I am so unfit

AntLockyer

it literally hurts

Thought I'd pop out on my lunch break (working from home). According to the computer I did

5.08 (8.17km) miles in 25:27
Average heart rate 160 bpm
Max heart rate 181 bpm
Average speed 12 mph (19.3 kmh)
Max speed 25.1 mph (40.4 kmh)
Average Cadence 73 rpm
Ascent 301 ft (92 m)
Descent 238 ft (73 m)

Not very interesting for anyone else but I will keep a blog in this thread to see if I improve.

Edit: added metric

willbevan

many hills in there? or did you have a sprint at some pint and get up to 25mph?

Ste_S

willbevan wrote:

many hills in there? or did you have a sprint at some pint and get up to 25mph?

Sprint for pints ? Where do I sign up ?

Shadowduck

AntLockyer wrote:

Not very interesting for anyone else but I will keep a blog in this thread to see if I improve.

You will. Unfortunately it never seems to stop hurting though - you just go faster for the same level of "ouch!", and recover quicker afterwards.

AntLockyer

It's pretty much all hills although I purposely didn't get into the big ring and coasted to try and recover a bit from the ups

willbevan

Keeping records I find really does help me

I'm lucky enough to have a GPS computer from when im running (not much but cloths and gadgets to pay for unlike bikes lol), and putting that info into a program after, being able to look back and compare the time/speed of my runs from 4 months before hand and seeing good improvment I love

Even if you don't have GPS and just record in excel or somewhere besides a blog if you want to graph things etc

AntLockyer

My dad bought me the GPS with cadence and Hr for christmas it logs it all in the training software for future looks. I posted it here to act as an extra incentive

feel

Hey Ant you make me feel fit Mind 9 months ago i was exactly the same (possibly worse). Keeping a record of stats on particular routes is a great way to keep your motivation high. I will look out for your future progess

AntLockyer

I'm going to go on a longer different ride today ad see how I get on. No aches at all so I obviously didn't over exert haha

Much less windy today thank goodness, the weather reckoned 23mph yesterday.

AntLockyer

Well a couple of weeks in, I have used my turbo trainer most nights and haven't smoked a cig for 3 days.


14.41 miles (23.19km) in 1:06:30
Average heart rate 145 bpm
Max heart rate 167 bpm
Average speed 13.0 mph (20.9 kmh)
Max speed 27.9 mph (44.9 kmh)
Average Cadence 76 rpm
Ascent 729 ft (222 m)
Descent 736 ft (224 m)

What a difference. OK it's only 14 miles but there were some long hills in there and it's pretty windy. The biggest thing is I looked forward to the hills, I used the big ring a lot and found the whole thing so much easier.

Couple more weeks and I think I'll try an easy club run with one of the local outfits.

EdHarris

Congratulations on the improvement!

Like other people who have already posted I am a beginner (I started in September, getting my first proper road bike in October) and it really pays to just put in the miles and the hard work. Like yourself, I improved loads and can't wait for the summer when all the hard work will make cycling so much more enjoyable.

You said you used a turbo trainer; would you recomend it?

webbhost

conglats... upto 13mph within days (and whilst on a longer ride)!

Dont worry if you're worrying about "boring" people by opening another "blog" thread, you may find alot of people actually find it quite interesting.

I did the same as you on another forum, except I also added in any events that happened during traning, and tried adding a bit of humour into my posts too.

For example, its not every day you go biking you're suddenly chased by a 50 year old drunk man holding a 12 inch carving knife.... I found a cop van, they surrounded him and arrested him LOL.

Back to subject through keep up with the posts, seems like you're improving significantly, Keep us updated!

Come to think of it I should really get back out on my bike sometime soon.. No wind today and I have nothing to do... Maybe I should get started.

webbhost

Just out of interest which bike do you have, and what area do you live in?

webbhost

Well, your thread managed to persuade me to get back out and bke.. First training ride of the year, (a small 6 miler) - I get 4 miles in and have the highest AVG speed i've had (17.2 mph). I got a damn P*****re which rendered my back wheel useless... Had to get a lift home for the last 2 miles.

So damn annoyed! On the upside, It also turns out that I too am now alot more unfit than I was. Last summer i did the 6 miler using 170 calories.. THis time I used 184.86 calories, and I still had 2 miles to go!.

Goddarn...

AntLockyer

Thanks for the encouragement all.

EdHarris if you have the gumption to actually use the turbo trainer I would absolutely recommend it. It's hard work though, you sweat a lot, you notice the pain more but when you get out on the road it's a lot easier.

I actually split the journey in two as I stopped at the bike shop for 10 minutes to buy a cool Belgium cycling cap (yes I'm a tart).

The first part of the journey I was pressing on but riding back from the shop was down the high street etc so slowed me down a lot.

My average speed for the proper bit was 14.2mph and only 9 mph for the second bit.

I ride a Cannondale Caad9 and live in North Kent.

webbhost

What exactly is a turbo trainer?
Edit - Ill shut up.. I googled it.

richk

Just keep cycling it will either a) get easier b) get faster or c) go further dependant on your requirements...

I started cycling last April & the first time out managed 12 minutes before I got off and walked home. Last Sunday I did a 47 mile club run at 14.1 mph.

AntLockyer

Cheers RichK option b is what I'm aiming at with a bit of a thrown in

jefferee

webbhost wrote:

What exactly is a turbo trainer?

A medieval torture device, I believe...

I'd much rather go out and play in the snow, myself.

webbhost

lol. Turbo trainer seems cool... I'd definatley like to try one.. but I'd probably feel stupid using it in the same house as 2 brothers and my parents lol. I need my own place so I can fill it with bike related stuff... much more space.