Help me diagnose my weakness

[slane]

OK. I've been pretty good the last 5 months.
Well .. not super good, but trying to do some sort of ride 3x / week but I am not seeing results! In terms of speed.

I do these different sort of workouts on the trainer, endurance, force, blah de blah and I ride when the weather is fine, and everywhere is hills around here. It aint called the adelaide hills for nothing.

I spin a fast cadence, usually around 95rpm, but other girls I ride with pedal much slower and go much faster.
So I just cling to their back wheels, but once they drop me, then I'm out in the wind and good bye to them!

I think I have reasonable endurance but not sure about my CV fitness.
On Sunday I rode 26km, undulating hills, for an hour, my average HR was 172 (about 87% of max, close to my LAT) and yesterday I was b***ered. Well I would be wouldn't I?

So lets say I'm to do a month of one type of workout when its raining (and its always raining here. wettest spot in SA) what should it be? Force intervals? Indurance? Sprints?

What else to I need to measure to figure this out?

I think my weakness is force.

ta for any help

Sam

[Andrew69]

Cadence is irrelevant.Your weakness is power.
You simply dont have the power to keep up with the other girls.

You need to increase you power so that you can pedal harder for longer.

Im sure Alex will chime in shortly with a link to his page that has a great way of increasing FTP without the use of a power meter.

Over to you Alex!

[MichaelB]

Hi Sam,

One question is where were those 26km done ? I also do some hills rides, and after 26 am stuffed as well, but depends on how steep the hills are.

An AHR of 172 is pretty high. It depends all on a huge variety such as with your 3 rides, how many km are you doing in total ? If you do a big hilly ride one day, what is your next ride like ? etc, etc

Take it easy, enjoy it, and maybe next time when you ride with your mates, try a lower cadence and see what happens. Doing 95 up hills is hard work !!!!

Keep riding and smiling, and see ya round

Michael B

[DanielS]

Sam, can you post up a typical week for you? i.e. what rides you do on what days, and what sort of duration/intensity you are doing (be honest!).

My guess would be that perhaps you aren't riding enough to see big, noticeable improvements.

I wouldn't worry about sprint intervals unless your goal is to become a better sprinter. Also, I agree with the other posters that you shouldn't worry too much about cadence. Pedal at a rate that feels comfortable for you.

[slane]

oh yeah ... I'm quite sure I don't ride enough

Typical week ... 30mins on the trainer.
20km around the hills or 1 hour on trainer. You cans see the profile of my usual route here. http://www.fitlink.com/photos/nm/761afb ... 73b903.jpg
and 55km or 1 hour on the trainer. Usual route here. http://www.fitlink.com/photos/gk/7254f5 ... d1bedc.jpg

[DanielS]

Yes, I think 3-4 hours total might not be enough to see big improvements (although you might see small improvements).

Is it a lack of time, or are you struggling to recover from what you do already? If it is a time problem, can you find a way to get more riding in? e.g. commuting? extra half an hour on the trainer every morning?

I think that the best thing you can do with such limited time is to go hard for the rides that you do. Get out there and push yourself. I wouldn't worry about sprint training or shorter efforts (unless you want to get better at sprinting!). First step should be to work on your aerobic capacity - so long hard efforts are the way to go.

(I am by no means an expert though).

[slane]

Its partly time and partly recovery .. which is sort of the same thing. If I go for a long ride, then I'm useless/asleep for the rest of the day and there are stuff to do ... like pick up child from school, feed child, entertain child, washing cooking etc.
3 days a week I do weights, but I suppose on those days I could do 30min on the trainer as well.
On the weekends I like to leave time free to spend with the family and to give my husband the chance to ride, which he seldom does unless I push him out the door anyway!
But I think I'll try and get out with a friend every fine weekend and another lady has said she'd like to ride with me during the week, but we will have to see if she can put up with my snails pace.
So that should easily add in another 1.5 - 3 hours into the week.

[Grant W]

Hi slane,
I went and brought a fluid trainer for riding indoors on bad weather days and it has worked wonders.

I ride on it for an hour to an hour and a half when the rest of the family are in bed

In the first hour hour I spend 10- 15min warming up and then five min intervals 5min hard pedaling slower cadens hard work always watching my HR making sure i'm not going red, then 5 easier, not too easy.

I do this for the first 60min and then for the remainder of the 15-30min just a consistent pace working my legs but not killing them and my power has improved alot. I try to ride on the road or on the trainer at least 4-5 times a week.

Hope this helps

Grant

[toolonglegs]

Drop the weights and spend more time on the bike.
Start doing at least one session a week with 2 x 20 minute hard intervals.(ie:15m warm up-20m hard-10m very easy-20m hard-10m warm down)
Forget trying to pedal at high cadence...just pedal at what you body feels good / strong at.
Get your blood checked...especially iron levels and HC.
Eat a good low gi meal 3-4 hours before your hard group ride.
Drink a carbo drink for the hours till you ride and make sure you drink a sports drink (proper one!) during your ride.
Drop a gel every 45minutes during the group ride.
Eat more protien straight after rides..even if you don't feel hungry.
Get 8-9 hours sleep a night every night.

Rinse & repeat

[slane]

Drop the weights and spend more time on the bike.

WEll I do the weights for reasons of vanity. I don't think I can drop them.

Start doing at least one session a week with 2 x 20 minute hard intervals.(ie:15m warm up-20m hard-10m very easy-20m hard-10m warm down)

I have indoor cycling workouts in a binder. I'll focus on the harder ones .. I tend to opt for the easier workouts.
I'll do the force ones and muscular endurance ones.

Forget trying to pedal at high cadence...just pedal at what you body feels good / strong at.

Oh .. everyone has latched onto the cadence thing. 95 is comfortable for me, probably from lots of practice on the trainer.

Get your blood checked...especially iron levels and HC.

Iron is OK (not brilliant but doctors don't give a stuff unless you're technically anaemic). What's HC??

Eat a good low gi meal 3-4 hours before your hard group ride.

I always eat oats for brekky (unsweetened) but 3-4 for hours, I'd have to get up at 4am??

Drink a carbo drink for the hours till you ride and make sure you drink a sports drink (proper one!) during your ride.

what is a carbo drink, and what is a *proper* sports drink?

Drop a gel every 45minutes during the group ride.

oooh yuck .. they're like swallowing snot! But I would like to get one of those triathlete nose bags so I can eat while riding because I get soooo hungry. Other girls can ride for hours on two bits of toast, but I totally hit a wall!

Eat more protien straight after rides..even if you don't feel hungry.

Yep. I do .. usually ... depends what you mean by more. But i think I eat a decent amount.

Get 8-9
hours sleep a night every night.

Yep. Last night I had 11. I might do that again tonight! More worthwhile than watching telly!

thanks for the help.
Basically I have to ride more! I think I can do that.


Rinse & repeat [/quote]

[casual_cyclist]

Drop a gel every 45minutes during the group ride.

oooh yuck .. they're like swallowing snot! But I would like to get one of those triathlete nose bags so I can eat while riding because I get soooo hungry.

the first gel I had was so sweet it actually made me shudder. Come to think of it that was my only gel.

[toolonglegs]

you get used to them...my sport drink is like glue.Especially when I can't get my bottles out of my carbon bottle cages because they are stuck!.
I have up to 3 gu's per hour...plus super strong sports drink.Doesn't come near to replacing what I actually burn in an hour (1200kj when racing).
By proper sports drink I mean a good quality powder you mix up / not ...hmm sorry can't remember what drinks were called in oz anymore .
Don't get a drink with protein in it thou...tastes terrible and will slow you down while riding.
HC (hematocrit)... it gives you a rough idea how well you are recovering etc....I find it strange that you are so exhausted after your rides.
Iron...just get a supplement.

But basically you need more time on the bike...

[slane]

I think perhaps the reason I am so tired this week, is I may have some sort of no name virus. My daughter has been sleeping and sleeping and waking up complaining of being tired, so I'm guessing we both have it.

[JV911]

I get soooo hungry...I totally hit a wall!

just had a quick read of this thread and this set the alarm bells ringing

my humble tips:

1 - ride more. maybe drop 1 weights session per week (like you i like doing weights too but have cut back to 2 sessions per week)
2 - eat more. before, during & after ride. maybe try different brands of gels as some are horrible and trail/muslie bars during your rides. eating while riding takes getting used to but worthwhile

[Alex Simmons/RST]

Basically I have to ride more! I think I can do that.

Yep, that's pretty much it. Main thing is to increase the volume and intensity gradually over the weeks and importantly, make sure you are enjoying the training as that motivates you to continue. The more you do the more you can do. Patience and persistence have rewards. Try for at least 4 rides/week.

Don't be overly concerned about the eating bit, it's not like you are doing mega miles. A little food before riding, maybe a little snack while out there or one bidon with some Gatorade or similar but more importantly, a good meal afterwards. Keep the fluids up.

If you want some specific help, then click on my link below about Training Plans, as that would show you how to get you into really good shape.

[Runjikol]

I'll throw in my 2c. If you're tired after your training and have little energy by next session it may be your recovery rate is slow. I found this when training in martial arts and went to the health shop for some advice. They recommended creatine. I bought some 'creatine recovery stack' and used as instructed. It worked wonders for me and even my sensei at the time noticed. Since it's endurance related I thought it might help you. Cost was $47 for 500gms, or about 12 doses: so it is expensive but it helped get me through a slump and I didn't need it after five doses. Good luck.