Racing 795 Member Forum

Seeing we're in middle of winter and the the forum is quiet - anyone out there want to share some of their training tips or lessons learned over the last year in terms of racing/training/nutrition? Seeing I'm not a MTB would be interesting to hear how the crew structure their training

Mtb training is easy and uncomplicated depending on who is out it generally involves trying too keep up with rudolf or Conway for a few hours!
Df has become a savage of late also, would like to know his secret
We also all could benefit from a insight into Frank the tanks bike training he was like a blur going past me at the last time trial
What about yourself Brian, would like a peek at your running plan

BarryB wrote:Mtb training is easy and uncomplicated depending on who is out it generally involves trying too keep up with rudolf or Conway for a few hours!
Df has become a savage of late also, would like to know his secret
We also all could benefit from a insight into Frank the tanks bike training he was like a blur going past me at the last time trial
What about yourself Brian, would like a peek at your running plan

Agree, MTB training is fairly straightforward. Ride your bike a lot and develop a capacity for suffering.
DF's secret is simple, bigger spins, smaller cheese platters!

Gosh there was nearly a week of eerie quiteness and then we get several posts in a few hours, emails of surveys and John Treacy videos. Well you all know my nutrition secret now, toblerone!! As for training tips, well lots of it . Only joking! We're all in the same boat here, limited time for training for varying reasons, so it has to be effecitve, ie. 'always know what you are going to get out of a training session before you start'. I learned a valuable lesson this year, less is more, so low hr sets are an essential. I was doing most of my training in higher hr bands and killing myself (not to mention losing the enjoyment factor), 70% of trianing is in easy hr ranges (well somewhat). The final lesson I can give is split your season into base, build & race as training differs in all three. We can't be winning TT's all year round

mtb'ers:

i hate to burst your bubble, but none of you (us) are training

we merely go on spins, the pace of which is determined usually by the fastest rider on the day and the humour of the following pack.

Assuming you have conquered the ability to ride technical trails then mtb training should be broken down into a similar regime to what Don is talking about. If we think that going out and bursting yourself into submission for an hour is good training...thibk again

So, in my view, like the triathlon disciplines, mtb training should be about:
Long spins
Interval training
Tempo sessions

Of course I have never followed such a regime. But I think I will this year and see what happens.

Just having a bit of a break. bring out the big bike and have some fun. the season was long enough on the skinny bike. now just doing 2 spins a week. 1 short 1/1.5 hours one long 2/3 hours. not realy looking on the watch but just spin the legs. coming january maybe a bit more on the road. starting intervals only a month or so before the first race. as Don said keep it steady and you will benefit when the season starts. but its also good to feel some pain so now and then to keep you sharp.

good food and keeping the weight down will make a massive difference in how your training will benefit you

good luck

When getting back into serious training after the 'winter break' every training session should have a purpose - think about what the session is supposed to do for you be it a swim, run or cycle. Problem for me at the minute is that the function of all my training is purely to burn off calories and try and keep the belly away

Dioralyte salts - always bring them with me for long races just in case of cramp, learned the hard way in WAR last year

much the same as the lads are saying, 70-80% at easy pace where you can hold a conversation (<130 bpm for me). I have to say I find the training below enjoyable as it's all about quality and not just bursting yourself every night you go out and it's not time hungry

From taking to Tom and other runners one big thing I learned (eventually!) is don' leave home without the heart rate monitor! Too easy to plan on going out for an easy run and cause you feel good you turn the heart up and then you wonder why the next day you can't do a good interval session! If I had only 3 times a week to run I would do

- a hills session , find a big juicy hill with a stretch 500m, after a 10 minute easy warm up, start the interval getting your heart rate at the top to 160-165 (depends on age), come easy back down the hill and don't start until your heart rate is below 120 (time how long it takes to recover below 120, if it takes > 1minute your done for the day!), 6-10 reps
- a tempo, 10 minute warm up followed by 30-40 minutes at approx 155 bpm and warm down easy
- a long easy run at <130 bpm to build aerobic capacity for 90 minutes plus, you building up no lactic acid so should be fine the next day, be warned it can be frustrating is it feels like you are just plodding along!

if you had another 2 nights it would be another interval session and another easy run. The only time I felt like I made any progress on the bike is doing a few intervals with frank.
I think we did too much biking this year just horsing it out without much thought. I think there is a lot of scope within the club to improve road bike times with some interval training

with the 3 sports - i don't know I loved to know how to balance it! Got to live as well

So far, i'm learning lots... great topic Shaughs. Have to admit, i don't pay enough attention to the HR and as lazyboypops often pointed out on the winter runs "too fast, too fast...."

Here's my tuppence worth.

Just calculated training volume for bike and run between 2010 and 2011. Bike volume increased by a factor of 2.4 times what i covered in 2010 and run vol by a factor of 2.1. Slow runs in January and February were hugely beneficial (never did more than 14k before that). Bottom line, miles on the legs is the obvious! The war training with Barry, Shaughs and PJ in April was hugely beneficial, as it incorporated Corrabut, hill running (digs on the ups and leg speed on the downs) and transition with long cycles.

Single most important benefit IMO was the bike fit and tribars that suited me. Let it be placebo, but i immediately felt comfortable in the aero position and confidence followed, after lots of training in this position.

Next lesson i learned was changing my training once tri season started, as wondered how i would fit what i was doing in between all these races. The answer i found on the web. - http://www.tri247.com/article_2287.html (Check out the tables on typical and taper week).

This was nice and simple and i followed what i could within my time constraints. I found the taper information particularly useful. Info like intervals at 10km race pace was v useful and tryin to keep Shaughs in view kept me focused (and that's just the intervals). Definitely think that the 16km TT's were beneficial (we did invite people on these - along Enniscorthy Oilgate - fast surface).

Lastly, as the saying goes, "if you learn by your mistakes, I'm getting a great education" - well bonking on a 100km cycle in October, made me consider the role of nutrition far more! Was 10km from home and had to be collected! Simply put - solid breakie and aim for 40-60grams of carbohydrates per hour of activity (Having a nutritionist in the house helped!). This translates simply as a large gel on the half hour and an energy bar on the hour. Don't go to the well and then realise your hungry - As Willie John said "get your retaliation in first".

Some of the above is probably obvious to some of you, but may help new members or those who intend to ramp up the training.

Love to hear from others - cmon guys, share the wealth!

DavidF wrote:mtb'ers:
i hate to burst your bubble, but none of you (us) are training
we merely go on spins, the pace of which is determined usually by the fastest rider on the day and the humour of the following pack...

You're right of course, and for most mountain bikers great spins are what it's all about. Have the craic, go hard or easy as the humour takes you, chase or be chased, stop and enjoy the view if you're so inclined. Fitness is a by-product, not an end in itself.

That said, I agree that to improve performance you need to mix it up a bit, and as a mixed discipline club we have plenty of opportunities to do that. Might be up for some of those hill interval sessions with Tank and Shaughs next year!

My usual routine is MTB twice a week all year round (3 times is a bonus), usually a long spin or a race on Sunday, and a shorter, harder spin midweek.
The best I felt all year was during the summer. I'm no sports scientist but I put it down to two things:
1 - I reduced my overall food intake (we all eat far more than we need, it's a first world plague!)
2 - I did one hour road spins, fat-burning zone, twice a week before work.

When it comes to nutrition, for me less is more. Normal quantities of simple food the day before a race, chicken, pasta and the like. Small breakfast on the morning of the race with muller rice or similar for elevenses (I used to eat a sambo but the bread stuck in me gut). I nibble on a couple of fig rolls too. Plenty of hydration up to an hour before the race and then maybe a cup of coffee if possible. Usually take 1 gel with 30 mins to go in the race. Then eat like a pig afterwards