training for first century and have questions

[cyclingmama]

Thanks for the feedback and advice. I'm trying to work through what will and won't work for me. I KNOW there is a way to make this work, I just need to figure it out.

SouthernBelle - I go to the gym in the wee hours of the morning, while the kids and DH are still sleeping, and/or during my lunch hour from work (kids are at daycare/pre-K while I work). Saturday mornings the kids either stay home with DH or go the child care at the gym, usually the latter so we can all swim together after my class. I can do some weekday morning rides during the same time frame, but need to be home by 7am at the latest, so I'll have, realistically, a 90 minute ride. If I need to to be ready for the century, I'll ride 4days a week in the early mornings plus the long weekend ride, but that probably means giving up some strength training. I could try riding in the early morning and strength training at the gym at lunch time, and then just listen to my body in terms of whether that is pushing it too much to do ride and go to the gym on the same day.

I live in a fairly hilly area, not far from the foothills of the Catskill Mtns in NY, so there are definitely good hill routes. I'll need to seek them out for sure.

[indigoiis]

What I have found works best is building up your weekly mileage slowly. I'm doing a century June 1st and I started training first week of April. Midweek rides were limited to 5-10 miles, upping that by a couple of miles each week. Weekend rides started out at 15-25 miles each until week 4 where I upped them to 30-40 miles each. Now for the rest of this month, my midweek rides are 11-15 miles at a time, and my weekend rides are 45-60 miles at a time. Lately I take Thursdays and Friday's off the commute because of kid schedules, but I squeeze in extra miles on Monday and Tuesday to make up for it. And I do think while cross training is helpful, it's really really important to have TITS (time in the saddle) as well.

Hill training can be done in 45 minutes. Go out, find a hill, and go up and down five times. Practice shifting and different climbing methods.

Learning to snack on a bike, remembering to drink water while riding, and feeling balanced and comfortable all really help with a century. A lot of it is psychological, from what I found last year training for my first.

[cyclingmama]

indigoiis - what you describe sounds very similar to what I have in mind. The century is July 28, I am starting now to just get out there and get a few miles in and get the feel of my bike again (boy, its been a long time!) and I hope to be really training by mid-May. I was going to start my mid-week rides at 10-12 miles, and my weekend rides at about 30, gradually adding on miles each week.

Hill training can be done in 45 minutes. Go out, find a hill, and go up and down five times. Practice shifting and different climbing methods.

Is doing this once a week sufficient??

What I am leaning towards now (with help from advice from all of you) is to do morning rides on M, W, F; gym time in the mornings on Tu, Th; spin class at lunchtime on Tu; and long rides on Sat. If I know in advance that I'll be able to fit in back to back long rides on Sat/Sun, I'll take Thursday off and do that instead.

At this point I wish it would just get warm!!!! I wanted to ride this morning, but it was 36 degrees with ice on my driveway, so I went to the gym instead. I'm a wus when it comes to the cold.

[indigoiis]

When it's below 40 I wear my underarmor and a balacava. You warm up soon enough!

Also, be sure not to "overwork" yourself. You don't need to go nuts - enjoy the training and you will enjoy the century more.

And yeah, one day a week on your local hill should be enough. Start with two times up. Next week do three. Week after do four. etc.