Too late to start training for the W200 ?

RobAMerc

Hi all,

Signed up for the 200 almost on first day of reg with the very best of intentions, but so far this year have only managed to get out once - did 100km fairly easy though.

Still doing the 12km each way each day to be fair but that's not much use I reckon.

Anyway - Is it too late to get in shape for the W200 ?

It will be Sat 25th before I'm out proper.

Gavin

No problem I'd say. The regular commute really helps more than you'd think.

I'm pretty much in the same boat, wasn't cycling for around a month and only getting back into it now.

irishmotorist

It depends on your current fitness I'd say. Hypothetically, would you be happy with going out to do, say, 140km to 150km this weekend? If you think that would unachievable, then perhaps you've left it a bit late to get the time and miles into your legs.

I think it's a gradual thing to build up stamina for long events (8 hours+) and to start from scratch now would be too late. There's about 7 weekends to go to the WW200 so your previous 100km should mean that you could do that again this weekend, 120km next weekend and maybe 140km the weekend after? You'll know yourself if that's pushing it a bit or not once you go to e.g. 120km.

DirkVoodoo

Yup, I am of the opinion that regular commuting is a huge help for cycling fitness, I notice a big difference going out for weekly spins when I have not been commuting by bike.

Get as many saturday spins in between now and then if you can, they mostly cover large chunks of the W200 route, so you can become familiar with the routes and avoid any surprises on the day.

Lumen

I read on an endurance cycling site that you can ride three times further than you are comfortable with.

I have no idea what it means, other than that if you can only cycle 67km in comfort, the last 133km of the Wicklow 200 will start uncomfortably and get steadily worse.

Chips Lovell

To every problem there is always a solution.

rottenhat

Stop looking for excuses and go out and ride your bike.

72hundred

rottenhat wrote: »

Stop looking for excuses and go out and ride your bike.

A little harsh surely?

rottenhat

It's tough love. But not as tough as the love he'll get from Slieve Maan and Glenmalure if he doesn't go out and ride his bike.

Would it help if I went back and put in a smiley?

lukester

I'm in a similar position, except that I've been training for about 6 weeks. I've had a niggling IT band issue since last yr, went to the physio this week just to keep an eye on it and he wondered if it was a good idea to do be aiming for 200k, and said I wasn't out to win any medals. Eh, hello, I'm out to win medals, in my head at least.

I came out pretty de-motivated and a bit pi$$ed off, but then thought feck that, I'm doing this sucker. I was up to 100k hilly spins last year with a decent bit, for me, of climbing.

I've been trying to build up miles gradually. My only option is to train in the morning before work as new baby in the house requires daddy hands in the evening and at weekends. Don't have a commute anymore since I moved job before Christmas. Have racked up about 600k in that time, which ain't a lot, longest ride so far has been 60k. Doing hills the past few weeks, mainly Stocking Lane and up past Liam Horner out of Enniskerry.

I'm aiming to train 'smarter', so make my remaining training weeks a bit more structured, with some intervals and proper recovery days. May pick up Joe Friel's book, unless anyone has a better suggestion.

I'd say get out there and ride, using some training plan that builds towards your goal, plenty available online. If you get to the few weeks before and can manage 120k without killing yourself, you should be able to do it. Bear in mind it's broken into 3 chunks with rest/refuelling stops.

Either way, if you start training now, at least you're on the bike, and you can opt for the 100 on the day if you have to.

rottenhat

lukester wrote: »

Eh, hello, I'm out to win medals, in my head at least.

They give you the medal no matter where you finish. It's a bit like the Special Olympics.

Lumen

lukester wrote: »

I'm aiming to train 'smarter', so make my remaining training weeks a bit more structured, with some intervals and proper recovery days. May pick up Joe Friel's book, unless anyone has a better suggestion.

I have a suggestion. I don't know if it's better.

There are two aspects to distance cycling:

1. Doing the distance (total work).
2. Pacing yourself (rate of work).

Obviously in an ideal world you train for the event, i.e. do lots of long rides.

An alternative approach for the time-poor is to mix very short, hard rides (40 minutes plus warm up and warm down) with long, slow rides.

This way, you'll increase your fitness and be able to ride at a given speed at a lower percentage of your "flat out" rate.

This is my theory of why last September I found a 60k boards spin intolerably difficult, and now I find the same pace for 100k fairly comfortable. It's not so much to do with the distance, it's that I'm now riding the same pace at 70% effort, not 90% effort, so I can sustain it for longer.

unionman

I signed up early too, and then had a disastrous couple of months of little or no cycling for various reasons. Have managed to get out a few times in the last few weeks, with noticable improvement each time. Went on last weeks boards spin and did loads of climbing (for me) over 106km. I was very pleased with that, especially as I felt great the next day.

With 7 weeks to go I'm just going to take whatever opportunity I can to get out, which won't be as much as I'd like (work, family, life, take your pick, but I take responsibility for that. Making excuses to yourself is time consuming and will keep you off the bike). On june 7th my plan is to get round the W200 in 10 hours of riding.

So no. It's not too late. Get out there.

rottenhat

The biggest thing to remember is that you don't have to have cycled a 200 to do a 200. On an event like the Wicklow where you're surrounded by 1400 other cyclists, the psychological lift will carry you far beyond what you'd do on day out by yourself. If you can already do 100km without feeling too rough, you're not far off the shape you need to be in to finish. If you spend the next seven weeks getting out regularly and throw in as much climbing as you can, you'll be heading towards being fit enough to enjoy it too.

lukester

Lumen wrote: »

I have a suggestion. I don't know if it's better.

There are two aspects to distance cycling:

1. Doing the distance (total work).
2. Pacing yourself (rate of work).

... It's not so much to do with the distance, it's that I'm now riding the same pace at 70% effort, not 90% effort, so I can sustain it for longer.

I hear ya, that's what I've gradually been realising from my scientific examination of the evidence on the internet. All my rides have been at a 'steady' pace, be they long or short. I've thrown in some extra effort on hills and some sprints on the flat, but on a fairly, no, very, ad hoc basis. I've tried to increase the steady pace gradually.

But proper intervals and hill repeats mixed in with long steady rides and proper, super easy recovery rides are what all the online coaches recommend. I'm aiming to up my training to 5 days a week and structure it as described, with recovery after the hard stuff.

Very gladly hear any other suggestions from others who've followed a structured plan.

Joe Friel? Vassup or Ich don't think so?

ROK ON

@Rob: You'll be grand.
If, you can start on 25th as you say, then work from 100k up to 160k over the following four weeks.
Rest for a week, and then allow the momentum on the day pull youaround for the final 40k.

oflahero

ROK ON wrote: »

@Rob: You'll be grand.
If, you can start on 25th as you say, then work from 100k up to 160k over the following four weeks.
Rest for a week, and then allow the momentum on the day pull youaround for the final 40k.

Apart from one brief hiatus as you cry bitter tears as you attempt to lug yourself up 'the wall' just outside Enniskerry on the way back in. "In my head, it was flat all the way back from Rathdrum."

blorg

I had never done over 100km before I did my first W200 in 2007. I was actually planning on the 100km but then when it came to the turn off I reckoned, why not and turned right. Glad I did, the 100 would not have been much of a challenge.

It was certainly tough but I got around it, didn't stop on any of the climbs or anything. From the looks on the faces of some of the guys I passed going up Slieve Maan I was not the worst prepared either, I am sure they all finished too BTW.

So I wouldn't worry about it too much.

As regards training it is light till near 21:00 these evenings so I would not restrict yourself to Saturdays. Try and get as much mileage in as possible.

Long and steady is fine, after all the W200 is not a race and slow and steady is how the vast majority tackle it. If you can get into a good group between the climbs it will be a hell of a lot easier.

Hungrycol

rottenhat wrote: »

The biggest thing to remember is that you don't have to have cycled a 200 to do a 200.

That's what I think too. You don't train for a marathon by running a marathon IMO. I, like the OP, feel that although I commute I have no big miles under my belt. My longest spin this year was at the weekend just there where I did 60ks, averaging 30.9kph with one small climb. Slieve Maan was burtal for me last year and I had more miles training then than I do now. Not only that but I'm away the weekend and week before the W200 as it's the June Bank Holiday week(end).