|
Making the
Most of Event/Competitive/Club Cycling
By Michelle
Kashima
training@ocw.org
1.
Training:
Use specific days during the week for training, such as long distance rides;
moderate paced workouts one day and hill specific workouts another day. Or
fast sprint rides; one or two sprint rides per week, not on consecutive
days, then an easy spin recovery ride. Use your HR monitor and cadence
monitors to make adjustments to your overall outputs. Download your data
and check against past similar workouts to make modifications.
2.
Coaching:
Sometimes hiring a coach (in your area or online) or joining a specific
training group in your club can help, even if its for only a couple of
months. Keep an open mind and learn from other experienced cyclists, then
adapt what you’ve learned and use it in your training.
3.
Rest:
This is very important, as we all like to push ourselves to the limit. Rest
can actually be more important than on bike training itself. Always include
at least one to two days of off the bike rest if you ride more than four
times per week.
4.
Food:
Might seem crazy, but food is extremely important. I was once told (maybe
more than once) to eat before you’re hungry and drink before you’re
thirsty. Wise advise. By the time your body tells you you’re thirsty or
hungry, it can be too late. So make a plan when training and put in feed
and water/electrolyte zones. Use a calorie counter and make it a point
never to go over a 500 calorie burn without a packet of gel carb/electrolyte
replacement and some water. Also depending on the weather take swigs of
bottled electrolytes every 15-20 minutes or less. For longer rides reach
for an energy replacement bar.
5.
Overtraining:
How do you know if you’re over trained? Are you grumpy? (ok, more so than
normal). Is your HR not reaching its usual numbers? Are your muscles
continually sore? Then you might be over trained. Take a day or two off
the bike. Ease your way back into your workouts. Change up your workouts.
Be sure to add light spin days only.
6.
Weight Training:
Dedicate two to three days per week to weight training and core strength
exercises of about 45-60 minutes per session. Cycling is not a weight
bearing exercise and therefore will not help strengthen your bones, which
may lead to Osteoporosis. Also core strengthening is very important to
cycling as the core muscles help us maintain good positioning on the bike,
as well as good climbing muscles. Yes, you actually use core muscles to get
you up that hill. Add in cross training when possible, like walking or
hiking. That way you will use other muscles that aren’t used, or used very
little on the bike.
7.
Group Training:
Group training is important as you learn pack skills as well as the group
can help push you to succeed. If you ride four times per week get into a
hill training ride such as repeats to focus on climbing skills. Repeats may
sound boring but they are actually some of the best training exercises you
can get if you use an HR monitor and cadence. Each repeat try to best your
last while maintaining a quiet upper body and good fluid spin. Then if your
focus is on distance get into a distance group to help you with endurance
skills. Or, if your focus is on crits or other types of racing get into a
sprint group where the focus is on short miles at faster competitive
speeds. Then most importantly use a day to just have fun on your bike
without going fast or long, just easy type riding by yourself or with a
friend. You can use that day as your recovery spin day or set aside your
last day of your cycling week for a focused spin recovery ride. Higher but
easy cadence with little to no climbing to help recover your muscles.
8.
Stretch:
You can’t say enough about stretching and its importance on your muscles and
ligaments. Try to stretch in the morning, before and after your ride, and
in the evening before bed. Don’t over stretch to the point of pain, but
just enough to get that good “stretch” feeling and hold that stretch for a
few moments. In the morning and at night try stretching alone and when its
quiet, or with soft music playing. Use this as your “Zin” time.
9.
Goals:
Set goals, whether it’s a century, double century, or just getting through
the whole group ride without being dropped. Just set a goal and stick to
it, and above all never ever get discouraged. Use your cycling buddies to
help you maintain your goals, so let them know what you are doing so they
can get involved. It always helps to have support. Reward yourself if you
make your goal. It doesn’t have to be big just something that will make you
glad you reached your goal. Then don’t stop there, make more goals and
reach them as well.
10. Plan:
Have a plan as to what you are doing. Sit down and write out a strategy
such as this day I’ll ride this, and that day I’ll ride that. When will I
cool down, what time will I leave. When should I taper down for the big
event, etc. This is where logs come in handy, whether the log is on your
computer or written in a journal. Log in what the day was like and how you
felt, what you ate. Were you tired, or did you feel fantastic, was it sunny
or was it cold and wet, did that new energy bar work or did it upset your
stomach. Then with that information you can plan your next ride, whether
you should just take it easy and spin or take the day off. Whether to take
that same food/drink with you or try something else.
Check out the OCW ride calendar for all club
rides including training specific rides to help you meet your goals.
Need help? Let me know, I will be glad to
try and help. You can reach me at: t
Michelle Kashima
training@ocw.org
| 