It never gets easier, you just get faster!

El Caballo

Right...might as well kick off a log as I've finally got around to joining a club with the aim to get into racing and learning the craft.

My history is that of a middle/long distance runner first and recreational cyclist second who hopped onto the saddle just to get out and explore rarely enough and just for fun but circumstances with work mean I won't be able to run as much for the rest of the year and means my commute by bike should offer up an opportunity to finally get into racing a bike...that and the fact that I've poured so much money into building a race bike that it would be a shame not to use it for what it was built for.

I'd consider myself fit but just not bike fit as of yet and I've never really done any specific race training, just leisurely rides so I've got a limited license for this year just to get used to bunch riding and building my engine through club races and TT's with maybe the thought of stepping up to A4 if my improvements are good at some point over the summer but I'll see how it goes on that front and how my bike legs come on. But for now, the plan is to lay down a foundation, build and learn about the training so would appreciate any and all input on training tips and ideas. I'd be fairly familiar with running training and periodisation but I'm not sure if the idea's are transferable to cycling? I'm a bit clueless as of yet.

Stats:

Age: 26
Height: 6,2
Weight: 69kg

So, nothing else to do but get cracking and hope to update weekly.:)

El Caballo

Saturday 28th May- 107k Steady

Monday 30th May- 35k

Tuesday 31st May- 35k w/30 min @ Threshold effort

Wednesday 1st June- 35k

Thursday 2nd June- 40k w/5 minute hill repeats @high gear and low cadence

Friday 3rd June- Rest

Saturday 4th June- 3 hours and 10 minutes w/hill efforts

Decent start for me, highest number of weekly Km's I've ever spent in the saddle with some structured efforts thrown in for a good measure. Still trying to figure out what feeling I should be aiming for at threshold and repeats as the pain is so much more different to what I'm used to from running but this is a new learning curve and will take practice to nail down.

Thursday's hill repeats in a high gear were tough, really tough as I think that's one of my weakest aspects on the bike, although climbing is by far my biggest strength if an untrained rider can say that:pac:, that's more down to my weight than power and as natural spinner, my muscles just aren't used to pushing out raw power in a high gear at ~60 rpm so this felt alien and grindy to make it up the climb each time but is something I'll seriously need to put time into and develop.

All in all, happy out. The Munster TT is open to limited license this weekend so I might give that a bash as my first ever bike race. Be a new experience to be propping up the bottom of the results sheet but a man's got to start somewhere and it should be a great opportunity to see what I can do with a shot of adrenaline and the competitive juices flowing. Had to send back my span new c50's to Shimano 3 weeks ago so hopefully they will be back on time for it as well.

LeoD

So how did 2016 work out in the end? Did you go racing?

El Caballo

Unfortunately not. I underestimated how much work I had to do with the new job and deadline, ended up working 7 days and 80 hours a week over the summer and from dawn to dusk up until the end of the year, I hadn't time or energy to do anything else outside of work except eat and sleep. I would've loved to have given it a shot to see how it shaped up but sometimes, these things don't work out.

Now that I have time to dedicate fully to my training again, My focus will be back on running. It's my first love and I want to see how far I can go there. Trying to be competitive at both would eat into my ability to do one thing to my best so running takes priority for me and before someone says triathlon, no just no!:) Will still keep on the bike for leisure and crosstraining but that will be about the size of it.

Best of luck with your own log and goals! Hopefully, you can find a balance and get firing again:)

LeoD

Shame you didn't get to test yourself on the bike - best of luck with the running. Thanks for the encouragement - it'll be needed!