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Training time for the time poor

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  • November 26, 2017 at 10:12 pm #27879
    Johnnyvee

    I have a couple of mates who are far more serious at cycling than I am and when it comes to training they always advocate long slow base rides to increase fitness.
    I can happily keep up on 50 mile rides at around 17 to 18 miles per hour or quicker if out with a club.
    Having a family, two young children and a full time job fitting in as much training as them is simply not an option as for me family comes first. So can I improve at all without the long slow base rides and get faster or do I just have to accept it ain’t going to get better?
    I happily do three rides per week – a longer one at the weekend and use trainer Road. Total riding time in the week is an hour to an hour and a half for each as it’s before work and the weekend one can be two to three hours as the exception – it’s usually just over an hour and a half.

    Any thoughts or do I fail by admitting that the family comes first. I also only have one road bike.

    Cheers,

    J.

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  • November 27, 2017 at 10:58 am #906789
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    Canyon48
    flobble wrote:
    Finally: “do I fail by admitting that the family comes first?” That sounds like the exact opposite of failure to me.

    Ditto.

    November 27, 2017 at 10:42 am #906787
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    flobble

    Very much depends on what

    Very much depends on what your objectives are, and then tailoring your limited training time so that it’s more specific to those objectives, rather than just putting in time on the bike.
    You might find that 3x1h on the turbo to be more effective than 2×1.5h, especially if those sessions include some chunky interval work, e.g. the famous 2×20 sweet spot intervals.

    Another thing I have (slowly) learned is the importance of sleep – getting up earlier means going to bed earlier too. And eating real food. When you’re running around like a headless chicken looking after the little monsters, it’s all too easy to try and get by on less sleep, and eat whatever is to hand. Doesn’t work. Eat well and sleep well – you’ll not only be a better cyclist but a better parent too.

    This is worth a read: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Crunched-Cyclist-Racing-Winning-Fitness-Athlete/dp/1937715507/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

    Finally: “do I fail by admitting that the family comes first?” That sounds like the exact opposite of failure to me.

     

    November 27, 2017 at 8:57 am #906785
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    Canyon48

    mtbtomo wrote:

    mtbtomo wrote:
    That’s more than enough but every session needs to be good quality.

    This man’s got it!

    I’m in a sort of similar position with my riding. I do about 100 miles a week, with about 60% being commute miles. I’m doing no more miles on my bike than I have done for the past couple years, but I’ve got way fitter (and much better at long slow rides).

    Rides of around 40-60 mins at sweet spot (with a few max effort intervals) – zone 4 with a bit of zone 5 – have really helped up my fitness. I can only really manage two of these a week though as it really tires me (so any other riding has to be fairly comfy zone 2/3 stuff).

    November 27, 2017 at 8:36 am #906783
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    mtbtomo

    That’s more than enough but
    That’s more than enough but every session needs to be good quality.

    I do between 5-10 hours a week depending on it being a hard week or an easy week. That’s a longer weekend ride and 3 or 4 x 1 hour turbo sessions in the week. Its just about enough to hang in the bunch in 3/4 road racing and do 23mins for a 10mile TT.

    Should be steady base miles, not necessarily slow – i.e. not easy but not hammering. Its got its place but the reality is, not many people have that kind of time to do purely that – and you don’t need to if you make sure every session is focussed.

    Training to power makes it easier to ensure a quality session but you can do it with heart rate too, or even perceived effort.

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