Training advice

Johny4
Johny4 Posts: 25
edited November 2010 in Health, fitness & training
Hello guys! I am 15 years old, 1.81cm and 66kg.. I need help.. I decided to run my first xc race in the april.. The race is 42km.. My trainings now contain 30-45km of xc-all mountain rides.. Where should i concetrate now about my training?

Comments

  • njee20
    njee20 Posts: 9,613
    What are you bad at? Train that.

    If you run out of energy after an hour, do lots of long rides (actually it's a good idea to start with some steady miles anyway as a base). If you can't climb, then do lots of hills. If you can ride all day, but lack top end speed then do short, sharp intervals. You get the picture.
  • Johny4
    Johny4 Posts: 25
    Thank you for your reply njee..!! I dont think that i am weak at them but the uphills are the most interesting i think..It need power, resistance and some times techinque..

    Something else..Do you think that i should start gym for some excersises for my legs or it is unnecessary?
  • springtide9
    springtide9 Posts: 1,731
    Take a look at the articles published here on training:
    http://www.bikeradar.com/fitness/training

    'njee20' has summed it up. When we talk about weakness, it's more about where can your training be focused to improve your speed or endurance. Only you will be able to work out what these are from riding.

    Find a decent route.. maybe 30-60mins in length with some decent hills..Ride at race speed for a few hours... you'll soon work out what your weaknesses are.
    If you find it easy... you need to be riding much faster! (or you are already a cycling god)
    Johny4 wrote:
    Something else..Do you think that i should start gym for some excersises for my legs or it is unnecessary?

    I personally find gym work v useful, as I find I can push my fitness much more than on the bike (as I don't have to worry about crashing!).. But I don't think you can really beat mileage on the bike.
    Simon
  • ollie51
    ollie51 Posts: 517
    Your 66Kg so naturally hill climbing should be easy for you, however it seems it isn't so I recommend that you find a hill that takes you about 3 minutes to do, do 8 reps of this once or twice a week and add one extra rep per week, also do at least one long ride around race distance a week, interval training (3 sets of 60 seconds of flat out and 60 of gentle spinning). Also hour long rides pushing a bigger gear can be useful.

    Oh and stay away from the gym if you can, you'll be building muscular strength which isn't massively important at all and it'll add weight, the necessary strength will come from hill training and pushing that big gear. So this could be an example.

    Mon: 1 hr ride
    Tues: Hill training
    Wednesday: 1hr ride pushing big gear
    Thursday: Rest
    Friday: Interval Training
    Saturday: Race Distance Ride
    Sunday: Rest.

    oh and remember every 4th week have a week involving just rest days this allows the body to repair and recover and actually become fitter.
  • Johny4
    Johny4 Posts: 25
    ollie thank you to for your reply..because of school my trainings are friday saturday and sunday..and sometimes in the week if i have time..the friday i go about 30km to to be ready for the race distance of saturday..saturday is 45km with much hill climb and try to dont gear down on 1st disc..i try to be only in the 2nd disc(of the crank) and i push my limits as i can..
  • njee20
    njee20 Posts: 9,613
    What race are you wanting to do? Right now doing hard hill reps is fine, but if you're intending to race the first NPS at Sherwood Pines (for example), it's pan flat, and at some point you need to switch to doing fast intervals on the flat.

    Really you need to be good at everything to do well! You're going into a v competitive category too!

    As for gym work, opinion varies, I think a session doing core stability is good, but you can do that at home, I wouldn't substitute a ride for the gym if you're only riding 3 times a week. Consecutive days also isnt ideal, but there's presumably not much you can do there.
  • Neily03
    Neily03 Posts: 295
    Johny4 wrote:
    Hello guys! I am 15 years old, 1.81cm and 66kg.. /quote]

    1.81cm?? What are you some sort of insect?! :lol:
    Transition Covert.
  • MountainMonster
    MountainMonster Posts: 7,423
    I would work on climbing quite a bit, and work on getting very fast at climbing, not just steady climbing. For me once my climbing improved my overall speed improved on the flats as well since my legs were getting a fair bit stronger with every ride.
    My London Road
  • Johny4
    Johny4 Posts: 25
    njee i usually do 4 trainings each week..i try to find a day except saturday-sunday-friday and most times i find..so i have 4 trainings a week..my race is at april so i have much time but i want to know from now what is the best..the race that i am going to race have much hill climn because here in greece our mountains are high..


    neily about my height my secret is the milk..the only think i am worrying about is my frame..if i go 1.87++ i will have to take a XL..

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