Preventing injury

dannyharris

You are all probably sick of seeing me posting. But hey ho here is another. :P

I will be using my road bike for commuting 10 miles each way 5 days a week. (On my mountain bike I have now stopped aching in the quads) not used my racer yet as I only just got it.

I also want to start getting involved with long runs on the weekends. Maybe on a Saturday morning as I would get half of Saturday and all of Sunday to rest.
Is this enough rest? I do not want to injure myself by over doing it.

simon_masterson

I used to do 18 miles each way, in addition to some evening and weekend rides (mostly for transport). The worst injuries I experienced during that time was a horrible ongoing saddle sore on account of not having padded shorts and a spate of intense discomfort in my leg on account of my saddle sitting up at a jaunty angle because I couldn't get the seatpost bolts tight enough with the cheap multi spanner that I'd foolishly used to adjust my saddle position. Riding along and sliding backwards all the time is no fun either. You should be fine!

CiB

You'd do well to post this in Commuting tbh, with a more relevant title.

Anyway. 10 miles? 45 minutes tops once you get into it. Not even a need for carrying anything like gel bars & drinks bottles just for doing less than an hour's easy exercise in place of driving to work. Physically it'll be easy but doing it five days a week means you never get a break from it; the best way is to have a car day once a week to take clothes etc so that you get a day off from it and you're not carrying a ruck sack every ride, assuming that you have space where you can stash these sorts of things. You'll also find the motivation drops a bit during the winter when it's cold dark & wet.

Kit yourself out with some decent lights and the right clothing and you'll be fine.

Can't help but wonder what sort of riding you plan to do on a Saturday morning that requires a day & half recovery time.

greentea

You said it in the first nine words. :x

dannyharris

It's not the commuting side I was worried about.

I'm concerned that it may effect weekend road running.

Having been readin that you need two days off after a long run so that your muscles can recover.

TakeTurns

It depends on the intensity of your commutes. If they're easy rides then you'll be fine. If you're really hammering it then maybe the weekend long ride is too much. Make sure you're eating the right stuff and replenishing your supplies, then no probs. You might not feel as strong as you would on Saturday if you were to take a day off before, but you will eventually adapt to it for the better.

sub55

dannyharris wrote:

It's not the commuting side I was worried about.

I'm concerned that it may effect weekend road running.

Having been readin that you need two days off after a long run so that your muscles can recover.

how ever wrote what you read was talking out of there :!:

dannyharris

TakeTurns wrote:

It depends on the intensity of your commutes. If they're easy rides then you'll be fine. If you're really hammering it then maybe the weekend long ride is too much. Make sure you're eating the right stuff and replenishing your supplies, then no probs. You might not feel as strong as you would on Saturday if you were to take a day off before, but you will eventually adapt to it for the better.

Thanks. Just what I wanted to read. Slow ish commutes to work. 10 - 15 mph depending on weather.
Will keep with the porridge and jam for breakfast.

sub55

dannyharris wrote:

TakeTurns wrote:

It depends on the intensity of your commutes. If they're easy rides then you'll be fine. If you're really hammering it then maybe the weekend long ride is too much. Make sure you're eating the right stuff and replenishing your supplies, then no probs. You might not feel as strong as you would on Saturday if you were to take a day off before, but you will eventually adapt to it for the better.

Thanks. Just what I wanted to read. Slow ish commutes to work. 10 - 15 mph depending on weather.
Will keep with the porridge and jam for breakfast.

sounds to me that your looking for an excuse to take it easy. Which is fine if thats what you want.
On the other hand , if you want to get fitter quicker and further , push it to the limit. When you end up in a heap , rest and do it again.