1 Hour Training

skyblueamateur

I've started going out in the mornings but time-wise can only afford an hour or so. Therefore, I'm doing routes of between 15-17 miles which tend to be flat with a few hills/inclines. I've been tending to bash through them as fast as I can and be on my last legs by the time I finish. I'm not sure whether I'm making the best use of my time though. Could anyone advise please?

Gizmo_

Depends what you're trying to do. For time trial training - probably pretty good. If you're planning on doing la Marmotte, not so much.

amaferanga

Doing what you're doing along with a longer ride at the weekend is probably as good as it gets for unstructured training.

jibberjim

Gizmo_ wrote:

Depends what you're trying to do. For time trial training - probably pretty good. If you're planning on doing la Marmotte, not so much.

I think 1 hour efforts are excellent training for the Marmotte. It's just three approximately 1 hour efforts, with a rest in between.

Duffer65

I don't always have a lot of time to ride. What I tend to do is vary my rides, concentrating on hills and hill repeats in one session and then going flat out on the flat sections for as long as I can during another. Or sometimes I do a mixture of the two, it's surprising how useful this can be, you can set goals each session and see the improvement over time. Although this may seem a little dull to some the slight variations mean it doesn't get boring.

ilm_zero7

much of my training used to be one hour stints early in the morning - a little longer now it is lighter before work - as you get better you will go further in the hour, and alternate hard effort days and recovery days would be my advice..

Lossie Loon

I was thinking of doing some 1 hour rides in the morning before work now that the weather has been getting better and the mornings lighter (even with setback from the clock change this week). Obviously it is a bit of a "depends on where you are" type question, but how are the roads between 0630 and 0730 in the morning for traffic?

friedpizzainbatter

Lossie Loon wrote:

I was thinking of doing some 1 hour rides in the morning before work now that the weather has been getting better and the mornings lighter (even with setback from the clock change this week). Obviously it is a bit of a "depends on where you are" type question, but how are the roads between 0630 and 0730 in the morning for traffic?

I've found about us (Kinross area) roads can be fairly quiet between half six and half seven, if I'm working from home I sometimes go out before I start so I'm back around half seven. Only thing to watch out for is the half asleep, late commuter, had a couple of very fast pretty close passes at that time in the morning.

Zoomer37

One morning try doing some overgeared work. Warm your legs up for 15 mins then stick it in some god awful gear and go till your thighs hate you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQweKmTT ... re=related

skyblueamateur

Thanks for all the replies, will bear them in mind.

Am I as well grinding in a big gear or looking at cadence and interval work?

was thinking of doing some 1 hour rides in the morning before work now that the weather has been getting better and the mornings lighter (even with setback from the clock change this week). Obviously it is a bit of a "depends on where you are" type question, but how are the roads between 0630 and 0730 in the morning for traffic?

I go out between 6.30 - 7.30 on the outskirts of Coventry and don't encounter much traffic at all. Gets a bit busier when I'm heading home towards half seven but noting major at all.

Lossie Loon

SkyBlueAmateur wrote:

I go out between 6.30 - 7.30 on the outskirts of Coventry and don't encounter much traffic at all. Gets a bit busier when I'm heading home towards half seven but noting major at all.

Cheers SBA, will bear that in mind, I guessed the roads around Cov wouldn't be too bad before 7.30am. Just maybe have to watch any speedy types in cars not expecting to see cyclists at that time in the morning. Or are there a few cyclists out and about before work?

skyblueamateur

Cheers SBA, will bear that in mind, I guessed the roads around Cov wouldn't be too bad before 7.30am. Just maybe have to watch any speedy types in cars not expecting to see cyclists at that time in the morning. Or are there a few cyclists out and about before work?

I see a few out and about in the morning depending on the weather.

I've found the biggest problem is, as like you say, cars speeding. Usually Audi's, who although there's nothing on the roads decide to speed past really tight against you :roll:

Lossie Loon

Cool, if I get myself into the habit of getting up earlier I'll give it a go to see how practical a quick 20k suits me first thing in the morning through the summer.

One thing I noticed as a difference between Cov/Warks and the Highlands is that down here they drive slower (normally) but give you less room; whilst up north they fly past you, but tend to give a full lane as though they are overtaking a car.

cyco2

Set aside some mornings to do sprints. You'll need to structure them into the geography of your route. A twenty minute warm up and then start of a sprint schedule in a pyramid fashion. Short ones to start with then increase the length of them in stages to over 300m and then reduce them. Also, start them off from different speeds. The rest periods in between sprints may have to be done riding very slowly to reduce the heart rate. Then a cool down ride to end the session.
This is the fastest way to increase strength because you will be high loading the muscles and will need a sufficient recovery time. So, next days ride may be just a potter. During a road race some of these sprints have to be done from a high aerobic level so practice that as well. I have found this type of training the most 'fun' and can leave you with quite a 'high'.