Getting a coach..and how it works/costs etc?

martyc5674

Jack Joll wrote: »

5 hours is a bit slack, and by the sounds there's not much commitment to that, what happens If one week you miss a Sat and Sunday training or cycling then next week ya dont get on the bike til Tuesday or Wednesday thats the guts of a week missed.
Point is its time to be realistic here, cycle racing is all about honesty in particular with yourself, and been brutally honest whats the point in suffering in an A4 race every weekend just to say your a bike racer. You'd be better off at home out on a bun run, enjoying the bike. Not everyone has to be a racer, but point been training should closely reflect your goals. If your goals are to sit in the bunch of A4's and just come in on their coat tails 5hours may be enough, anymore and your dreaming. Not only that expensive, with diesel, food, and entry fee, why put the expense on yourself.
In my experience through the years in numerous sports I have taken part, I always heard the "have no time" line, but if your honest as I said before, it's laziness!! There I said it! Theres plenty of time in a day, damn I do it myself, as soon as I have the youngster in bed - rollers for 1:30hr. First thing in the morning!! same, lights on the bike cycle to work. It can be done,,unless your a doctor and on call 23hrs a day??

Honesty!! 5 hours will get you no where, but a dislike for the bike. And we dont want that!

Ok... Since you speak about honesty a lot.
Answer this honestly.
Did actually you read my OP?

If you did you would realize I don't race/intend racing.. So i guess you didn't.

I spend approx 5 hrs a week on the bike and I'm simply asking how best to use those hours, be it 1 hour hills 1 hour intervals 3 hours endurance etc to maintain a good level of fitness... That's all.
Marty.

12 sprocket

martyc5674 wrote: »

Ok... Since you speak about honesty a lot.
Answer this honestly.
Did actually you read my OP?

If you did you would realize I don't race/intend racing.. So i guess you didn't.

I spend approx 5 hrs a week on the bike and I'm simply asking how best to use those hours, be it 1 hour hills 1 hour intervals 3 hours endurance etc to maintain a good level of fitness... That's all.
Marty.

Heres a radical thought.. just wake up every day and ask yourself what would I really enjoy doing today in regard to cycling and go and do it, and even within the spin you might change your mind or route.. it could be a matter of what's up that side road? I was never up there before lets go and see.

Jack Joll

Honestly, when ya caught me out there I thought I hadn't and had just given advice, with all other replies at the back of my mind. But then I went back to the OP, and realised I had read your post...you merely said you wouldn't be at a standard to race! You didnt mention you werent trying to improve your standard, guess I mistook what you meant. And therefore you have nothing to worry about!

martyc5674

Jack Joll wrote: »

Honestly, when ya caught me out there I thought I hadn't and had just given advice, with all other replies at the back of my mind. But then I went back to the OP, and realised I had read your post...you merely said you wouldn't be at a standard to race! You didnt mention you werent trying to improve your standard, guess I mistook what you meant. And therefore you have nothing to worry about!

No Worries... thread had gone off track errr a wee bit...

mathie

martyc5674 wrote: »

No Worries... thread had gone off track errr a wee bit...

Do you just want to know a way to get the most out the five hours a week you have?

Leroy42

@marty5674, if you have no intention of racing then IMO a coach is overkill.

First off is the motivation/time management. You need to be clear on what you can/are willing to put in before you can contemplate how much you are going to get out.

unfortunately, any significant time on the bike requires sacrifice. Whether that means giving up on nights out, getting up early, doing rollers after kids bedtime, it really depends on your circumstances.

One thing to consider, and plan for, is that it isn't just a sacrifice on your part. Your partner, kids, friends etc will all be impacted to some degree. Friends will see you less on nights out for example, but especially the family as you will be away for hours every weekend. The flip side is maybe you need to then do more during the week or whatever to balance it out. And its not just the time of the cycle. There will be times where you will come back wrecked and the whole day is pretty much a write off in terms of you being of any use!

There are plenty of outline plans on the web to get you started. With winter coming up a great way to get useful advice is to join a club. Many will be starting their winter spins in the next month or so and its a great way to head out with others and see what they are doing etc.

martyc5674

mathie wrote: »

Do you just want to know a way to get the most out the five hours a week you have?

YES!!!...thats it exactly... and I suppose I thought id need the help of a coach to develop some kind of program to do that, after seeing the prices people quoted here that wont be happening!

As it is thats all the time i can afford on the bike...life is pretty hectic at the moment so i want to make the most out of it and come out the other side of rearing the kids some way fit!


Marty.

Amprodude

I have a coach for about 6 weeks now. I was getting dropped in my first A3 races but after I got a coach I was finishing in the bunch. Except on last stage of Charleville yesterday where I was dropped and came in with the 2nd bunch and lost time. It's p#ssing off when you don't keep a good thing going but time to park up the bike for a while now before the winter.

Leroy42

You can still do a lot with 5 hours, but I guess most people (myself included) didn't pick up on the fact that the 5 hours was the limit.

You can do 2 1 hour turbo sessions during the week and then a 3 hour ride on the weekend. This would help your power but also keep your endurance up.

For those 2 1 hour turbo sessions, it is essential that you have a clear plan. Maybe get the sufferfest videos (i'm never used them myself) of perhaps the Strava plans etc. I used them and found them good for keeping me focused.

The main thing, given your limited time, is that every minute has to be used for something. Get rid of the wasted miles. Sure, nothing wrong with the long slow distance miles that are the traditional winter program, but if you has very limited time look at whcih use of the time you do have gives the best bang for your buck.

There are many studies that show that short, but frequent, high intensity sessions can give extremely positive results. The downside is that this way is very difficult, but from a physical and mental point of view.

What is it that you are trying to achieve, its kinda got lost in the thread, and that will gives us a basis on which to give a bit more detail

G1032

Leroy42 wrote: »

What is it that you are trying to achieve, its kinda got lost in the thread, and that will gives us a basis on which to give a bit more detail

He wants to get faster but can't afford a lot of training time.
He needs to better structure his existing 5 hours training time to help him achieve this

martyc5674 wrote: »

Not the case... I want to get better/faster by training the same amount but by training smarter.
I already train hard but there's no real structure.
Marty.

Lumen

One approach is to do one hour a week on the turbo and the other four enjoying the improved fitness out on the road, just riding your bike.

Better that than sucking the joy out of all five hours by treating them as "training". Unless you really like training, in which case five hours isn't enough.

martyc5674

Leroy42 wrote: »

You can still do a lot with 5 hours, but I guess most people (myself included) didn't pick up on the fact that the 5 hours was the limit.

You can do 2 1 hour turbo sessions during the week and then a 3 hour ride on the weekend. This would help your power but also keep your endurance up.

For those 2 1 hour turbo sessions, it is essential that you have a clear plan. Maybe get the sufferfest videos (i'm never used them myself) of perhaps the Strava plans etc. I used them and found them good for keeping me focused.

The main thing, given your limited time, is that every minute has to be used for something. Get rid of the wasted miles. Sure, nothing wrong with the long slow distance miles that are the traditional winter program, but if you has very limited time look at whcih use of the time you do have gives the best bang for your buck.

There are many studies that show that short, but frequent, high intensity sessions can give extremely positive results. The downside is that this way is very difficult, but from a physical and mental point of view.

What is it that you are trying to achieve, its kinda got lost in the thread, and that will gives us a basis on which to give a bit more detail

Your right...ill start another thread... the "coach" word has this one going the wrong direction.
Marty.

NeedMoreGears

My own suggestion would be to set yourself a goal - something more specific than "go faster" and build a plan around that; five hours/week would let you tackle a 100km-130km sportif.

Five hours should give you 2 x 1 hours (turbo would be best as it's so hard but also quite controllable in terms of effort) and one 3hr spin at the weekend. 3hrs should give you some endurance work, maybe some hills and and even some "just cycling your bike"

You might have a look at the "Time Crunched Cyclist", which sounds like it might be aimed at someone like yourself.

BremoreDave

NeedMoreGears wrote: »

Five hours should give you 2 x 1 hours (turbo would be best as it's so hard but also quite controllable in terms of effort) and one 3hr spin at the weekend. 3hrs should give you some endurance work, maybe some hills and and even some "just cycling your bike"

I found my fitness levels improved a lot this year just following the above . 1 to 2 sessions of 2*20 intervals on the turbo or a session of hill sprints , and then 2.5hr or 3hr club spin at the weekend.

outfox

godtabh wrote: »

Which book? The Power Meter Handbook?

Cyclist Training Bible. Given that the OP want's to maximise his 5 h, I think he'd find the book very useful. Assuming he can spare the 5 days it takes to figure the damn thing out!

BarryAlfaro

everyone say that getting a coach is helpful but what about the expenses,I can not afford it,I think internet is from where we can get every help,no need of coach.

Daroxtar

Sorry to hijack the thread but would a coach give guidance on pedalling technique? I know YouTube can show me how but would a trained eye be of benefit to get me moving more efficiently?