JANUARY 2005 TRAINING
WHERE DO YOU START?
Here! From your present fitness level. WHERE ARE YOU GOING?
So do you need to train?
I know I do! most of us are just waking from hibernation and inspecting our new winter layers of fat....
While some riders have only recently taken to a racing bike,others are already doing 100 miles a week, or even doing 100 mile day rides! Training will be essential, even if you are Miguel Indurain or Greg Lemond though!
So here are some training hints
January Training
How often do you need to train? As a rule of thumb, riding once a week will maintain your fitness
and riding two or three times a week will improve it. If the sessions are fairly evenly spaced,
this allows for the optimum recovery time.
If you are working, a mid week training session in the dark is not a lot of fun, but there are
alternatives: sessions in the gym or on a turbo trainer, or on a floodlit cycle track if there
is one near you. Even a weekly ride is a good start though! In any event you will need to fit in
training with your family and work activities, so there is something to be said for not
doing more than is necessary to acheive your goals!
If you are just emerging from hibernation, and ride with friends who are cycle tourists, a 30
mile ride with a pub lunch makes a pleasant day out at this time of year, and has substantial
training value. If you are training alone you might want to build up a 35 mile, fairly non-stop ride over flat terrain
for starters.
While the emphasis at this time of year should generally be on building up your distance,
you are likely to find that a few steep hills attempted at speeds which push your breathing rate will
improve the efficiency of your lungs. If the air temperature is low though (near freezing) excessive
fast breathing will cool your body core temperature excessively which is not recommended!
Later in the year I will be covering topics such as:
The target will be to get fit enough to make a good showing in the 2005 etape du Tour
with its 110 mile route with 2500 m of climbing.
Training Diary Events
Weight
If your BMI is way above 22.7 and you want to loose weight, short fast rides do not help much.
For the first 1.5 hours or so of a ride, you are fuelled mainly by sugars stored in the muscles and liver
in the form of glycogen (a long chain molecule or polymer). After around 1.5 hours you will start
to burn mainly fat. Endurance riding also has the effect of evetually improving the bodies fat
burning metabolism, meaning that you tend to burn a higher proportion of fat from the outset.
If you are unfit (like most of us at this time of year) you may suffer glycogen depletion
after a couple of hours (typical symptoms being poor co-ordination etc). If this
happens it is wise to eat something quite high in sugar. Complete glycogen depletion
carries the added danger of hypothermia, particularly in winter,
as the body runs out of sufficient fuel to make heat. Although this is an extreme situation,
it is wise when winter training to have sufficient clothes and a few sweet snacks to hand!
Adequate food and clothing will avoid this problem.
Finally.....
In order to develop your fitness, it is useful to have a training diary. I have put one on
the web site for you to print off (though I'm still trying to get it to print properly!) and record
your daily and weekly mileages. It is useful for keeping your training program on track,
and is a source of encouragement as you see your mileages increase.
As well as being a good time of year to start training, January is an excellent time of year to
plan. I have listed a good range of training events on the web site, ranging from day rides to cycling
weeks, taking place in England, Wales, France, Spain and Italy! Maybe you will find one you like -
just click on EVENTS in the menu, or click here!
I have received a number of emails from cyclist who think they are over weight. It is comforting
to know that great racing cyclists tend to be on the heavy side of normal. If you plot
their weights on a standard weight chart, they are all above the average weight for their height
but below the overweight line. The average BMI for a champion racing cyclist is around 22.7.
Click "Weight" on the menu of this web site for a BMI calculator to see how you compare with
the cycling greats!
There is certainly no need to be anorexic!
This year's Etape du Tour is a classic course, with spectacular scenery and some excellent climbs.
Over the coming months I plan to give you a training program which should help you to complete one
of the greatest events on the cycling calender! The rest is up to you! Enjoy your training -
it is great to be out on a bike!