MS'ers Training in 2013

[ActiveMSers]

Pell, let's not forget that I famously climbed Mont Ventoux last year, which I documented on video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD-n7XVKYno

Let me know if I can give you any advice.

[AMFADVENTURES]

I am green with envy. I guess while everybody else is off messing around on Mont Ventoux, I'll have to make due with Pikes Peak. My brother says we're going to climb it this year, to which I foolishly replied "Sounds great, count me in!". If anyone cares to try out their climbing legs a little, come on out. On the off hand chance you actually make it to the top of the Peak, you can take the Cog Rail back down, thereby saving yourself from the atmospheric reentry speeds you'd otherwise encounter on the up to 14% descent. Pikes Peak has been newly paved and opened to bikes just last year.

Of course, if I ever made it I'd have huge bragging rights to spread around at the NM MS 150, and it would make the Truchas hill into something more akin to an overpass or some such.

I've been doing well with the weight training and the elliptical work, less so with the cycling. Cold weather has been the major factor. It has been snowing almost every weekend and refuses to warm up enough between snows to melt the ice. Yeah, yeah, I know, there's always spin class (ugh!).

Hope everybody's getting out there!

[penkalet]

Pell,

Sorry, I thought you were much younger than me because you sound pretty fast. I guess I am just a old slow guy!. And I even can't use the excuse of MS with you!
Your trip sound super fun with lots of great riding places and even greater vineyards like Beaujolais and Cotes du Rhones.
I will not worry too much about the language many French speak English and when they do, they love to practice.
It looks like your days there are pretty busy but if it is convenient for you, it could be easy for me to see you at les Baux or St Remy. I have some good friends that live at Maussanne les Alpines next to les Baux.
Good training and preparation to you two!
Alain

[pawpaw]

France

Alain,
My email is pellwardrop@gmail.com. I can send you our itinerary so you can see what would work best for you. We would love to arrange a meeting. I will also ask the tour organizers for a more detailed listing of the towns where the ship will be tied up for either lunch or the evening.
Alone, I am certainly not fast on the bike, but with my non-MS husband in the front, we can make good progress on the tandem. Hills are another story and we have never tackled mountains, so I suspect we will be pretty slow.

Pell

[AMFADVENTURES]

Got 117 miles in 8 hours last week making my February goal, 41 miles on Wed., 45 miles on Sat., and 31 miles on Sun. I was tired on Sun. and wouldn't have gone out at all except for my BFN's (bike fanatic neighbor) urging. The ride was the usual Sunday dash to Starbucks for coffee and back, a high intensity ride. After that ride was the best I've felt all week, I guess sometimes I just need to blow the pipes out. Also did all of the elliptical and weight training the schedule calls for.

I'm a little concerned that my base isn't where it should be so I might try to hold at this level for a week or two, then start to increase again, maybe even add a little climbing.

Everybody getting some time in? Anybody know how much base is enough?

AMF

[penkalet]

Hello AMF,

I did about the same then you last week in 3 days but in 9 hours.
My legs are very tired and stiff after the ride that I have to rest most of the day. I have started to do some staitching and yoga after the last couple rides and I so far it is helping! I hope I am on something.
Have a great week again.

Alain

[pawpaw]

Shaming me into moving, cardiac drift

Alain and AMF,
If you can get out and ride, I guess I have to do something. Last Sunday I enrolled in an indoor cycling class. It's in a spinning studio but our instructor is a cyclist and the spin bikes have power meters. We are using the power levels to train and that is pretty interesting. Her classes are mostly interval training and it is only once a week. It turns out my gym now has the same bikes so I was able to sneak into that spinning room and get some base miles in. Yesterday I rode a steady low power for an hour with a cadence about 85. Initially, holding that level resulted in a heart rate about 120. By the end of the hour I was at 140. The instructor says this is cardiac drift and it the reason you shouldn't train using your heart rate monitor alone.
The third session I have signed up for is computrainer sessions. These involve mounting our bikes on computerized trainers. A group of us are doing this on Friday mornings.
So, I am going to try to pedal something 4 times a week- 2 sessions for base miles and 2 sessions with intervals.
I am also doing 2 weight training classes a week and plan to get back to 2 pilates sessions a week. I wasn't a complete slug on the ship- did do 4 spin classes. That was pretty nice- watching the coast of NZ while spinning.
So you guys shamed me into moving. Good job.
Pell

[pawpaw]

Base question

AMF- You asked how much base is enough. I have been trying to read a bit about off season conditioning. We seemed to have lost all of our cycling training books with the remodel. They are put away somewhere.
I have read that 500 miles is the base you need before you start pushing. Have also read that the long slow rides are now out and that pushing harder for shorter time is in. I was sorry to hear this. The thought that I need to nearly die every time I get near the bike is distressing.
I think I am going to stay with my current plan and hope it is good enough. Also, the very structured programs are really for elite athletes. I have never been in that realm. For most, anything that keeps us moving is good enough.

Pell

[AMFADVENTURES]

Intervals

Alain, I felt the same way on Monday. I forced myself to go to the club anyway, tried to do an hour of elliptical but only managed 35 minutes and didn’t even bother to look at the weight room. Just too tired. I agree with you, stretching after a ride is a must and helps with the stiffness quite a bit and I can't say enough good things about yoga. I’ve also found that after a particularly long hard ride, really cold water on the legs and low back can essentially wipeout the stiffness and muscle fatigue. The water does have to be cold. The tap water in Denver works for me but the tap water in Tucson or Phoenix, AZ doesn’t, have to add ice there. Sounds like you’re well on your way to being ready for the MS ride.

Geez Pell, I don’t know how you fit all of that in, you’re pretty amazing. I did know that training with power is the best way to train but I didn’t know it was because of cardiac drift. I learned a couple more things the other day from the Gatorade Sports Physiology Conference tweets too (#GSSIXP). There was a huge section on HIIT’s and I probably haven’t been doing them as effectively as I could. They said the HIIT’s are ONLY effective if you get your heart rate up to at least 90% max for a minute or so AND let it recover. What they didn’t do is define “recover”, but the surprising thing was that if you don’t let your HR recover, you don’t get the benefit of the HIIT’s. I don’t think I’ve been letting my HR recover enough between intervals so now I’m paying more attention to that. You might run that by your new spin class instructor, I’d be interested to hear what she says.

I did my interval ride yesterday using a deeper HR recovery, and for the first time ever, I was able to stand on the pedals whenever I wanted to. I couldn’t stay up as long as I wanted but with a little seated recovery, I was always able to get back up on them. No need to worry though Pell, I’m not getting faster, at least not yet.

It’s snowing outside. I can barely see across the street. They’re calling for 6 to 8 inches. They probably underestimated. I’m sure Dave and Susannah are loving it, but all I can say is Blaaaaaa!

Stay Safe everybody,
Larry

[teena marie]

OK

I'm not in the same league but I'm aiming towards a few goals. First, master getting on my spin bike alone so that I can train more vigorously. I have a pretty good routine of exercises that I described in a post on this site. I've also managed the treadmill twice this week and feel some increased confidence on it. Second,I will be doing the swim portion of a triathalon this summer so I will be trainng in my backyard pool in another 2 months. Third, I'm back on my cross country skiis with assistance. I live in Montreal and the winter has been quite intense so getting around with forearm crutches and not face planting is another form of exercise! Plus I work as a research nurse and have some pretty long walks to my office. But, I'm getting faster in and out of work.

take care all and to be continued

Teena Marie

[AMFADVENTURES]

AMF- You asked how much base is enough. I have been trying to read a bit about off season conditioning. We seemed to have lost all of our cycling training books with the remodel. They are put away somewhere.
I have read that 500 miles is the base you need before you start pushing. Have also read that the long slow rides are now out and that pushing harder for shorter time is in. I was sorry to hear this. The thought that I need to nearly die every time I get near the bike is distressing.
I think I am going to stay with my current plan and hope it is good enough. Also, the very structured programs are really for elite athletes. I have never been in that realm. For most, anything that keeps us moving is good enough.

Pell

500 miles sounds familiar, if that's right, I'm not there. Somewhere I read the pro's consider a good base 250 to 300 miles per week. You're right, we'll never be pro's.

I'm not giving up the long slow rides either, I enjoy them too much. I am supplementing them with at least one HIIT session per week though. The HIIT's may not have to be as difficult as we've been trying to make them. Need to do a little more research on that.

Larry

[AMFADVENTURES]

OK

I'm not in the same league but I'm aiming towards a few goals. First, master getting on my spin bike alone so that I can train more vigorously. I have a pretty good routine of exercises that I described in a post on this site. I've also managed the treadmill twice this week and feel some increased confidence on it. Second,I will be doing the swim portion of a triathalon this summer so I will be trainng in my backyard pool in another 2 months. Third, I'm back on my cross country skiis with assistance. I live in Montreal and the winter has been quite intense so getting around with forearm crutches and not face planting is another form of exercise! Plus I work as a research nurse and have some pretty long walks to my office. But, I'm getting faster in and out of work.

take care all and to be continued

Teena Marie

Welcome Teena Marie. You say you're not in the same league but tell you what, there's no way I could do the swim portion of a tri, besides, the only thing that matters is that we're doing what we can.

Speaking of which, with this snow storm maybe I'll finally get my butt out there on the cross country ski's. Talk about face plants!

Glad you joined us,
Larry

BTW, what kind of research?

[teena marie]

Pediatric infectious disease. About 5 different projects. I feel lucky not to have any cognitive issues since my work is so detail oriented. Thanks for the welcome. I just finished my resistance band exercises for my legs. I will now do my various stick pushups for my upper body.

And then bed with a glass of wine and my book,

Good night all,

Teena Marie

[teena marie]

Too much

Ok-so I overdid it last night because not only did I do my exercises, I kept a tight band around my thighs and I worked on the vibration trainer. My muscles weren't sore today but they were weak and getting around was quite laborius. But, I find this is what rehab is like. So I didn't push today and luckily was able to work from home and not contend with winter weather. I will have a good night sleep and tomorrow will probaly feel good and strong.

[AMFADVENTURES]

Stress it and rest it

Teena Marie, well, that's the right formula, stress it and rest it and it should come back stronger. Also, cool job you've got there. My sister is a pediatrician and she recommended the vibration trainer to me once. Since you're using one, I was wondering what your thoughts on it are.

Alain, it's looking like I might have a chance to do some riding in the Blue Ridge Mountains this summer. Earlier, you mentioned you did a little riding there last year. I wondered if you had anything to share on that experience. Pell too, I know it's in your neighborhood but I also know you're not too crazy about hills.