Jan 02, 2014 at 04:54 PM
Taking a quick look at my year's statistics (thank you Strava) this is what I've got
2012: 272 hours, 7200km
2013: 231 hours, 6200km
How'd you do?
Year in Review
Jan 02, 2014 at 05:21 PM
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Jan 02, 2014 at 06:44 PM
I was hoping for 7k miles this year, but broke myself.
2012: 315 hours, 5268 miles, 141 Activities
2013: 414 hours, 6980 miles, 250 Activities
Looking for 10k in 2014, but I don't remember why. It seems like a lot.
Jan 02, 2014 at 06:46 PM
Bruce you did more MILES than I did KILOMETERS.
Zoink.
Jan 02, 2014 at 07:02 PM
2013: 279 hours, 4433 miles, 296 activities
Jan 02, 2014 at 07:54 PM
2013: 253 hours, 4111.7 miles, 264 activities
(and that's with 6 months worth of 15mi/day commutes and half my races unrecorded)
Jan 02, 2014 at 10:08 PM
How many miles last year? I don't know because Strava does not like me that much.
Jan 02, 2016 at 12:02 AM
For 2015, I commuted to work much more, and ran more, as seen in my higher activity count compared to 2014. My miles and hours were up, but not significantly so.
I had a better training schedule in 2015, and worked with a coach. I went to a climbing camp in February and rode more miles than any other week in the year, and made a good friend.
My overall races were hit and miss, though I had better results in 2015 than any other year and got 11th place in a crit. I didn't race as much as the previous year, attributed in part to not wanting to ride on bad roads in Prospect Park, and work taking time so missing many Floyd races.
I also. . . not sure. I've been trying to assess if I got burned out, sick of riding. I definitely didn't feel as enthused in June and July as I have in the past, and need to take another look at my schedule and riding. Maybe I was going too hard for too long. Will need to be better about scheduling breaks in 2016.
I got sick in November, which is prime long-distance riding time for me, and focused on other hobbies, which lead me to not riding CX at all. When I got better, I kept at the other things I love doing, building model airplanes, writing, reading, and that felt really good. I'll need to make sure to give more time to all of that again this year.
I still want to hit 10k miles, and do it without burning out, while having fun, and staying focused on all of the other important things in my life. A hefty goal, but if they weren't big, they wouldn't be a challenge.
What worked, or didn't, for you in 2015?
What worked, or didn't, for you in 2015?
2015: 504 Hours, 7,916 miles, 450 Activities
2014: 491 Hours, 7,724 miles, 413 Activities
2013: 415 Hours, 6,985 miles, 251 Activities
2012: 315 Hours, 5,268 miles, 141 Activities
Jan 02, 2016 at 12:52 AM
Bruce,
I tip my hat to your ambition. I think you're a raving madman to aim for 10k miles but then again, you gotta dream, right?
It would probably help the comparison to carve out the "training" rides vs commutes, or perhaps look at it in total TSS.
The "not so interested in June/July" followed by a quiet fall sort of screams burnout to me - but you're not alone there. It is very, very hard to back off before you're in a hole.
In the spirit of sharing:
2015: 105 hours, 2300km
2014: 266 hours, 5400km
2013: 230 hours, 6200km
2012: 272 hours, 7200km
2011: 218 hours, 6200km
Obviously between a new job and Lisa going back to work after maternity my racing & training took a back seat this year.
I'm looking forward to embracing the "sub 200 hour" club with lots of intensity this year.
I tip my hat to your ambition. I think you're a raving madman to aim for 10k miles but then again, you gotta dream, right?
It would probably help the comparison to carve out the "training" rides vs commutes, or perhaps look at it in total TSS.
The "not so interested in June/July" followed by a quiet fall sort of screams burnout to me - but you're not alone there. It is very, very hard to back off before you're in a hole.
In the spirit of sharing:
2015: 105 hours, 2300km
2014: 266 hours, 5400km
2013: 230 hours, 6200km
2012: 272 hours, 7200km
2011: 218 hours, 6200km
Obviously between a new job and Lisa going back to work after maternity my racing & training took a back seat this year.
I'm looking forward to embracing the "sub 200 hour" club with lots of intensity this year.
Jan 04, 2016 at 05:52 PM
I've been doing thinking, reading, research on goal setting (of course I have), and have come to a couple of conclusions regarding the 10k, especially after having to ride slowly in a headwind, minding my HR.
It's not a racing goal, I'm training for racing now, and performance, so it's out of my head.
For some reason I believed mileage was most important for training. I saw big miles as an accomplishment, and something that makes you go faster. I think when I got on Strava and saw the huge miles riders were setting, I was impressed (still am), and confused that with going faster.
Mileage is only (slightly) part of training. My training schedule is set by time, and by effort. Nowhere is mileage listed. And it hasn't ever been, yet I've used miles as a goal.
Miles (and time) are important when considering a race. Longer races will require increases to both, and if I only train 17 miles for a race that's 31, I'm not doing myself any justice, regardless of how fast I'm riding. But of course, the times will be off, as well.
I'm going to concentrate on how much time I ride, and what I do during that time, easy and hard efforts. I'm not going to feel bad if I don't have huge miles, and am counting on resting to make me stronger, which should allow me to hit my targets when training.
I am keeping 10k as a goal, however, because, well, it's fun.
It's a goal to think about after August. A secondary objective I've set in order to reach the larger goal of having fun.
I really, really enjoy longer rides North, I love making it to Bear Mountain, enjoy taking the train up and riding back, and want to make that happen over the summer as well, but especially as I wind down any type of race-specific training.
I'll probably take a week or two over the summer just for longer rides, to clear my head and ease off all that sprinting.
Thanks, Jules. Your mention of TSS and looking at training vs commuting miles really got me thinking about what the hell I was focusing on. Coach Lipscomb asked me a couple of years ago why I don't train by time instead of miles, and I can finally answer that.
Jan 04, 2016 at 06:43 PM
Happy to have spurred some useful thought Bruce.
I've posted this in the past but I'll do it again:
I like to have four different kinds of goals for my year so that 1) all my eggs aren't in one basket and 2) so that I always have something fun to try and achieve when I'm burned out on the goal I'm pursing.
My goal types (ymmv)
1) Racing: upgrade category, place in races, etc (these are always specific, like "Podium at Battenkill" or upgrade to Cat 3 by August 1st
2) Skills: (learn to ride the barriers at cross, consistently dismount/remount over 20 kph, ride up stairs, 2 minute trackstand, etc)
3) Power: 450 watts for five minutes, 700 watts for a minute - whatever floats your boat. 320 normp for an hour, or watts/kg
4) Life: this one is always squishy but the most important. Things like don't get completely out of shape between thanksgiving and xmass, or average 8 hours sleep for weekdays (impossible, for me) or avoiding burnout or (big for me) don't ride in a way that I regret the time away from family.
I've posted this in the past but I'll do it again:
I like to have four different kinds of goals for my year so that 1) all my eggs aren't in one basket and 2) so that I always have something fun to try and achieve when I'm burned out on the goal I'm pursing.
My goal types (ymmv)
1) Racing: upgrade category, place in races, etc (these are always specific, like "Podium at Battenkill" or upgrade to Cat 3 by August 1st
2) Skills: (learn to ride the barriers at cross, consistently dismount/remount over 20 kph, ride up stairs, 2 minute trackstand, etc)
3) Power: 450 watts for five minutes, 700 watts for a minute - whatever floats your boat. 320 normp for an hour, or watts/kg
4) Life: this one is always squishy but the most important. Things like don't get completely out of shape between thanksgiving and xmass, or average 8 hours sleep for weekdays (impossible, for me) or avoiding burnout or (big for me) don't ride in a way that I regret the time away from family.
Jan 04, 2016 at 07:15 PM
On distance as a goal...
if I only train 17 miles for a race that's 31, I'm not doing myself any justice, regardless of how fast I'm riding.
This is generally true, but again, time is probably a better indicator. If the race is 3 hours long, your training should include rides with that time or a bit longer.
If your base is good -- and sure sounds, Bruce, yours is solid -- time might be better spent training for the hard moment of the race.
Bear Mountain, for example, requires about 10 minutes at FTP+ with steps for the Tiorati climb. Focus mostly on that part. A good base should allow you the rest of the race, regardless of distance.
Jan 04, 2016 at 08:41 PM
I think this should probably go on the training rather than goals thread, but I want to second what Eloy says, because training for a 31 mile race with a handful of hour to hour and a half training sessions is possible, because you have a good base, but what you have to train for is the intensity. Most races have a couple of key moments of intensity. So train for those and if you've got a decent base you can hang on through the rest.
All this goes out the window when you discuss time trialing.
All this goes out the window when you discuss time trialing.