Miles against short Intervals.

[earthworm]

Can anyone advise me I returned to Cycling after a long lay off and use to ride 400 miles a week including racing. I got very strong and fast from this but now find I cannot do that mileage anymore and have been told its a waste of time as short intervals are the thing. I Now ride 220 miles a week. Of which 20 miles a day is going to work. And 60 miles fast and with hills on Saturday and Sunday. Also 40 miunutes spinning at the gym Lunchtimes with a lots of short sprints. I have a Imagic Computer turbo trainer and I like to know what length Intervals (how many time a week can you get away with doing them !and how much rest do you need between sets) would be best for a 1 hour hilly time trial I been ask to ride in 2 Months time .

 

[Fastguppy]

Can anyone advise me I returned to Cycling after a long lay off and use to ride 400 miles a week including racing. I got very strong and fast from this but now find I cannot do that mileage anymore and have been told its a waste of time as short intervals are the thing. I Now ride 220 miles a week. Of which 20 miles a day is going to work. And 60 miles fast and with hills on Saturday and Sunday. Also 40 minutes spinning at the gym Lunchtimes with a lots of short sprints. I have a Imagic Computer turbo trainer and I like to know what length Intervals (how many time a week can you get away with doing them !and how much rest do you need between sets) would be best for a 1 hour hilly time trial I been ask to ride in 2 Months time .

Don't use miles, use hours.



You also want to make sure you don't do to many intervals to soon in the season. You don't want to be the Christmas champ you want to be the summer champ. Unless there are races in Christmas you plan to do. You can do a lot of miles and intervals at the same time. Once race season come in the summer do less miles and more intervals. In the spring do a mix. Always add in time to recover everyone in a while.



If you want to get more detailed get the cycling training bible or a coach.

 

[sidewind]

Longer, eg 2*20 min intervals develope the power you can maintain longer periods, e.g. the ~1-hour TT.

5*5 min intervals develope your power at VO2max, good for hills.

Shorter, 1-2 min intervals develope your anaerobic capacity, good for accelerations and shorter hills.

Most effectively this kind of intervals can be performed with a power meter. On the power forum there are lot of discussions on these issues, and from the training load amounts as well. Or see the cyclingpeakssoftware pages, or read "Hunter & Coggan: Training and Racing with a Power Meter"

 

[FloydLandis]

It sounds like you may be overdoing it. I was never a firm believer of base training and short nterval training until this year. I was forced by coming down with tetnis to ease back into riding. I was riding 60 to 80 miles a day four to five days a week and was barely able to keep up with the group. Since i have cut my rides down to thirty to forty miles a day three times a week with short, hard intervals and long easy spin rides in between I am beating the s out of our groups. Just don't let your mind beat you. Stay on the bike but cut down a little and focus on not overtraining and you will come back real strong. Good luck