Get off the couch and go cycle

coco0981

Decided i would start a training log to try and motivate/shame myself into getting more active this summer

I only got a bike 2 years ago after knee injuries made me switch over from running to biking. I'm 36 now, i only started running at 30 after about 10 years of no sporting activity. Did Dublin marathon 3 years in a row and enjoyed the comradery involved in the club. Always said I would switch over to cycling eventually due to runnings impact on the body, in the end it was forced on me a few years earlier than I wanted.

I like professional cycling as a sport, just find it far more time consuming than running as a pastime. I've signed up to trainerroad as using the turbo before work is the easiest time for me to train. In previous 2 years I didn't even manage 1,000km a year so my first FTP test was unsurprisingly very low, 126 watts

Weight has fluctuated in recent years between 11st 6 and 12st 10. Back down to 11st 6 now again, I'm only 5'8" so should be 11 or less.

So by end of 2018 I want to
*Weigh under 11 stone
*Have an FTP of 215+
*Do a 80km + sportive

In 2019 I want to
*Enter an A4 race

Cionn

My advice would be to join a club and get outdoors. Cycling can provide both fitness and access to a nice community if you put yourself out there. I started a couch to 50 program last year and ended up doing events 150km long by July, really enjoyed it. By comparison to you i am a Fat B and I got on with it, but it has all been positive so get on the bike and get out there, outdoors by comparison to turbo work is great

coco0981

Cionn wrote: »

My advice would be to join a club and get outdoors. Cycling can provide both fitness and access to a nice community if you put yourself out there. I started a couch to 50 program last year and ended up doing events 150km long by July, really enjoyed it. By comparison to you i am a Fat B and I got on with it, but it has all been positive so get on the bike and get out there, outdoors by comparison to turbo work is great

Ya I had cycled with the local club a few times over the last 2 years but to be honest I wasn't fit enough to keep up on the longer rides. I'm intending on going back to the club spins after after another few weeks of training, it's definitely more enjoyable at the weekends to get outdoors for a spin. During the week though I find the trainer handy for training before work

coco0981

1st Month update

Weight has gone down from 11 stone 6 to 11 stone 2 so almost at the 11 I want to get to

Ftp gone from 126 to 155, not sure how high I can go before the new to cycling gains stop and I have to work for every extra 5 watts. Think getting to 180 in next 3 months might be achievable, not sure of 215 by year end

Have been out with the club a few times on longer spins, did 92k yesterday with 800 metres of climbing at average of 25.7. Legs definitely feel rough today. Had also done a 33k ride by myself on Friday at 28.3km/h on a flat route, that's fast for me so legs need a day or 2 to recover.

Plan is to keep up the longer spins at the weekend and try do some shorter intense stuff midweek, 3 times a week is as much as I can fit in probably.

My bike handling skills need a lot of work as well, I'm still very nervous going downhill, going to work on pushing myself on this next month. Also I can't ride without a hand on the handlebar, unlike almost every young kid I see in my area 😱😱

Cionn

Solid results, you should be happy with them. Again my advice would be to stick with the club and get more involved with their training program. They will be good for motivation which will be needed for a sustained effort. It may be time to pick a sportive to do, to test yourself both from a fitness and bike handling skills perspective. With those stats it should be no problem. As for riding with no hands, you were born with two hands , if you crash having not used either of them it would be pretty embarrassing, stick to using at least one.

coco0981

Cionn wrote: »

Solid results, you should be happy with them. Again my advice would be to stick with the club and get more involved with their training program. They will be good for motivation which will be needed for a sustained effort. It may be time to pick a sportive to do, to test yourself both from a fitness and bike handling skills perspective. With those stats it should be no problem. As for riding with no hands, you were born with two hands , if you crash having not used either of them it would be pretty embarrassing, stick to using at least one.

Oh I don't particularly want to ride with no hands, just see it as a sign of my poor balance/handling skills which I want to improve. Definitely finding the club rides testing, have been out for 3 spins over 75k. Indoor training in this heat is a non starter for me so it'll be outdoors for the next good while I'd say

Borderfox

I ran the couch to 50km group in our club and got everyone that started up to 50km in 8 weeks and a few more from that group up to 100km in 12 weeks at 25kmph average. All ages, all sizes and lots of different experiences.

Your doing well on all fronts so keep up the good work, don't concentrate on the numbers all the time. Just get out and put the Garmin in the back pocket and enjoy the experience

coco0981

2 months since the last update and my training has been a bit intermittent between holidays and the weather being too warm for me at times.

Finding the longer club rides and sportives increasingly more comfortable. Not worried about being dropped now, have felt strong all throughout them

Weight is now 10st 12 so have gone below my target which is great, 8 pounds down since I started this log and just shy of 2 stone lost in 7 months overall

FTP is 186, up from 155 at last update and 126 since first log entry. Still a long long way to go to get decent power numbers, but at least combined with the weight loss it's puts my watts/kg at 2.74 so getting closer to the 3.0 mark.

P.S I know Borderfox you said to forget about the numbers but I like seeing them, I find them motivating to see tangible improvements

sullzz

coco0981 wrote: »

2 months since the last update and my training has been a bit intermittent between holidays and the weather being too warm for me at times.

Finding the longer club rides and sportives increasingly more comfortable. Not worried about being dropped now, have felt strong all throughout them

Weight is now 10st 12 so have gone below my target which is great, 8 pounds down since I started this log and just shy of 2 stone lost in 7 months overall

FTP is 186, up from 155 at last update and 126 since first log entry. Still a long long way to go to get decent power numbers, but at least combined with the weight loss it's puts my watts/kg at 2.74 so getting closer to the 3.0 mark.

P.S I know Borderfox you said to forget about the numbers but I like seeing them, I find them motivating to see tangible improvements

Great progress so far , keep it up .