So how do you full time workers manage to train?

freehub

As above, how do you people with full time work, you people with full time work and a wife, and you people with full time work, wife and children manage to train and still be pretty good on the bikes, managing long distance and to do really well in TT's and races and all that as I presume you wont have loads of time.

I'm just wondering cause I'm finding I have less and less time now for cycling, got a volunteering job, it's only part time and I dont have to go in much but I'm going in nearly every week day at the moment because I want to and it's mostly 9-5, sometime I dont want to go out after I come back and when it gets darker in winter times it'll be even harder to do anything.


Thanks
Will.

disgruntledgoat

freehub wrote:

As above, how do you people with full time work, you people with full time work and a wife, and you people with full time work, wife and children manage to train and still be pretty good on the bikes, managing long distance and to do really well in TT's and races and all that as I presume you wont have loads of time.

I'm just wondering cause I'm finding I have less and less time now for cycling, got a volunteering job, it's only part time and I dont have to go in much but I'm going in nearly every week day at the moment because I want to and it's mostly 9-5, sometime I dont want to go out after I come back and when it gets darker in winter times it'll be even harder to do anything.


Thanks
Will.

Winter is easy... Turbo trainers. It's an hour in the evening and you don't even have to leave the house. I put the tea in the oven and jump on the bike, brilliant.

Weekends, both winter and summer are ok too as my girlfriend loves a lie in so she's usually just about getting up and about when I get back at about 11.

Summer evenings I usually do an hour or an hour and a half 3 times a week. I feel like a pr!ck for doing that much, but I seem to get away with it...

Race weekends are a bit more tricky.... I have an agreement i can go away to do 6 road races a year without penance. The rest I end up taking her out for a meal or something when I get back. SPortive weekends, I take her with me for a nice weekend away.

I'm also allowed a week away on my own with the bike!

Th eonly downside is that you really have to choose what you want to do. I've given up loads of stuff i used to enjoy doing as my free time is taken up with my cycling and my girlfriend. Just priorities.

henderson_mk

i work full time, have a wife, but no kids.
for me, its trying to make the best of the time available... things like leaving for work 20 mins early on the bike to get an extra few miles in, or taking the *much* longer way home.

I think quality of training is more important than quantity. better doing some targetted session on rollers or turbo than just junk miles.

Takis61

1.) Don't compare or get hung up on the amount other forum posters claim they do - some of them clearly have no life !
2.) Ditto the quality rather than qty - I'll settle for 30 minutes hard riding round my "circuit" rather than nothing - 45 mins better than the gym IMHO - trainer definitely only if the weather maakes it suicidal.
3.) Travel & stay away a lot - if the hotel has no gym, try & do a run - and I'm crap at running & hate it, more walk than run anyway, but again better than nothing
4.) Limit crap food & alcohol intake when travelling as much as possible to allow recovery for rides when I'm home
5.) Long ride Sunday a.m., out around 6ish so I'm home early & still have the day for the family - for this reason I don't join clubs, they don't usually go out until 9:30
6.) Plan ahead - if I know we have a family event/outing at the weekend, then I "negotiate" some evening riding to compensate
7.) Finally - it's about balance. I could dedicate my life to cycling & fitness - but I've been divorced & done weekend access - not funny. So accept there are some limitations

Anonymous

Quality not quantity...

pabloweaver

rather ride in the cold and dark ( resplendant in bright yellow and lit up like an Ibizan nightclub) than spend one second of a turbo " trainer "

been there, done that , got the mind crushing boredom and demotivation in the bargain


and no ..



films, music or pretending I'm chasing Pantani up the Ventoux does not work for me !

and ..shoot me .....sometimes its necessary to stick bike on car and go further afield for a ride to keep the ole brain fresh....its not only legs that get tired with the same old circuits you know ( cue garmin 705 purchase )

nmcgann

I rely on Turbo weekdays and as much road riding at the weekend as I can fit in. "Not feeling like it" is never an option, I have to do the training to stand any chance of riding like I want to.

Neil

henderson_mk

Will,
its what works for you. we're all full of advice and tips but best to take some try them out and see how it pans out for you and what your goals are. Work out what you want to do and then work your training around the other priorities using turbo, rollers, early morning rides or whatever.

marty

celestecharlie

I have just started switching my training time to the very early mornings. I'll get up 6:30ish and hit the turbo before work. It's working pretty well - for a night owl! I then find I really look forward to getting out for a proper ride at the weekend, as I can get in some decent miles and still have time for the family. If I had somewhere secure to leave my bike at work, commuting would be more of an option, as it is I sometimes use an old 'tractor' of a mountain bike - but it just aint the same.

softlad

as the old saying goes: 'don't count the miles - make the miles count'....

This time of the year I used to commute 2-3 times a week (26 mile round trip), a couple of evening 60 minute blasts after work, or maybe a midweek circuit race. An easy 30 miler on Saturday, followed by a race on sunday, usually between 45-60 miles. It used to work pretty well - I never actually won anything, but I could score points and (importantly) I felt competitive.....

markos1963

Married with a child, but the big advantage is I work a rotating shift system(earies,lates& nights) so I often have free time when others don't have. The down side is that I often can't do things, like clubruns, every weekend. This year I had hoped to do some of the Lotus league races but it has worked out that I haven't been able to do any.

redddraggon

freehub wrote:

As above, how do you people with full time work, you people with full time work and a wife, and you people with full time work, wife and children manage to train and still be pretty good on the bikes, managing long distance and to do really well in TT's and races and all that as I presume you wont have loads of time.

I'm just wondering cause I'm finding I have less and less time now for cycling, got a volunteering job, it's only part time and I dont have to go in much but I'm going in nearly every week day at the moment because I want to and it's mostly 9-5, sometime I dont want to go out after I come back and when it gets darker in winter times it'll be even harder to do anything.


Thanks
Will.

I wouldn't worry about it Will, you won't get a full time job or a wife

a_n_t

I just dont train!

BigDarbs

Planning, planning and some more planning!

I have a 5 month old daughter.
I am a legal advisor for one of the worlds largest companies.
I am half way through my Masters degree.
And I can fit 7 hours, quality training in each week.

Only down to planning.

Each week I plan my work commitments, which involve meetings in Europe. I agree with my wife what she has planned for the week, I know what my Masters requires and my riding fits around that.

Its not as structured as it sounds, but you can't hope to do it if you worry about riding in the dark, rain, cold etc or you are a fan of Eastenders or any other TV programme. You have got to be committed to get out on the bike after a hard or long day. I sometime have to drive for 3 hours home, and don't feel like getting out on the bike, but as soon as I am riding I always feel better.

Also the comments by NapoleonD and Pabloweaver are my way of thinking.

jim one

NapoleonD wrote:

Quality not quantity...

Exactly what NapoleonD said.
Good cat 1 racers train on 8hours a week. If you nail your intensity you can get your fitness straight up. The higher your threshold power the easier the rest of cycling is as long as you eat and drink correctly.

If you are commited you can fit something like this in during summer-

Monday- Rest if raced sunday or 1hour spin
Tuesday- 3x20 session at just below threshold about 95% (Just over 90mins in total)
Wednesday- 2x20 session at threshold as mentioned on forum many times
Thursday- 90min at tempo, lactic building towards end from riding at intensity for so long but not out of breath. Throw in some short sprints to mix it up a bit if required.
Friday- Day off
Saturday- 60mins to loosen legs for race
Sunday- Race

During winter do a long club run on a Sunday and try and get some high intensity efforts in on hills or just sit on the front at tempo for long periods. Hard work at the time but in the long run will be worth it. Use turbo as mentioned and do the 2x20 session on Tuesday and Thursday then try and ride if possible to fit anything else in. Remember lots of people just ride about which is wasting their tme and not achieveing any training benifits other than burning calories.

tommy_tommy

I have a wife and three young children. I also work full time with a fair bit of overseas travel.

I train 3 times in the week between 5.15am - 6.15am. Leaving for work at 7.00am. I do 2 hours between 6 - 8am on a Saturday and 2.5 hours on a Sunday between 6 - 8.30am. I try to make all sessions good quality and this enables me to complete 100 mile plus sportif's, a few road races and TT's with minimal impact on family life.

I have to be creative on business trips. Doing hill reps in Southern Germany in full cycling gear, on a borrowed street cruiser with huge white wall tyres and huge laid back handle bars, brought a few strange looks from the mountain bikers I rode past.

The biggest problem is fitting in racing as the good races always clash with mini rugby, break dancing or some other family event. As mentioned in previous post planning in advance is the key.

SBezza

I have a wife and a little boy, and although I don't get huge amounts done, I always make sure it is quality training, if this means going on the turbo for an hour, then so be it. I will occasionally will take a day off work, if the weather is nice for a long ride, and in the winter I will do club rides at the weekends.

My wife is Ok with me racing, and never moans, but most of my races are TT's and are early morning, so I get back for the afternoon. Thing is being flexible, my wife wants to do something on Saturday, so I will look after the little one, and when I am out all day Sunday racing she will look after him.

I am lucky as I leave work, and go straight home, and my wife picks our little one, from his Nan everyday, so I can get about 1-2 hours in before she gets home, but still tend to go on the turbo, as I can get a quality workout done, which is not always possible on the roads. It depends on what you are training for, I train for mainly TT's so this requires a different focus to a sportive rider. Since April I have probably trained for about 4 hours average a week, and am a fairly decent TT rider.

vorsprung

It's simple

Get up at 6am in feburary, do 25 miles of hills, back for a shower at 8 and then go to work
When I worked from home I'd go out at lunchtime and do a speed work session

Fortunately us audax riders don't really need to train properly so the 15 mile hilly commute is enough to keep me on form. Although I might do a bit more for the Dartmoor Devil at the end of Oct, like stretching the commute out a bit.

Gazzaputt

Riding to and from work 4 times per week and early starts at weekends.

Keeps the SO happy and the legs ticking over.

Blonde

I agree that endless miles are out if you have other time commitments. Planning structured, or at least more focused and discipline/goal specific training rather than just cycling around a lot will reap good rewards in fewer hours. You might have to do an hour on a turbo or rollers when you haven't got time for anything else or can't leave the house when you've baby sitting duties. Track cycling (if you have a track near you) is also a good intensive work out in a short space of time.

richa

Mornings, evenings and weekends allow for plenty of training if you have the motivation and organise yourself. When I am into my decentish training weeks I tend to do something like 1hr before or after work 4 times a week, 2hrs on a Saturday morning and 4 hours on a Sunday. That is 10hrs which is a pretty decent amount and yet still means I get time at weekends for famyliy and other activities.

billy whippet

have been training at 6 am for 20 years, plus commuting to work... plus turbo in winter and in winter drop one or two of the turbo sessions in favour of running. much better to do it in the morning and get it out of the way for the day - if I ever don't, I'm hanging out for it all day

pabloweaver

I have to say that weekday early morning starts around here are only maginally less dangerous than wrestling hungry grizzly bears whilst naked and covered in fish paste...

doesnt help having manchester, liverpool commuters , m6 ,m62 and large towns surrounding where I live ...maniac drivers early doors ...safer ( just ) in the eve when some of them have sobered up !

and by early I mean the pre 8am slots , the morons drive too fast and dont expect to encounter bikes in the morning .

why cant I afford to live in the cotswolds or somewhere leafy

sheffsimon

disgruntledgoat wrote:

freehub wrote:

As above, how do you people with full time work, you people with full time work and a wife, and you people with full time work, wife and children manage to train and still be pretty good on the bikes, managing long distance and to do really well in TT's and races and all that as I presume you wont have loads of time.

I'm just wondering cause I'm finding I have less and less time now for cycling, got a volunteering job, it's only part time and I dont have to go in much but I'm going in nearly every week day at the moment because I want to and it's mostly 9-5, sometime I dont want to go out after I come back and when it gets darker in winter times it'll be even harder to do anything.


Thanks
Will.

Winter is easy... Turbo trainers.[/b] It's an hour in the evening and you don't even have to leave the house. I put the tea in the oven and jump on the bike, brilliant.

Weekends, both winter and summer are ok too as my girlfriend loves a lie in so she's usually just about getting up and about when I get back at about 11.

Summer evenings I usually do an hour or an hour and a half 3 times a week. I feel like a pr!ck for doing that much, but I seem to get away with it...

Race weekends are a bit more tricky.... I have an agreement i can go away to do 6 road races a year without penance. The rest I end up taking her out for a meal or something when I get back. SPortive weekends, I take her with me for a nice weekend away.

I'm also allowed a week away on my own with the bike!

Th eonly downside is that you really have to choose what you want to do. I've given up loads of stuff i used to enjoy doing as my free time is taken up with my cycling and my girlfriend. Just priorities.

Turbo trainers. Brilliant. In same sentence?

Takis61

Dittoo Pabloweaver, it very much depends where you liive, I have seen madmen cycle up the A24 in rush hour weekdays, but I'm not going to do it.
I have a nice "closed" circuit as I live on the side of a valley bordering the A24, but it does become mind numbingly boring & the "tarmac" is more concrete slabs - but fightiing the traffic is a suicidal option.

nolf

I'm a student,

So at the moment I'm doing a:

Fast 4 hour ride wednesday afternoon
2 hours in the gym Thursday evening and stretching
Friday I have off so can go out Thursday evening and get smashed.
Saturday morning a very long ride- 5/6 hours.
Sunday recovery ride and lots of stretching
Monday another 3.5 hour ride.
Tuesday is a day off so I can catch up on my casual reading and computer games.

I'm not sure if this helps, I just wanted to show off my week.
Have fun at 6am guys!

irvini

It's all organisation - I've started to sit down on a sunday night with my diary and just plan when and where I can go out and for how long.

And I'm also working on a strategy of being so irritating around the house that my girlfriend is happiest when I'm not there.

freehub

Well thanks for all the comments, be interesting to hear more, got me thinking if I too should make some sort of diary now, I had a go at a training plan but that failed.

I was thinking to myself quality not qunantity, I have being told that before, I guess here in the York area it's easier to do an early morning ride, but when I go back to Manchester I dont know about early morning in the city center with all the cars, I used to do an 18 miles loop in Manchester, usually did it sometime between 10PM and 2AM but it was screwing with my sleep.

Before I started this volunteering job what I did was this:

Saturday - Long ride
Sunday - Rest
Monday - Rest
Tuesday - 10 x 4 intervals
wednesday - rest
Thursday - steady ride to TT, do TT, hard pace home, or if I was not doing a TT then I'd do a hard intensity again.
Friday - Rest

If I do a Sunday ride then I will just shift everything or only have one day rest after a long ride. But since I've got this volunteering job I am wanting to do as much as I can with it to gain experience, show I'm not an idiot and lazy and to give me a better job in Manchester, but it's all varied, they dont need me in every day so it is all random at the moment. Maybe I should just list every week day off as 9-5, even if I am not in every day, then do early morning and evenings and weekdays?

This week has being really crap and I'd guess it is what most would considering quantity not quality:

Saturday - 6 hours 30mins hard ride to the coast, 122 miles - 19mph
Sunday - Should have rested, felt surprisingly ok, 6.5 miles, but fairly hard, 20mph
Monday - pretty much a rest day
Tuesday - 24 miles commute
Wednesday - 10.4 miles - 29:48 - a quickish pace
Thursday - 22.06 miles - 1 hours 3 mins - so quickish pace
Friday - 5 miles steady, 17 miles commute, then in the evening, 28.68 miles - 1 hours 22, so another quickish pace
Saturday - Not even touching the bike today
Sunday - long club run.

And redddragon I hope that comment was a joke, as if it were not to be it'd be false.

a_n_t

freehub wrote:

as if it where not to be it'd be false.

Thats the hardest 10 words I've ever tried to read!

holmeboy

Cycle to and from work 5 miles flat or 9 and 13 mile hilly. Gym one night aweek, 40ish miles after work at least one night and a big cycle at the weekend (50 to 100+ miles). Do take the motorcycle to work at least one day usually day of gym and have ones day rest. Kids mostly grown up and into their own thing, wife works full time most weekends and has horses, so this give me plenty of time for cycling .

Takis61

Hey Freehub, looks like a pretty good week to me, far more than I can manage !
Not sure what your problem is ?
Depends what your goals are - is it just fitness, or are you aiming at Cat 1 racer ?
Want to do a good Sportive, or ride La Marmotte ?