Training Guide after 23 years off !!!

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by plq
Hi Folks,

Back in 1981 I was winning schoolboy road races and testing times about on the hour for a 25m, and 23:xx for a 10. I had the saddle too high and buggered my knees up using too big gears, and had awful back problems on races over 20 miles.

Now I've come back after 23 years off. Now aged 38

I want to undertake a training schedule that will get me to 25mph tt times by the end of next year and hopefully go right beyond that to beat 55 mins in 25m TTs "eventually". Right now I've been riding about 6 weeks, probably no more than 500 miles total so far, mostly spinning and I'm getting club TT results at about 20 mph.

I also want to know what to do to stop the bad knees and bad back coming back. I'm keeping cadence high and avoiding big gears although in every ride I end up flogging myself just cos I like going fast so much ! Also my local terrain is hilly.

There is a hint of knee trouble coming back in my right knee, not much just an odd feeling under the inside of the knee cap. Is this terminal ?

thanks in advance
Paul

Hi plq.

Clearly you have some natural gifts when it comes to athletics if you're posting that kind of speed in 6 short weeks. However I think your thinking may be backwards.

I think it is a mistake to set a performance goal like what you're doing. I've seen it often and, if injury has been in the past, injury is inevitable with that approach. Rather I'd try to set your goals as such:

"I want to see how far I can take my training and how fast I can post a TT while doing so injury free". With that mindset you are putting the emphasis on staying injury free and hopefully enjoying your chosen sport without taking another 23 year break.

Choosing smaller gears is very smart. However hammering on smaller gears with all out effort isn't exactly "seeing the light".

Building slowly and avoiding anything that causes post ride discomfort in the knees is critical. Aggressively seeking out a performance goal is not.

One of my best friends says that he refuses to run his first marathon if he can't do it in less than 3 hours. It is of no surprise that he has been trying to train for the marathon for over 20 years and has never made past the 6-mile relay event because of injury. As each unsuccessful year passes, his training technique continually makes his situation permanently worse ensuring that he will live his life time without ever finishing a marathon, then yet a sub 3 hour one. And nothing will ever speak to him in such a way that he will hear. He too is one of the most endurance-gifted people I've met.

If his goal was to simply complete a marathon, he would have done so often by now. Who knows how fast he could have done one. ...but he'll never know.

Out of curiosity, what makes you think you used to have your seat too high???

Hi Postie,

Thanks for your feedback. Sorry for the length of this reply...

Its not really a hard and fast goal so much as (a) something to go for and (b) if I knew I'd be nowhere near the hour by the end of next year I probably wouldn't be able to get the motivation needed.

Building slowly makes absolute sense.

What I could do with is some advice on how to structure training to get maximum benefit for the training/riding time I have available - while guaranteeing that I can avoid permanent injury.

Training time is a bit limited because I work 10-12 hours per day and have a family. I can usually get out one hour a day 4/5 days a week and maybe one 4 hour ride every other weekend or so.

Seat too high - when I look at the one or two remaining photos from those years the legs look awfully straight.

I have a feeling that the back problem was related to pedalling technique - somehow pushing from the body instead just letting the legs do all the work. Is this consistent with other cyclists ? I found another thread which suggested doing press-ups while leaving your "lower abdomen" on the floor to rectify this back problem ??? Seems to have worked so far but its difficult to tell isn't it - it might have been the big gears and or seat position.

I was thinking I should get rollers and some electronic stuff for measuring cadence, speed and heart rate etc. Is that normal to try to regulate cadence and heart rate while training ? I guess thats a small part of a much bigger picture, what I need is to see the big picture - how to structure training.

Take a look at amazon.com and do a search in books for ISBN: 1931382042 - heart rate training for indoor and outdoor cyclists, by sally edwards.

I bought it three weeks ago after having seen it recommended several times on usenet, and it's doing wonders for me. Works through how to set up a training plan and workout schedule, though you do need a HRM to make use of it, and one that lets you download to the PC is really good (the book comes with software for keeping track of the workouts and planning new ones, though a demo version for 30 days).

It covers beginning cycling through to fairly demanding stuff, and talks you through the principles behind training, the recovery you need to do after intensive sessions, how to check if you are overtraining, etc etc.

Yes a lot of it is for use on a turbo trainer indoors, but it has quite a few outdoor rides as well for each section, that cover interval training, sprints, hills, etc etc.

Each workout is graded as to the type - healthy heart stuff, endurance, strength, performance, and all out maximal stuff, so you can set up a training program that doesn't focus on all one type (which was my biggest problem, I was training too hard too long for my current fitness levels, and wasn't seeing all that much in the way of improvments compared with what I'm seeing from following a lower intensity but more frequent plan).

I'm actually feeling optimistic that I'll manage to complete (and *possibly* even keep up for quite a while with my fit cyclist friends) a 50-60 mile bike ride for charity in two weeks time. And I only started seriously training for it when I got this book, three weeks ago.

Most useful bit of it though for me has been the info about too hard too fast too long, and how to not overdo it and make sure the recovery is happening between workouts.

Thanks very much I'll check it out

Paul