Missing training sessions

nicknick

How do you cope with missing specific sessions due to unavoidable stuff in life?

I feel bad, because i know what i need to be doing but just sometimes it doesn't get done when life gets in the way. I suppose it's normal to get a little down about it and hard accept it mentally. Do you just get on with training the next day and forget? I know it's only a hobby but i'm sure im not the only one!

Bhima

Now that it's getting darker, later, i'm going out until 11ish sometimes - radically decreases the chances of anything stopping me in my tracks.

disgruntledgoat

One of the better riders i've ever met once told me that there's 365 days in a year so missing a day every once in a while won't kill you. Look on it as extra recovery!

Bhima

Yeah, that's right. I do alternate days now - 1 riding, followed by 1 rest day. It means that if I ever miss a session, it's just an extra rest day. Sometimes, if the extra rest day is welcomed, it's a good indicator that i'm training too hard to justify just 1 recovery day, so I can fine-tune the intensity of my sessions a bit more.

CondorWill

don't have planned recovery days, rest when you feel you need to rest....

doyler78

Don't cram ie try to shove missed sessions together, especially if they are high intensity sessions as they will just end up sub optimal and could cause injury so you get the risks without the benefits.

What to do about the session will depend on its importance so always prioritise the most important one and if that happens to be the missed session then rejig the schedule and get rid of something else that isn't just as important to your short term goals. If you have a good base then 2 endurance rides might not be as important to your immediate plans as that 2x20 session the week before your 25 mile tt as an example. Equally if you have 12x10sec max effort intervals planned and next week you are riding a 100 mile hilly sportive then that 5 hour ride over hilly terrain the week before might be your important session (as could your 2x20 to help maintain/increase your threshold power) however the sprint intervals are not your most important session so junk it.

dennisn

Unless you make your living from cycling, worrying about missing a ride, workout, whatever, is, to me, just plain crazy. There are many things in life that are much more important than the loss of a training session. There is job, family, friends, home, health, and more than a few other things in life that you're going to have to schedule your cycling around. Try not to become too obsessed with "gotta get out there" "gotta ride, gotta ride", that kind of thing. Make sure you take care off what's really important and
your cycling will work itself out.

Dennis Noward

mrushton

What exactly are you 'training' for?

Alex_Simmons/RST

nicknick wrote:

How do you cope with missing specific sessions due to unavoidable stuff in life?

Accept it, and move onto the next day.

Other stuff in life is imprtant and if neglected can end up taking even more time away from riding. Also, that other stuff is sometimes also stressful and that can compromise training anyway, so sometimes it's actually better to have a little less physical workload during such periods.

SpinningJenny

Yep, I agree with the others. And I'm one of those people that will give myself an ultra hard time for not doing what i had planned!

A good friend of mine who is a personal trainer basically got it in my stupid head that the world wouldn't end if I missed a day. I tried to force myself to do a full-on fitness training session with him when I had a bad cold - and I ended up passing out in the middle of a weights session, in the gym. Not only did I feel embarrassed when I came to - I felt worse than when I had started!

He packed me off home with a flea in my ear!

So, if you miss out, don't fret about it and move on. Doing this (or other sports) is about enjoying it and benefitting from it, not about beating yourself up about it if you miss a day.

nicknick

Thanks for the positive responses, very interesting! I have a good friend who is a coach for a top organisation and 'prescribes' me free training to hep me structure towards my goals. This adds extra pressure to do the set sessions but sometimes along with my tiring and physically demanding job i just end up completely knackered (like tonight) and so goes the motivation. Vicious circle! As with most people racing is a love-hate thing, i just need to accept it's not that important-enjoying riding is!

mrushton wrote:

What exactly are you 'training' for?

Road races and return to MTB racing this yr.

SpinningJenny

Sometimes, even if your head's saying 'naahh, can't train tonight', if you don't give in to the negativity, you will actually enjoy the session and feel better afterwards.

Plus, if you eat a decent snack (banana etc) beforehand, that'll help with the energy levels.

This of course is only if you aren't dead on your feet/sick etc! In which case, what I said above still applies!

sampras38

What do the rest of you do when on holiday?

I've been training hard for quite a while now, for the Wales Dragon in June and an Alps rides in July. I'm going abroad next month for a 2 week holiday and I know I'll be itching to ride and won't be able to do. i'll try and stay active with a lot of swimming and some scuba diving but is a 2 week break from riding going to hurt me too much. Or am I being daft..?

skavanagh.bikeradar

Always a tricky one that. For me, I accept that holiday is 'special time' with my family and cycling is forgotten while away. It intrudes enough as it is without rubbing it in. Sometimes this is inconvenient - like last year when away for the thick side of 5 weeks in March when training for the Marmotte - but in the long term it's the right thing for me and those close to me.

lucca

My wife and I had a baby in January. allthough this made an impact on my early miles for the year and i lost a bit of conditioning I am finding that I am enjoying my riding more than when i was going out 5/6 days a week and my rides are better 'quality'
Of course if you miss a session you could go out and beat yourself with a birch twig !!

sampras38

skavanagh.bikeradar wrote:

Always a tricky one that. For me, I accept that holiday is 'special time' with my family and cycling is forgotten while away. It intrudes enough as it is without rubbing it in. Sometimes this is inconvenient - like last year when away for the thick side of 5 weeks in March when training for the Marmotte - but in the long term it's the right thing for me and those close to me.

You've pretty much said exactly what I was thinking. It'll be a great opportunity to spend some quality time with the wife a 2 kids, so I'll try not to worry about it too much. This'll be my first Sportive and Alps ride, and i've put a lot of work in this last year or so. Just didn't want to see it going to waste. I'm being silly I know, but was just curious as to what others thought. The riding has been a disruption to the family and I'm well aware of that. I'll just have to be careful with food and drink. i've got myself into the best shape of my life and it was starting to worry me a bit, which is probably quite sad when you think about it. After all, I'm not a pro or anything.