establishing my base

Hi, everyone. I just read JoyfulGirl's post and the responses. I realize that she has a plan. I don't have a plan. Your answers to my technical questions were good, but now I need to know how to train.

So far this week, I've been on two rides, one of 20 hilly miles (Tue) and one of 23 not quite so hilly but still hilly miles (Fri). I felt mostly fine during the rides and afterwards. I'm planning to ride tomorrow, but I have no idea how far, how fast, how hilly, etc.

I'm so new to this that everything seems like a question. I do know that I enjoy riding. My goals are pretty basic. I want to get in shape to improve my strength and energy, and I want to lose a few pounds (about 5).

I'm a member at a gym. Should I do upper body weight training? Should I ride more often and shorter? How many days a week should I aim to go out? These are probably the most pressing questions.

THANK YOU for your help. I'd love to get some resonses by tomorrow morning, since I have childcare and can go riding.

Smiles,
Wee Sara

Rule of thumb for a week's worth of rides:

One ride "at tempo" - your normal pace. Comfortable distance.

One "LSD" ride - long, steady (a little slower than normal) duration. Works on your endurance.

One interval ride. Sprint up hills, sprint to stop signs, etc. Recover & do it again.

I throw in some hill work and another tempo ride. That's five rides. You can substitute a tempo ride with a recovery ride (slow & short) depending on your level of fitness. You MUST build in recovery days. If you're just starting out, your recovery days should be off of the bike and you should have at least 2 of them.

Weights - YES. Upper body and lower body. Upper body reps 8-12. Lower body reps 12-15. Compound moves, e.g., squats, bench presses, push ups (great for upper & core work) rows, overhead presses. Do them on your days off of the bike.

Watch your energy level. If you're tired, your body is telling you it needs a day off. You'll get back on your bike with AMAZING energy.

Thanks for this helpful advice. Since I am just starting out, how does this look as a plan:

1 tempo ride
1 LSD
1 inteval
1 recovery
3 days off the bike to start, weights on 2 of those days

Since I did two rides that are probably more or less tempo so far this week, perhaps tomorrow should be a LSD and the next day can be a recovery ride. Once I've been at this a bit longer, hopefully some kind of pattern will fall into place.

WS

I think I would want to put a non-riding day between your tempo/LSD and your LSD/Interval rides. So it would be:

Tempo
Off bike or weights
LSD
off bike or weights
Interval
Recovery
Off bike or weights

Your weights days after temp & LSD should be fairly easy days - just enough to maintain. Your weights day after recovery could be heavier upper body, and lighter lower body, since the next day you have a tempo ride.

Do not increase your mileage more than 10% in any week. So, if you're doing 50 miles/week this week, next week you'll do 55 miles, then 60 miles, 66 miles, 73 miles, etc.

This was helpful. I tried to do a "recovery ride" today, but I'm not sure I succeeded. It's very hilly near where I live, and the less hilly ways have a lot of cars. But I did go for a shorter ride, about 8.5 miles. Plan to go to the gym tomorrow and will focus on upper body as you suggest.

As for a log, what should I record? Any tips on this?

The easiest way to build up miles is to ride to work, if that is possible for you. Have you considered it?

Yes, I have considered riding to work, and live within biking distance. My main issue has been that I have to pick up my daughter after work, and coming back home first cuts into my work day. But I think that if I prioritize finding a soluation, I can overcome this problem, and can find ways to bike to work at least 2-3 times per week. Thanks for the reminder on this....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by weesara

This was helpful. I tried to do a "recovery ride" today, but I'm not sure I succeeded. It's very hilly near where I live, and the less hilly ways have a lot of cars. But I did go for a shorter ride, about 8.5 miles. Plan to go to the gym tomorrow and will focus on upper body as you suggest.

As for a log, what should I record? Any tips on this?

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You can spin slowly up hills to try to get a recovery ride in.

Logging - if you're new, you might want to log everything. How far you road, any unusual circumstances (e.g., 30 mph headwind :eek: ), what you ate before & after & how you felt. That way, you can see if (for example) oatmeal is a better pre-ride meal than eggs, or orange juice & protein powder is a better post-ride refuel than a power bar. If you have a cyclometer, watch your average speed. If it starts to decline, you need a day (or two) off the bike.

In the gym, I always log my exercise and then number of sets X amount of weight used X number of reps. For example:

Bench press 3 X 70 X 10 (three sets, using 70 pounds and 10 reps for each set.)

I watch this closely because if I'm stagnant or sliding backwards, I'm probably training too much.

Also log any aches or pains, e.g., "rode hills - sore lower back" will be a cue that you need to spin on the hills - or maybe eliminate core/glute/leg work in the gym the day before a hill ride.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dogmama

You can spin slowly up hills to try to get a recovery ride in.

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Ummm, I can't! :o

It is quite hilly where I am, and I have found that, unfortunately, I'm just not fit enough to spin up hills as recovery. I'll either drive my bike to someplace flat, or ride the trainer. I recently put my ancient, old, un-road-ridable mountain bike on the trainer, and I am leaving it there for the summer for recovery rides. I have found that by leaving a bike on the trainer, I find it easy to jump on for an easy spin, followed by a rolling-pin massage on my quads. It is really helping my recovery.

As for bike journal, I'm pretty geeky (Lise, I said geeky, NOT non-eecky! :p ) and record a lot. But, I'm finding that it does help over the long haul to see trends. I record:

Non-biking workouts
Bike maintenance/repair records
Route
Weather
Nutrition
Mood
Notes about how my body feels, soreness, burn, nausea, etc.
Riding partners
Mileage
Time (actual riding time)
Time (total time)
Avg. Speed (actual riding)
Elevation Gained
Heart Rate Average & Max
Time spent in 3 HR zones (plus time spent above & below)
Each week I total: time riding, elevation gained, miles, time in HR zones

It kind of seems like a lot sometimes, but I find that the picture of time, mileage, climbing and HR intensities helps give a much more complete picture as to why I feel great, or exhausted, or whatever. And, I'll realize that, oh, what looks like a stagnant few weeks in terms of mileage might not really be if my elevation gain per ride really increased, or if I did twice as much steady state HR work, etc.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dogmama

Watch your energy level. If you're tired, your body is telling you it needs a day off. You'll get back on your bike with AMAZING energy.

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Yes, this is SO true. This is my third year of riding, and yet it has been a very stressful year personally. I have found that I am actually able to improve much more right now by only riding 3 days/week. Seems like not much, but the days off the bike (although doing a few VERY easy, SHORT recovery rides on the trainer) really seem to be helping. I notice that my mileage, climbing and average speeds ARE increasing.

I am really finding it helpful to truly listen to my body. I was just reading somewhere (Joe Friel's Training Bible?) that if you think you might need a day off the bike, you do. And, if you're sure you need a day off the bike, you need 2!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by weesara

Yes, I have considered riding to work, and live within biking distance. My main issue has been that I have to pick up my daughter after work, and coming back home first cuts into my work day. But I think that if I prioritize finding a soluation, I can overcome this problem, and can find ways to bike to work at least 2-3 times per week. Thanks for the reminder on this....

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For me, riding to work actually saves me time. I don't have to go for a ride or work out after I get home from work, because I've already done it going to and from work. Almost 900 miles and 76 hours on the bike since January just commuting.

Is there any way you could ride to work 2-3 times per week and incorporate some sharing of kid-picking-up with another parent? That way, you could ride to work a few times a week while another parent picks up your daughter, and the days when you pick up your daughter you would also pick up the other parent's kid.

i have a suggestion (if there is a feasible way)...

can you incorporate your daughters pick-up with riding? is she old enough to ride? is the distance short enough for her? could you tow her?

i have heard of others doing this...and the kids seem to love it!

not quite $0.02....maybe it was a penny-thought offering?;)

These are all great ideas. I have to work on it. My daughter is too young to ride on her own (4), and the traffic on the streets near her school make me quite wary of trying anything like a trailer. I think the carpool idea is best. But all of this has to be on the back burner as her school is closing for the summer and she will go to summer camp. I'm getting inspired, though, to try to make something like this work.

As for the log, I am overwhelmed. Do you keep a notebook, computer file, or what?

One last thing: just as I am getting going on this, we're going on a 3 week road trip to see family and friends in NY and New England. Any advice on keeping up your training while on the go?

OR! Join the unwashed, unplanned, ungeeky (oops, nobody in their right mind would say that)... UNPLANNERS... who still didn't want this bike thing to be a "oh, yea, I was going to do that and it just never became a habit" ... um,... failure would be a strong word but that's srue what it feels like.

I am pretty severely organizationally challenged ... I can do it but only for a few things, and not while I'm doing other stuff. Yes, I have a lot of trouble with follow-through, too.

I log my miles - used to do it on a wall calendar, then on a spreadsheet Mike Bentley did, now it's on bikejournal (but I want to bring my personal spreadsheet up to date). I make big goals like "1000 miles for the year" that I ***know*** I can do... because I like to win by a landslide. Then I calculate how many miles per month, week, and day I'd have to do... and gosh, I'm already ahead. (Okay, yea, I'm a geek :=))

However, that's my personality - I'd rather just ride a little harder and longer today than yesterday, let nature take its course, and then bask in the surprise and elation when yes, I *can* do those long rides. And, of course, every time I *do* one of those long rides and bask in the elation, it makes it easier to do the *next* one~! How many things that let us bask in elation actually are good for us??? Bicycling is LIVING RIGHT :D :D :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by weesara

As for the log, I am overwhelmed. Do you keep a notebook, computer file, or what?

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My log is just a plain old spiral notebook, like for school. I record a lot of info, but I have it down to a lot of shorthand, so it really does only take a few seconds at the end of every ride. I have a little system of columns for the heart rate info so it is easy to just total the time spent in the various zones at the end of the week.

As for the log, keep it simple and do what's best for you. If you are a computer geek, or keep other records on your computer, then perhaps a computer log such as a simple excel spreadsheet is the way to go. Or if you have PDA you could keep track of it there. I like bikejournal.com personally.

If you are not a computer person, then perhaps a notebook would be better. Think of it like a ride journal more than a log.

Or if you don't like the notebook, maybe a wall calendar. Wall calendars don't get lost like notebooks can.