only 55 miles
wk 3: 85 miles rolling terrain (probably 2500 feet overall)
wk 4: 75 miles, 6000 climbing

After doing this just once, I noticed that wk 4 was MUCH easier for me than week 1 was, on the same general terrain. There could have been other conditions that made it seem easier, but I do recall that many of the climbs we had done in wk 1 that were repeated in wk 4 (we did both rides in the same county) were 'flatter' to us. I also know that after completing some of the climbs of wk 2, everything seemed easier in comparison (though that was definitely a mental benefit).

Week 5 was to be another shorter, steeper route, but that's when I got slammed with work.... :mad:

Oh, and two other benefits to training like this are 1) that you can get to total fatigue in a shorter distance on some of those weeks like wk 2, so they are a bit easier to fit into the rest of life's schedule. And 2) if you have to travel to get to the bigger hills/climbs, you don't have to do that travel every weekend.

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Okay, I"m confused. In week one you ride 65 miles? Or is that every day? (I'm justcurious. Hills are a little hard to find here, as are long distance events...)

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Originally Posted by maillotpois

Climbing speed and endurance I can work on by myself, but overall speed I really need to push myself by riding above my level.

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You know, I am really tired. I looked back at my log, as well as the events of the past couple months, and I see that I have good reason. Of course the personal stuff, but also, I have been building volume and climbing for 5 weeks in a row now. I am going to take about 6 total regeneration days now and start that endurance block with low climbing for 10 days. After recovering from that, I'll do a long climbing ride to see where I am.

I had been thinking to keep up these spinning rides to help with speed, because they are so hard for me...but I don't know if I can do that intensity plus really push my climbing volume too? I guess I'll find out. ;)

Sure do appreciate all the encouragement and wisdom. Thanks!!!

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Originally Posted by Geonz

Okay, I"m confused. In week one you ride 65 miles? Or is that every day? (I'm justcurious. Hills are a little hard to find here, as are long distance events...)

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That 65 miles was one weekend ride. The schedule I posted was only my weekend long rides. I also ride during the week at least a couple of times (more, if I'm commuting) and do some other activities. If schedule permits, I also try to do a ride on the opposing weekend day either as a recovery ride or as some other type of training (usually a short ride).