Newbie to racing Training/diet advice

[adamangler]

Started cycling properly 2 months ago ( been a few times before over the years)

Started around 20 miles @ 13mph
Now i can do about 40 miles @ 15mph

anyway, when i get into stuff i get into it so, im wanting to plan out a training schedule for i can ride about 5 days a week, diet im not so bad at used to bodybuild when younger

right now im about 20% bodyfat, 12 half stone, so what do i need to be doing on the bike and in the gym?
LSD? intevals? hill repeats etc ect blah

any diet advice?

 

[Cameronmu917772]

you know how to open a can of worms then lol
it all depends what you want from cycling ultimately. team sky have a lot of press coverage and there is many a site with info on nutrition and training.
thats not to say that thats what you should be doing. i hear all to often that when you start out you should pace your self and not do to much to soon but thats easier said than done. best place to start is probably make sure that your bike fits you properly. you can google everything you need to know really.
p.s average speeds mean nothing in cycling there is just to many variables for it to be an accurate measurement.

 

[zizou]

2 months is too soon to be thinking in terms of intervals and hill repeats. At the stage you are at you'll be able to make huge gains just from riding consistently, keeping to your 5 days a week schedule and building the mileage up. Perhaps set some goals to work towards like manage to do 100 km, then a 100 miles and so on.

Intervals, hill repeats etc are of course effective but you dont need them to improve at the moment and it will IMO be beneficial in the long run to skip them until a few months down the line.

 

[adamangler]

Ok thanks, so just get the miles in without worrying about speed etc, thought that would be the advice just ive read conflicting stuff about long miles being not as effective as intervals etc.
I suppose i just want to improve as quick as possible hence wanting to have some sort of plan than just go out and put the miles in seems a bit simple
But if mileage and frequency is the best way for now that is what i will do

thanks

 

[MikeG]

I would just add to what Zizou said (which is 100% correct in my view).......record what you do in a diary and on a graph. After you've been riding for another 3 or 4 months you will have a much clearer idea of what you need to do to improve. Just record your mileage at the moment......never mind anything else.

Probably the best thing you can do for your fitness is to join a club.

 

[Joshua Plumtree]

All of the above. Obviously long slow miles are not gonna make you faster per se, but the consensus at the moment seems to be that you need to have lots of these miles in the tank before you can benefit fully from more intense speed work and intervals.

However, come back to this topic in about five years and I'm sure all this received wisdom will have been replaced by some new theory!

 

[Rob3rt]

My advice is to join a club and ride your bike consistently and regularly. For someone at your current level of ability, this will offer the best return for the time invested IMO.

All of the above. Obviously long slow miles are not gonna make you faster per se, but the consensus at the moment seems to be that you need to have lots of these miles in the tank before you can benefit fully from more intense speed work and intervals.

However, come back to this topic in about five years and I'm sure all this received wisdom will have been replaced by some new theory!

Will it? Long, slow winter base mile whoring is an age old theory yet how many people still do it and preach it?

 

[JasonHolder]

Just ride consistently, that means consistent intensity too. Nothing like hill reps in your second month on bike to keep you off the bike for 5 days. improvements come easily in the first few months.

Diet wise. Make sure youre eating enough. Numbers dont lie. Count your calories and if you need 4-5k a day. Then eat it. Or fatigue will rob you.

Lose fat by eating bananas/dates/fruit juice.

@50000tears should have some good advice for you.

 

[Cameronmu917772]

^^^^^^ this is true I'm not eating enough and can't keep a good pace for more than 5 miles just now

 

[50000tears]

Although it is often an excepted wisdom that you need a lot of base miles in your legs before doing hill repeats and intervals this is not a hard and fast rule. I started training in the early autumn and with our very wet winter ended up doing a ton of interval work. These became I beleive my most effective workouts, as I felt that I got a lot more out of them than just riding my bike.

On the flip side of that with the summer now having finally arrived I am not going to waste a ton of time training indoors doing intervals when the sun is shining and I can go for a proper ride. So now I do far more mid length and longer rides. Might not now be doing the 100% most effective training but I would far rather train in a way I enjoy. I will do more interval work when the weather turns and the nights draw in again.

It is correct that hill repeats are a tough ask when still building fitness. They do take a lot out of your legs and generally should only be done if you were planning on taking the next day or two anyway. They are effectively but something to bear in mind if wanting to ride the following day.

Agree about joining a club as well. Can bring you on a ton.

 

[ayceejay]

All of your questions need personal input for an accurate answer so only expect general (and conflicting) advice here, as what may be right for a 20 year old Kamikaze pilot may not be right for you.
I will say this though: if you don't enjoy being out on your bike just for the fun of it none of the rest will matter.

 

[Joshua Plumtree]

Do you do base miles Robert? Was gonna open another thread asking a similar question about track cyclists. Pretty damn fast some of them, but how do they get to that kind of level? Any base miles consistently out of season, or pretty much high intensity all the time?

 

[Rob3rt]

Do you do base miles Robert? Was gonna open another thread asking a similar question about track cyclists. Pretty damn fast some of them, but how do they get to that kind of level? Any base miles consistently out of season, or pretty much high intensity all the time?

I work on my base yes, but I don't do anything like ride around for 6 hours in L1, I mostly use tempo and sweetspot work for this purpose. I do some general road rides, I still do one of those per week for 2-3 hours during the season, sometimes longer if I can be bothered, but coach only allocates 2-3 hours. I don't like riding around "aimlessly" for hours on end. I find my longest rides end up being tempo rides (if the weather is good), where I will ride for an hour to get somewhere flat and uninterrupted to do my tempo work at a constant power, then I will ride home afterwards. This will normally equate to about 4 hours, the middle 2 will involve some solid work.

 

[Joshua Plumtree]

Thanks for that. Beginning to think I spend too much time poodling around if I'm really serious about getting better (faster!)

Given myself two and a half years (3 summer race seasons) to get as fast as I can, Possibly have to re-think some things!

After that - by then well into ripe middle age - probably gonna try some more endurance based challenges like the End to End or The Tour De Force.