[James]

Anybody here (Ire?) work with a coach in their training? I'm thinking I need a bit of a push, and having someone to do that, as well as the "I'm paying money for this, I should make the most of it" factor might help me jump-start getting back into some semblance of shape.

I don't need daily interactions, someone calling me all the time, etc, just some help setting up a program, with targets, and help me get there.

I have a bit of a commute in the car again, so I'd like to maximize the time I have, mornings/evenings/nights/afternoons. Luckily my place of employment is very lunch-ride friendly. I just can't hang when there are ex-national/world champions taking pulls...

 

[sanjuro]

I made my biggest improvements with coaches.

My first coach convinced me to use a hr monitor, and he was helpful in keeping me on a schedule.

My second coach used PE intervals, slow cadence/hi gear workouts, which I tell kids on my team to use now.

Also, my coaches helped to monitor my training cycles, something which I am not good at.

 

[James]

I made my biggest improvements with coaches.

My first coach convinced me to use a hr monitor, and he was helpful in keeping me on a schedule.

My second coach used PE intervals, slow cadence/hi gear workouts, which I tell kids on my team to use now.

Also, my coaches helped to monitor my training cycles, something which I am not good at.

Exactly what I was looking for. I can go out and ride, sure, but I want to maximize the time I have now to lose some weight and get the base miles in, then progress to the real guts of a program.

 

[SuspectDevice]

I'm a "retired" USAC Elite level coach. I like coaches... Some are better than others, and the best 3 groups of coaches out there are
John at
http://www.jbvcoaching.com/
Steve at
http://belllapcoaching.com
And the Cycle-Smart crew
http://www.cycle-smart.com/

Alec @cycle-smart is rad. And not just because he races for Spooky, but because he is damn good at communicating. The way that he communicates could make a freaking Eunich Mate.

Nobody does it better.

 

[ire]

I've worked with coaches before and my experience wasn't always the best. Personally I think there are as many bad coaches as good. I work with my teammate now (he has been pro a long time) and I read a lot of books. My teammate works with the guy who used to coach Roland Green out of Canada. I use a little bit of power but mostly lactate balance point training.

Sometimes it doesn't take having a coach to have the motivation; if you setup a workout schedule at the beginning of the week w/goals and workouts you will be more inclined to follow the plan. If you want I can PM you what my teammate and I do for training. Or I guess I could post it if the others want to be bored

 

[sanjuro]

Exactly what I was looking for. I can go out and ride, sure, but I want to maximize the time I have now to lose some weight and get the base miles in, then progress to the real guts of a program.

I've discussed this with my assistant coach (btw, as a Norcal HS coach, I am more of a team director than a "cycling coach". I will give some advice to my kids, but I have advised the better riders to get a cycling coach), but the two schools of training is:

1. Get out and ride
2. Get a coach

With a coach, it is not constant workouts, but different kinds of riding. One day I am doing intervals, the other long distance, a third a mix of both.

Also being on the HR monitor helps you to monitor your efforts but I need someone to help me interpret it.

 

[James]

I've worked with coaches before and my experience wasn't always the best. Personally I think there are as many bad coaches as good. I work with my teammate now (he has been pro a long time) and I read a lot of books. My teammate works with the guy who used to coach Roland Green out of Canada. I use a little bit of power but mostly lactate balance point training.

Sometimes it doesn't take having a coach to have the motivation; if you setup a workout schedule at the beginning of the week w/goals and workouts you will be more inclined to follow the plan. If you want I can PM you what my teammate and I do for training. Or I guess I could post it if the others want to be bored

I'm not trying to become the next big thing in even regional racing, to be honest I don't have the world's biggest competitive streak, so I won't ever race seriously. But with friends, I'd like to make them hurt a bit, and on the company rides I just want to be able to hang on!

You can PM me, or I think you have my email, that might be easier. I'd be interested in seeing what you guys are doing. I think I might need that extra kick to really get going, but I'm not 100% sure it's the best move. I'm asking around here too...

 

[-dustin]

I was always told that unless I'm Cat 2, all I need to do is ride more.

sanjuro, can you explain the high gear/ low cadence thing? I start to freak when I drop below 80rpms.

 

[loco-gringo]

You need a power meter. Send me some badass wheels and I'll send you some badass wheels.

I find that if I ride to power on solo rides I get stronger. It does nothing for me otherwise. I should come up with a plan. I had hoped to race my first ever road event at a crit on Thursday, but not sure that I should launch my career on a day it's 100 degrees. I just work to not get dropped and try to hurt folks on climbs.

 

[eric strt6]

Muddy was my cycling coach for triathlon, he got me from mid pack to the podium. awesome guy

http://www.alcisracing.com/node/36

 

[MtnbikeMike]

ior i guess i could post it if the others want to be bored :d

post it!

 

[ire]

sanjuro, can you explain the high gear/ low cadence thing? I start to freak when I drop below 80rpms.

High gear, low cadence builds strength. I'll post my routine in a bit...it'll take me a while to type up.

 

[ire]

I use a mix of techniques when training. My typical training schedule is Fri-Mon w/a full three days off. Many people over train and that can have as bad, or worse, effects than not training. To become faster, in general, you need to increase the watts/kg. This requires a combination of training and diet.

Diet
I eat a modified paleolithic diet that consists of lots of fruit, vegetables, and lean protein. I tend to eat a lot of cottage cheese. The goal of the paleolithic diet is to change your body so it uses fat more effectively as a fuel source. You want to eat low glycemic index foods and stay away from grains. I find that I lose weight eating this way because I tend to consume too much bread. My teammate, Evan Plews, follows this diet as does Carl Decker.

Training
For training I have some structure, but I also ride based on feel. If I am very fatigued, I'll ride easy or take the day off. You are better to error on the side of rest than over training. The training method I've been using is Lactate Balance Point (LBP) training. Your LBP is the heart rate at which you generate lactate acid faster than your body can clear. You can ride above this heart rate for extended periods of time, but eventually you will have to slow down to recover. The main principal of LBP training is to stay below that heart rate in training. The heart rate is typically lower than you would expect (mine is 155).

There is a study that is currently going on that is examining why LBP training works so well (many athletes use it, examples include Roland Green, Ryder Hesjdahl). The prevailing theory has been that the limiter on your body is its ability to carry oxygen to your muscles. The guy conducting the study has done several experiments have cyclists go anaerobic and then doing a biopsy of the muscle to determine the oxygen saturation. What they have found is that the limiter isn't your ability to get oxygen to your muscles, its actually your heart (this is long story short, and the study has completed yet or else I would post a link...I'll get the guys name that is conducting the study).

They have known that LBP training is effective, but they didn't know exactly why. This study is discovering the reason. At LBP your heart is filling completely with blood on every pump, as you go above LBP your heart beats faster but it will not fill completely. Its a bit of a downward spiral as your heart beats too fast to fill completely and you continue to go hard, it will be harder to compensate and the stroke volume will go down. Their theory is that your heart is your biggest limiter, not your lungs or legs and to make the most gains you need to work on the limiter. This is where LBP comes in. LBP works the heart without causing a huge amount of fatigue. If you go out and pound your guts out every day for a week, after a few days you may feel recovered but your heart may take a week to recover from that effort. So now that you know the principal, onto how I train...

I had a bad spring w/new job and foul weather so I elected to basically start my training over 6 weeks ago. I have been doing a combination of gym work and riding. I do 4 weeks of strength training (legs only) where I do 3 sets of 12 on various leg workouts. I'm not into my power phase where I do 3 sets of 8 on one day, 3 sets of 6 the next weight day, and on the final day 3 sets of 4. The weight increases significantly each day and then the following week I start with the weight from the 6 rep day.

For riding I keep my heart rate below the LBP point. I do longer riders (4-6hrs) with a fair amount of hill, but I always try and keep my heart rate below LBP. If I'm tired I'll do a shorter ride, or not ride at all. After this weight training cycle is done I'll move into a 4 week block of doing high intensity intervals (these will be based on power). You can make gains doing HIT for about 4 weeks, but beyond that you risk over training. My intervals will be 2 days of my 4, and not on back to back days.

<edit> its the University of British Columbia that is conducting the LBP study, I don't have the guy's name

 

[James]

You need a power meter. Send me some badass wheels and I'll send you some badass wheels.

I find that if I ride to power on solo rides I get stronger. It does nothing for me otherwise. I should come up with a plan. I had hoped to race my first ever road event at a crit on Thursday, but not sure that I should launch my career on a day it's 100 degrees. I just work to not get dropped and try to hurt folks on climbs.

I'd love one, I almost got one through a buddy before I left Veltec, but it fell through. I have lots of badass wheels, some might even say...too many...

 

[loco-gringo]

I'd love one, I almost got one through a buddy before I left Veltec, but it fell through. I have lots of badass wheels, some might even say...too many...

PM me and we'll see what we can do.

 

[sanjuro]

I was always told that unless I'm Cat 2, all I need to do is ride more.

sanjuro, can you explain the high gear/ low cadence thing? I start to freak when I drop below 80rpms.

When I first did it, I thought my crank arms would break (and there are some incidents of cheap components breaking from standing still).

The idea as it was explained to me is that this is muscle development on the bike. I was opposed to the idea because I felt that I should be doing traditional intervals. But by the middle of the season, I had workouts where I did 6x PE intervals, a hour of LSD, then 3x 10 minute LT intervals, followed by 15 minutes of crying.

The key is using a hr monitor so you are not going too hard or easy. My LT is 167bpm and I did this workout at 150bpm, at about a 50 cadence.

You are really supposed to do it with a power meter, but I didn't have $1800 to buy one.