How do you fit in your training?

[Miller76]

I've been riding for years and years, but nothing competitive for the last 10. I'm married, turning 40 next year, have a three year old daughter and my daily commute is 90 minutes door to door each way. I start work at 7am and therefore I need to leave the house at 5:30am come wind, rain or snow. No remote access etc. Generally home between 18:45 and 19:00. I love my job, and my family love where we live.

I really enjoyed my riding this year. I mixed up a lot of good rides with my local bike shops B group and managed to hang on for a decent number of the faster A group rides.

I'm still not looking to compete, but would like to spend more time in the faster A group rides next season, without feeling like I am just hanging on for dear life.

What this long introduction is leading to is "how do I make that a reality given my schedule?"

In the basement I have a treadmill, a decent amount of some free weights with a bench and a turbo trainer.

I'm not averse to squeezing in 30-40 minutes in the morning or a workout/trainer ride in the evening but how can I make real progress rather than just treading water during the darker and colder months?

I'm posting this at around 10:30pm, and don't normally hit the hay until 11pm so I do have time in the evening to fit in a workout.

Open to all ideas and suggestions

Thanks in advance
Simon




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[avalonracing]

My advice would don't ride junk miles. If you are going to train... on those days train. At the same time make sure you ride for fun too or you'll burn out. It's a long winter.

[shovelhd]

Get a power meter and do interval training. You have plenty of base, all you need is speed and endurance. I won national events on less than 10 hours/wk. You can get where you want to go with less. The biggest hurdle is balancing even 5-7 hours/wk. with the rest of your life. Solve that problem, and the rest is just commitment and consistency.

[malbecman]

I agree, biggest bang for the buck are intervals....you cant do them every day, even 2 per week is plenty (if done properly) but they really help in so many ways (speed, recovery, etc).

[carpediemracing]

Similar situation, I leave work a bit later but I'm the one dropping our 3-1/2 year old at daycare on the days he goes, so I'm up with him (5:30-6:30 AM) until I leave with him.

I put aside my evenings for him (Missus and I share the work) until he goes to sleep so that's 7:30-9PM before I'm free.

I tend to train at night, on the trainer, after Junior goes to sleep. 9:30-10PM start at the earliest, sometimes 11 PM if I'm antsy. Tonight no ride, got home later than normal (8:45 PM?). I'll try to ride tomorrow night.

After I started on Zwift I found myself going on Zwift just to ride. I would prefer more talking communication and less texting, but it's fun. I tend to go for sprints but I know that the 3-8 minute efforts really benefit me.

Speaking of which Intervals - this spring I did my first real interval schedule in about 30 years of racing (just JRA other than that, and usually not very fast). This year I rode indoors basically exclusively except for races. I did 5 "event" training rides like a 25 mile fundraiser, a 60 mile, and some in-between distances. I did the intervals while I was basically sick (part of an experiment/study so pushed through; in fact I learned of the study here). First 3 rides of the year were races. Sick (field sprint, blew up), sick (field sprint, blew up), not sick (won the race). Got 3rd, 3rd again, another 3rd (no cam allowed that day for some reason), and a couple solid races in ones that I normally DNF.

I had a solid season this year. You can see all my training here.

So, yes, intervals. You can get by on 3-5 hours a week if you're selective in your events.

Other than hills you can gain a ton of "ability" simply by learning how to draft much more efficiently. I rarely average over 200w in a race simply because my threshold is just a little higher than that. 170-190w is about normal. That translates to 17-19 mph on a flat road. So learning how to ride in a group is super significant. Does not apply to hills, unfortunately. I'm usually the first to get shelled on a hill longer than about 45 seconds.

[Dead Man]

I may have misread... I thought your 90 minute commute was on the bike, first read - but now I'm feeling like you're saying that's CAR time...?

That's awful. that's even worse than my average 60-minute drive, when I have to work in the city.

---

I try to bike commute as often as I can.. but it's generally a 2-hour commute by bike, plus I need my truck for a lot of what I do. Sometimes if I'm super diligent in planning, I can leave my truck at work and then ride home, which is a wonderful motivator to then ride back to work in the morning.. since.. you know.. I have no other choice.. and getting the motivation to square myself away well enough to actually get up over an hour early to ride in the morning is otherwise pretty hard for me.

Aside from that, I just ride when I can, and sometimes life really gets in the way. But the biggest tip I can offer, I wish some of my riding partners/teammates would adhere to: RIDE WHEN YOU CAN, no matter how little time you've got. I'm not afraid to saddle up for a 30 minute sprintfest around town. I'm not afraid to race out to the low hills just outside of town and just pound out as much elevation as I have time for. 45-60 minutes? I'll take it. Better than nothing. I'm also not afraid to do it in crappy weather.

Most guys see a 45 minute window and don't even consider it. Just make those your high-intensity workouts.. like others have said, intervals. I have a 4-mile circuit in my little town, starting and ending 50' from my driveway. It's got 2 signals, 1 stop sign, two nasty little hills, plenty of tight corners and one spot where the speed limit is 25 where I race traffic... I can get a hell of a workout on that thing in three laps, come home absolutely destroyed.

Just gotta find ways to make the time you have count!

[ldamelio]

Low volume, high intensity. Try Chris Carmichael's "The Time-Crunched Cyclist" book. Putting aside the odor of his association with Lance, the book addresses your (and my) situation in detail. Especially for shorter events (crits, cross) it can be done and done well.

[weisan]

miller pal, I am not competitive, don't train for races, just your average weekend recreational rider who likes to mix things up every now and then...but one thing I do see is...if you are serious about taking up training and putting your body through some kind of intensity...and if you do, I think you might have to adjust your sleeping pattern a bit. Going to bed at 11 and leaving the house at 5:30, means you get less than 6 hours sleep on average. I am in my mid-40s, sleep a lot less than I used to, I get it...but at some point, it will catch up with you especially you are tearing the body down with the extra training. Just a thought.

[Peter P.]

Between work and commuting and group rides, I don't see how you have sufficient time for your family.

Thinking you're going to invest MORE time for your improvement is a disservice to your family.

Be content where you are as given your current situation, you get in plenty of riding as is.

[weisan]

Listen to Master P.

[oldpotatoe]

I want to know how you survive on so little sleep. 5 1/2 hours or so would put me in the hurtlocker for sure.

Does the wee one sleep thru the night? My 4 year old and 2 year old grand daughters 'sometimes' do..

[AngryScientist]

Originally Posted by weisan

miller pal, I am not competitive, don't train for races, just your average weekend recreational rider who likes to mix things up every now and then...but one thing I do see is...if you are serious about taking up training and putting your body through some kind of intensity...and if you do, I think you might have to adjust your sleeping pattern a bit. Going to bed at 11 and leaving the house at 5:30, means you get less than 6 hours sleep on average. I am in my mid-40s, sleep a lot less than I used to, I get it...but at some point, it will catch up with you especially you are tearing the body down with the extra training. Just a thought.

this sounds like a good thing to consider. i think if you add too much more intensity on the little rest your body is getting you have a real risk for meltdown.

i have a similar schedule, though not quite as time constrained. my plans for the winter:

- diet: i try and eat as healthy as i reasonably can. keep the weight down and nutrition up. a healthy body takes to training fitness better, and there are only two variables in the power/kg equation right?

- 2 high intensity workouts during the weekdays. short duration, high intensity, focusing on core strength, not cycling specific

- 1 longer excercise block per weekend.

it's not a lot, and i dont get to even do that every week, but it's the weekly goal.

we should ride sometime Miller.

[sandyrs]

Clearly people aren't on the same page about your commute. I read it like The B- 90 minutes in a car. But please clarify.

[Joachim]

I've now had 3 riders that came to me after they overtrained on time crunched programs, so I'm going to strongly advise against them. It's not the program itself but the fact that 'time crunched' means more than just available hours, example life stress, when the hrs are available (night, morning etc). PM me and I will get you on the right track. 90% of my riders has limited time available which makes the correct workouts essential to prevent overtraining while progressing at the same time.

[Ti Designs]

Originally Posted by Peter P.

Between work and commuting and group rides, I don't see how you have sufficient time for your family.

Focus on the "have to do's" before the "want to do's" has been beaten into you since you were born. I think too many people follow that too closely, going to work, coming home to their responsibilities, but never chasing their goals. I know this better than most, I coach riders in person. Each fall I talk to my clients about their goals for the next season, some of them will get there, most will find that life gets in the way. What is more important that trying to reach your goals? If you say work or family, you've already lost. They may be as important,but as soon as you put them above, you're never going to be happy. You may not notice this 'cause so many people are like this.

Next question to think about: If you do reach your goals, are you better with your family and at work? If you answered yes to that one, it's time to set up a training plan and make it a priority.