Help plan my training?

cristoff
cristoff Posts: 229
edited June 2011 in Training, fitness and health
I commute to work 12 miles each way 4 days a week, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday. I do a long ride at the weekend, 40-50 on either sat or Sunday.

My cross training usually consists of circuits mon & weds or thurs (depends on mrs)

I was also doing half hour in gym on my lunch break but have sacked this off as I was knackered and feeling overtrained.

I have two questions, 1 - is this a reasonably balanced plan?
2- I have 2 routes to work, 1 hilly one not so hilly. What can I do to maximise the benefit from my commutes ( in terms of intervals, etc)
I currently alternate 1 hard ride with 1 gentle

All advice welcome!

Thanks in advance

Comments

  • mattshrops
    mattshrops Posts: 1,134
    have you got any specific goals or areas you want to improve?
    Death or Glory- Just another Story
  • cristoff
    cristoff Posts: 229
    I want to get quicker! I want to be able to ride in the lead group on a club ride and be able to hold my own. I am also doing a 75 mile sportive in 3 weeks but i am not looking to break records, just get round.

    I guess i want to become a quicker, stronger cyclist. I want to make the most of the fact i spend 5-6 hours on my bike commuting to work every week by getting some training benefit from it.

    If i get quick enough to be able to race at some point then that would be a bonus.

    apologies i cant be more specific
  • nmcgann
    nmcgann Posts: 1,780
    cristoff wrote:
    I want to get quicker! I want to be able to ride in the lead group on a club ride and be able to hold my own. I am also doing a 75 mile sportive in 3 weeks but i am not looking to break records, just get round.

    I guess i want to become a quicker, stronger cyclist. I want to make the most of the fact i spend 5-6 hours on my bike commuting to work every week by getting some training benefit from it.

    If i get quick enough to be able to race at some point then that would be a bonus.

    apologies i cant be more specific

    I think the problem is your aims are so general and you have said very little about your abilities as a cyclist, so it's hard to know where to start prescribing training. However - 7-8 hours on the bike per week is certainly enough to be able to improve.

    What average speeds are you achieving on your rides? Do you use a HRM? Have you been out with a cycling club yet? Do you typically ride with other people at the weekend or alone?
    --
    "Because the cycling is pain. The cycling is soul crushing pain."
  • jocksyboy
    jocksyboy Posts: 135
    Well then you have to ride quicker and harder.

    That's it really- the changes can take place quite quickly but you have to have an element of steucture to it. Look up intervals chain gang etc. Join a club and do some hard work!
    When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. ~H.G. Wells
  • cristoff
    cristoff Posts: 229
    nmcgann wrote:
    cristoff wrote:
    I want to get quicker! I want to be able to ride in the lead group on a club ride and be able to hold my own. I am also doing a 75 mile sportive in 3 weeks but i am not looking to break records, just get round.

    I guess i want to become a quicker, stronger cyclist. I want to make the most of the fact i spend 5-6 hours on my bike commuting to work every week by getting some training benefit from it.

    If i get quick enough to be able to race at some point then that would be a bonus.

    apologies i cant be more specific

    I think the problem is your aims are so general and you have said very little about your abilities as a cyclist, so it's hard to know where to start prescribing training. However - 7-8 hours on the bike per week is certainly enough to be able to improve.

    What average speeds are you achieving on your rides? Do you use a HRM? Have you been out with a cycling club yet? Do you typically ride with other people at the weekend or alone?

    When i ride fairly hard to work i get about 18mph for the 12 miles, heart rate around mid 150's, i usually alternate this with a gentler trundle to work which is around 134 bpm.

    I have done a couple of runs with a club, a 50 miler which averaged just over 16.5mph which i was fairly comfortable on and a hilly 40 miler (both runs had over 3000ft of elevation). My aim is to try and get out with them every weekend for my long ride.

    thanks for taking the time to look.
  • cristoff
    cristoff Posts: 229
    any more help?
  • Pigtail
    Pigtail Posts: 424
    I'm in a similar position - in that I want to get faster, but I'm not sure what for!

    I do a couple of gym sessions (mainly on the exercise bike) 20 miles commuting and about 100 additional miles a week.

    What are you looking for from the circuits?

    I would suggest you try some intervals. Doing a session once a week for a couple of months would let you see what it is like.

    I'd also try some competition. I did my first TT last week, and seemed to do okay, but it has given me additional impetus to improve.

    You will get modest improvements from lots of areas other than training, things like bike fit, cadence, diet, lifestyle etc. Each one may be very small, but stack them up and they can make a big difference.
  • jocksyboy
    jocksyboy Posts: 135
    i can only reiterate what i have already said: intervals, hill repeats; join a club and go on a chain gang. Once you get more focus then you can be more specific in your training.
    When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race. ~H.G. Wells
  • cristoff
    cristoff Posts: 229
    Other than a club run at the weekend, the miles i do commuting mean that my legs are too knackered during the week to want to go out training at night time.

    What ever i do needs to be incorporated into my weekly commutes.
  • jgsi
    jgsi Posts: 5,062
    cristoff wrote:
    Other than a club run at the weekend, the miles i do commuting mean that my legs are too knackered during the week to want to go out training at night time.

    What ever i do needs to be incorporated into my weekly commutes.

    but you are doing circuits twice a week when you could be doing much more focussed bike training..????
    You will only get quicker on a bike , by riding your bike quicker... train for that and for that alone..
    you are not going to get more specific advice off a forum than that basically, but I think you might appreciate that what you are doing consists of far too much junk - and that sadly includes the commute...commuting is about getting safely to work and saving on fuel/fares, not training.
  • amaferanga
    amaferanga Posts: 6,789
    cristoff wrote:
    Other than a club run at the weekend, the miles i do commuting mean that my legs are too knackered during the week to want to go out training at night time.

    What ever i do needs to be incorporated into my weekly commutes.

    The answer is to ride easy to work some days (recovery rides) so that you feel fresher in the evening to do some quality miles. Or just ride easy on the way to work then extend your commute home to get to some roads where you can do quality miles. I also commute every day, 5-13 miles each way depending on which way I go, but these rides are almost all recovery rides. If you've been doing this commute for a while then you should be comfortable with the distance such that provided you don't go balls out every day you'll have plenty of energy left to train.
    More problems but still living....
  • Pseudonym
    Pseudonym Posts: 1,032
    cristoff wrote:
    I have done a couple of runs with a club, a 50 miler which averaged just over 16.5mph which i was fairly comfortable on and a hilly 40 miler (both runs had over 3000ft of elevation). My aim is to try and get out with them every weekend for my long ride.

    so your aim is to keep on doing something which you are already doing..?

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