Training for 1 Month & DEAD LEGS & Bike Position

[1500stuntman]

First post...I am new to the sport and new to this forum.

I have been riding to work & back for about 1 month now (around 100 miles per week) with a sunday afternoon 25 mile ride. I have noticed gains in speed and endurance -up to 20 mph avg on Trek 1500- until this week...when I feel like I am reversing my gains.

Now - I am tired when Cycling and my legs don't seem to feel as powerful.

Is this normal when training?

Also, I have a question about the proper cycling form. I am considering racing in a triathalon this September and would like to know more about proper riding form. ('04 Trek 1500) When training, should I ride gripping the upper or lower handle bars?

 

[squidwranglr]

First post...I am new to the sport and new to this forum.

Welcome! To the sport and the forum!

I have been riding to work & back for about 1 month now (around 100 miles per week) with a sunday afternoon 25 mile ride. I have noticed gains in speed and endurance -up to 20 mph avg on Trek 1500- until this week...when I feel like I am reversing my gains.

Now - I am tired when Cycling and my legs don't seem to feel as powerful.

Is this normal when training?

First, for someone new to the sport, 20 mph *average* speed over any significant distance (like the 25 mile ride you mention) is very good. Kudos for that. The symptoms that you're describing sound like you are training at a pretty high intensity, but not letting yourself recover enough between sessions. In other words, you may be overtraining. You should sprinkle active recovery rides (or take a day off) between your higher intensity rides. Recovery rides should be around 65% of your maximum effort, roughly the same whether you measure based on heart rate, power or speed, provided you do it on the same course where you do your high effort rides.

Also, I have a question about the proper cycling form. I am considering racing in a triathalon this September and would like to know more about proper riding form. ('04 Trek 1500) When training, should I ride gripping the upper or lower handle bars?

Awesome! I've been racing in triathlons for the last two years, also on a 2004 Trek 1500. As far as being "in the drops" (the lower portion of the handlebars) or riding "on the hoods" (placing your hands on top of the brake/shift lever assemblies), you'll find that most amateur triathletes spend their time on the hoods. For pros, who do the entire bike ride at a pretty intense time trial like pace, the proper position is lower, but instead of using the drops, they use aerobars. Beyond the aerodynamic drag advantage, the aerobars (and tri bikes) have some seconday benefits around placing the body in a position that makes it easier to transition to the run after the long bike ride, by engaging leg muscles in a way slightly different than pure road cycling.

For your first triathlon I wouldn't worry about position on the bike on any terms other than body comfort.

Feel free to poke around my triathlon-related pages (first one is a bunch of pictures from my first Half Ironman triathlon this spring and the second is my training log with Polar heart rate and power data):

http://www.employees.org/~bozceri/wildflower_2005s
http://www.employees.org/~bozceri/training

Take care and good luck,

Berend

 

[RB95cj7]

I agree that you need to rest. you need at least 1 or 2 days a week that are recovery. Also you need to look at what your are eating. if you are riding alot you need to be eating a lot of good carbs. don't listen to this hype of carbs are bad. yes carbs are bad if they come from a snikers bar and you are sitting around watching tv. If your riding a lot and it sounds like you are you need some good carbs. Whole wheat bread and bagels, peanut butter, oatmeal, fruit, and my favorite honey nut cheerios.

Good luck to you and keep riding.

Also don't worry about bike postion. if it is your first tri worry about finishing in a resonable time. Once you have done a couple then get you a set of aerobars that are made for road bikes and then start worring about shaving off time.

 

[dhk]

First post...I am new to the sport and new to this forum.

I have been riding to work & back for about 1 month now (around 100 miles per week) with a sunday afternoon 25 mile ride. I have noticed gains in speed and endurance -up to 20 mph avg on Trek 1500- until this week...when I feel like I am reversing my gains.

Now - I am tired when Cycling and my legs don't seem to feel as powerful.

Is this normal when training?

Also, I have a question about the proper cycling form. I am considering racing in a triathalon this September and would like to know more about proper riding form. ('04 Trek 1500) When training, should I ride gripping the upper or lower handle bars?

Jumping right into 100-125 miles a week is hard; your body needs time to adapt to the workload. I'd cut the Sunday rides for now, and ease the pace for the work rides.

Suggest you don't try to ride the same (fast) pace all the time. You could ride at an easy recovery pace for two days a week, with two moderate and one hard/fast paced day if you feel fully recovered and ready to go for it. You'll be surprised how much progress you can make without killing yourself. The old cliche is: "it's not the training that makes you stronger, it's the recovery"

 

[1500stuntman]

Thanks for the input... I will try to slow down a little bit. Its just that I commute to Washington DC monday - thursday and I hate my job ...so the highlight of my day is the ride in and the ride out . It totals around 32 miles round trip (with an eight hour break in the middle). I have so much energy on the way home that I can't help but push myself (& I love riding fast).

At what point should I start riding > 125 miles per week. I am 23 & athletic.