So how do you full time workers manage to train?

simon_says

I tend to train 3/4 days on, one day off or something like that.

As for the training it's all at the gym, for the moment. 2 x 25 mins back to back averaging around 250W both times - technogym 700i excite bike equipment.

I'm moving permanently to Liverpool in around a month from Glasgow, once I get there I'll buy myself a road bike, I'm waiting to see what the opportunities for riding are like and I'll see who I meet at uni etc.

SilverSurfer

Training is by defintion (to me anyway) all about maximising returns for time invested.

Now I have a young family my endless Sunday centuries are out. As someone else said, I now get up early Sunday and can fit a good 4 hour ride in without being missed. So clubs rides are definitely history (but they have showed me where all the best local rides are!).

Also, not riding with a club means you can miss out the cafe stop (45 mins) and use your HRM accurately without abandoning your program in order to hang on the back.

I never used to train, but I found that with only limited time I was lacking motivation to do any riding - what was the point exactly? So now I am trying the whole training plan and HRM approach in order to get me focussed on doing anything. Keeps you interested.

I 've got a spin bike sorted for winter training and recovery spins as well. Sorted.

freehub

Takis61 wrote:

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 ?

Well I thought it was a pretty crap week, it felt muddled to me and I thought it was abit junk miles, I am trying to think about when I have full time work, how I will fit everything in, I worry in advance to get it sorted out in advance, and I have a volunteering job, whilst it is "part time", I plan to put in "full time" effort, at least it'll get me in the routine for propor work.

I have started to make some sort of training plan in excel now, it might look rubbish but I am just testing at the moment, have the days and a strip on the left with all 24 hours in the day in, starting with 6AM ending at 5AM, and planning all my rides, I'm thinking I can plan my rides for a week by just overlaying a schedule over this in a faint color or something.



I have 2 rides on at the moment, I dont plan on doing both in one go, I cant recover quick enough for that.

So how I've done it is, if I have some work on that day, then I'll do the normal timeframe, on tuesday you can see this between 8 and 10, if I dont have any work on, then I'll do the interval session between 2 and 4. Does this seem a ok plan? Or should I just erase it every week and re enter for that week?

Takis61

Looks pretty good, I have to be a little more "go with the flow" as no two weeks are the same.
For instance, last week mainly in the U.K., pretty much based at home, have ridden 8 out of 9 days in August, but "only" totalled 159 miles, including 50 today. Was knackered most of last week as I didn't really allow sufficient recovery time from a 62 mile ride end July.
This week coming I will be in Finland for 4 days, so no riding then, but there is a gym in the hotel, will try & go in twice.
Problem with forward planning to the degree you are doing here is (a.) weather will screw up the schedule; (b.) you will be setting yourself up for feelings if failure if you can't fit it all in as planned due to, well, life.
I have a rough rule of thumb - if the weather is O.K., I'm home early enough, family are O.K., I go out - sometimes for 30mins hard or recovery, sometimes for 45mins to an hour hard, sometimes just to the seafront to see the sea !
Today I took an easy flat ride to Brighton and back, ended up doing 50 miles in 3 hours, felt great, scenery fantastic, and I wasn't monitoring a thing.

freehub

Well the weather wont really stop me as if it's chucking it down I'll still go out unless it's the day I've cleaned my bike. At the bottom I have added a line where I will highlight which days I will do that week, so I can fill the table up with all activities I could do, and just pick and choose, only problem is choosing the distance, intensity and all that, and I'm thinking I need to get in some weeks where I am doing days in rows then a rest day.

I've done abit more on it.



I think it looks more complicated than it is, the rides need sorting out, those 4 rides would give me allot of miles, 200+ a week if I did that every week.

sampras38

An understanding wife, 2 kids under 4 and a full time job, and I make the time.

Like most. my longer rides tend to be on the weekend and I'm usually out the door by 6 or 7am at the latest. 50/60/70 milers and then back with little impact on the family. Weekdays are usually spent on the turbo when the kids are asleep, or the odd 1-1.5 hour fast pace as soon as I get in from work. Depends really but that pretty much sums up my week.

stevewj

three miles into town up to 27 miles back mostly country - brill (very lucky).

surista

It's been repeated here a couple of times, but the key for us married folk to keep the WAF (wife acceptance factor) a non-issue is: Planning, and early-morning sessions. Early morning sessions are essentially guilt-free! If your wife is upset because you're early on your bike (instead of what..cleaning?) than you need to upgrade your spousal infrastructure....

Yeah, getting up early can be a b*tch after a bit of a late night, but I can get in 60-90mn in the morning and leave the house by 7:40am or so, do some running/spinning at the gym a couple of times a week over lunch, a long-ish outdoor ride in the morning on Sat and/or Sun - that's 7-10 hours easy, all guilt-free <g>

(Although I have to admit, I have the World's Greatest Wife that encourages my cycling - probably only because it's helped me trim 5-6kg in love handle excess over the past two months...).

acidstrato

go to work at 7.30
get home at 5
have dinner let it settle
jump on bike at 7-7.30
25miles later get in usually around 1hr 30mins
go to bed about midnight

repeat Mon-Fri, and have a nice easy long ride on sunday afternoon

or if i have other plans i make 30mins spare for the turbo as soon as i get home from work while dinner cooks

Gav888

Its not that easy with a 10m old baby and a partner that likes alot of family time..but it can be done.

I tend to get in 3 or 4 hours a week on the road bike at this time of year, normally an hour one night a week doing intervals or hills and a longer 3 hr ride on a Sunday AM with the guys, plus 2 hours on the exercise bike once the missus is at work doing nights twice a week and the baby is asleep and if I can an hour or 2 on the MTB with the baby on the back... although she doesnt like me going fast LOL