Training plans for Winter?

tjodit

Mellic, I agree with you saying that competitive cyclists are more likely to have a training plan. However, I think to assume that women who do not "compete" (ie. race), are not competitive is incorrect. I started a thread yesterday about "endurance". As I said in there I am a competitive person but have no plans of "competing"...at least not right now because I know I wouldn't be in the run for 1st place. But I am competitive. I want to blow the socks off of the folks in the "moderate" group that didn't give me the time of day because I don't "look" like a lean, mean cycling machine. Little do they know that inside of me burns the desire to hear them huffing and puffing behind me as they try to keep up!

So, I'll ask the same question here as I did in the thread I started. How do I go about increasing my endurance? After two hours my body just wants off the bike...I doesn't matter if I went hard or slow. It just wants off the bike after 2 hrs. I guess I didn't want to hear about interval work or "training" because I don't really understand all that and because I assumed that was just for those who plan on racing. Can anyone help out a newbie with this?

ric_stern/RST

sorry, it's not immediately obvious what the error is? you should be able to edit it though...

ric

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wackydeirdre

I think Mellic as well as Eden who is very helpfull will also be far more qualified to answer this than myself but I'll give it a shot. Just when your body wants off the bike stay on it even when your legs are burning. This was how I think I got over many endurance hurdles. Watch your cadance and don't let it get below 80. Eventually, you will be capable of things you never imagined! Best of luck and feel lucky to be in Texas where year round workouts shouldn't pose problems!
PS Don't work yourself into an injury either.

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"Everyone we meet, everything we see, every hurdle that comes our way happens for a reason.
It's up to us to figure out what it is then what to do about it." - John Soules (Rest in peace dear friend "Until we meet again may God hold you in the palm of his hand")

Eden

I think we need a little more information. What about is it at 2 hrs makes you want to get off? Are you feeling like you don't have any energy left? That could be not enough to eat/drink on the bike. Are you sore? I find that if I am not paying enough attention to moving my head and neck around that I start to get a neck/shoulder ache at about 2 hrs. You may just need to keep at it to improve your general fitness. Its hard to say without knowing a bit more background.

As far as "training" goes, people have different reasons for doing it and different regimens. You could be training to do a long ride, like a century, you could be training for a bicycle tour, you could be training to race or just training for fitness. Really it just means having a plan.

Anyway let us know a bit more and maybe some of us can come up with a better reply for you. Watch out though, its addictive, once you get fast enough to hurt those moderate riders you'll find yourself wanting more and more and the next thing you know you'll be entering a race

tjodit

Thanks to wackydeirdre and Eden for replying. I think there are several reasons and they vary from ride to ride. Some days the bottoms of my feet will start cramping so that it's uncomfortable to ride. Other days my hands, or arms will hurt. Simetimes it's my butt that starts hurting and wants off the saddle. And always it's a general feeling of fatigue. Not overwhelming...just like I've had enough...but if someone held a gun to my head and said ride some more or else, then I would be able to ride longer. I think that riding alone also makes it easier to quit or take a shorter route. I ride once a week with a group. They break up into two groups about 10 minutes into the ride. The moderate group takes off and doesn't stop for anyone. The "beginner" group stays together and if someone has a flat or whatever then everyone stops. I can't keep up with the moderate group and don't like the idea of being dropped and having to ride by myself. But the beginner group is just a little too slow for me. I usually ride between 12-13 mph (probably slow to all of you) but the beginner group only goes about 10 mph. I take a Camelbak with 2 liters of water and drink about 2/3 of it in 2 hrs. I sweat (or should I say glow) a lot...the glow actually drips off of me. I just started riding this spring and could only stay on the bike about an hour before having to quit...but I improved fairly quickly but just can't get past 2 hrs. I have to admit to having some extra weight to drag around too. So I know losing weight will help. But that's easier said than done. I'd like to move up to riding 50 miles and then I'd like to try to ride a century.

I didn't think about "training" to ride a century. I now realize there are a lot of reasons to "train" besides racing. So any advice is welcomed.

Mellic

I know just how it feels when your body wants off the bike around the 2 hour period. You are out there trying to keep your pace consistent and you start thinking and feeling that you are really uncomfortable. The reason why you are feeling uncomfortable is because you are starting to 'hit the wall'. The discomfort you can feel does vary from person to person, but it can be just little things like sore feet and hands which are tell tale signs to look for.

Hitting the wall or bonking occurs when your body runs out of glycogen stores. When cycling the body relies on getting energy from two major sources - glycogen and fat. Glycogen stores are predominantly used during the first 30 minutes of exercise, and then after this point glycogen is used to mobilize fat for fuel. If you work at an intensity beyond the rate in which your glycogen mobilizes your fat stores your glycogen does run out and you hit the wall (this usually occurs between 1hr 45min and 2 hrs in moderately trained endurance athletes).

If it is not too late you can prevent yourself from hitting the wall by reducing your speed and/or intaking more glycogen. Glycogen can be obtained quickly from ingesting drink/food with high carbohydrate levels. So make sure you drink sports drinks and if you plan to be on the bike longer than 2 hours take something to eat as well.

You can train your body to utilise glycogen better by doing long slow rides training.

wackydeirdre

Excellent, informative reply Mellic!!!!
What do you consider a very good snack to take along on rides optimal for keeping you going? Also, which sports drink do you think best, or are they all about the same?
So far I've just been eating well - way more than I did when I was fat ironically, and taking 2-16 oz water bottles along with me. I have the insulated polar ones which are great for keeping things cool ~ even in warm weather. I fill them and stick them in the fridge in the evening and grab them on the way out the door when I go for a ride.
Question- I'm not as hungry now as I was during the summer months. Does this have to do with the fact that I don't perspire the way I did when it was hot and humid? I often ate a bowl of pasta with my boys at midnight during summer. I don't really feel hungry after dinner anymore.

__________________
"Everyone we meet, everything we see, every hurdle that comes our way happens for a reason.
It's up to us to figure out what it is then what to do about it." - John Soules (Rest in peace dear friend "Until we meet again may God hold you in the palm of his hand")

Eden

It sounds like Mellic is right on target. Getting enough to eat and some electrolyte replacement could probably help a lot.
Especially since you mentioned getting cramps and sweating a fair amount you probably should make sure you take some type of sports drink in addition to water. You are losing a lot of salt (and other electrolytes) and if you are only putting back water you're diluting whats left even more so its pretty imprortant to get some replacement. A salty snack can do the trick, but sports drinks are the easiest way and usually have enough sugar in them to keep your glucose levels up for shorter rides.
A snack (something like an energy bar, a banana, some fig newtons) will keep your energy level up and keep you from being starving when you get home. Eating will be vital when you work up to longer rides.

Mellic

The snacks I take on rides are small little things I can stick into the pocket of my jersey such as muesli bars and other snack bars. I try to avoid foods with a too higher sugar content otherwise they are released into the blood stream too quickly and you experience a sugar high followed by a sugar low.

In regards to sports drink you need to get one with a carbohydrate concentration between 6% and 8%. A sports drink with a concentration above 8% will slow the absorption rate and that is not good. Most mixed sports drinks have a carbohydrate concentration above 8% (except for gatorade which is 8%). The sports drink I use is powerade (because I like the flavour) but I buy the powdered one and dilute it a little more than the instructions recommend.

I don't think there is any research showing the differences of consuming sports drink cold or at room temperature. I guess drinking it cold will help cool the system down more, but am not sure on that one.

In regards to consumption of food in summer and winter - I tend to eat more in summer too. I think this probably does relate to energy usage in summer being more substantial than winter. But I know of heaps of cyclists who eat more in winter. The night before a big ride I eat heaps of carbohydrates (pasta or rice) and the next morning I follow it up with more for breakfast (cereal, toast, and a banana).

Eden

This may also have to do with the fact that you are now more fit and your body is running more efficiently. When I used to ride less- only long rides on weekends, I used to come home starving and wanting to eat everything in the house. Now that I ride much more, usually 5 or 6 days a week, even the longer rides don't make me feel like that any more.

tjodit

Thanks everyone for the good advice. I'll try to remember the Gatorade. Once I tried PowerBar's Power Gel and it did seem to help. During last night's ride I hit the wall only 50 minutes into my ride. But I hadn't eaten a thing since lunch and it was almost 6:30pm.

This may sound like a dumb question but I'll risk it. How do I work up to a longer ride? I have a couple of set routes that I take from home - county roads- and once I get back near my house I just head for home. It's not like I can just ride around the block a few more times. I live out in the "country". How do I gradually add more time/distance?

ric_stern/RST

This is actually not quite true. You can change the 'substrate' utilisation from glucose to fatty acids by doing lots of long slow rides -- however, this would only be case if you weren't very fit. On the other hand by doing moderate-to-intense rides of 90-mins to ~ 4-mins (as 'intervals') you increase the 'aerobic machinery' (mitochondria and capillary network) within your muscles which allow higher rates of fat oxidation at higher intensities, thus 'sparing' muscle and liver glycogen. In other words as you increase your fitness your body is able to process and expend fat at a higher workrate than when you were less fit.

Ric

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wackydeirdre

As always, thank you Eden and Mellic!!!

__________________
"Everyone we meet, everything we see, every hurdle that comes our way happens for a reason.
It's up to us to figure out what it is then what to do about it." - John Soules (Rest in peace dear friend "Until we meet again may God hold you in the palm of his hand")

wackydeirdre

The error wa that I typed my reply smack in the middle of your post instead of at the end. Sorry.

__________________
"Everyone we meet, everything we see, every hurdle that comes our way happens for a reason.
It's up to us to figure out what it is then what to do about it." - John Soules (Rest in peace dear friend "Until we meet again may God hold you in the palm of his hand")