MSers In Training 2011

[AMFADVENTURES]

Hydrate!

Ahhh Marina, the memories your experience brings back. You’re doing good Marina. Make sure you’re well hydrated before you go out, otherwise the going can be much more difficult than it needs to be. And you are correct, a heart rate monitor would be a good investment.

The trick to hydrating before your ride and NOT having to spend an inordinate amount of time looking for bathrooms is to drink plenty of fluids up to about 2 hours before you head out. Hit the bathroom just before you leave and don’t drink for the first 20 minutes or so of your ride. After that, you can start sipping again. Try it, let me know if it works for you.

Hey Pell – You’ve really stepped up your program. Glad you’re feeling comfortable on the bike again too. You training for something more than the HH and the MS 150?

My weekly schedule goes something like this:
Saturday – Group climbing ride. Heart rate zones 3 and 4, shoot for 2 to 3.5 hours.
Sunday – Off
Monday – Skill drills in heart rate zone 2, shoot for 1 to 1.5 hours.
Tuesday – Intervals and sprints. Maximum intensity, heart rate zones 3, 4 and 5, shooting for 2 hours and increasing to 3 by end of April.
Wednesday – Off
Thursday – Skill drills in heart rate zone 2, shoot for 1 to 1.5 hours.
Friday – 2 to 3 hours in heart rate zones 2 and 3, maybe some zone 4 depending on headwinds and riding companions.

Last Saturday’s climb went well. I was able to hold my heart rate in mid zone 4 for 55 minutes over about 5 miles and 1,400 ft. of ascent. I started feeling it in the last 10 minutes but overall, I’m happy with that on my first climb of the season. The whole ride was 16 miles in about 1.5 hours.

Later,

[Marinadca]

Glad to hear ya'll doing well and sticking with it

I finally got the bike outside on the trail... we did a 15 mile ride. I almost died after about 9 miles.... I did end up making it....but now I have to figure out what happened.

I am thinking about whether we really ought to have brought something to eat/drink besides water.... not sure if it would have made a difference. But after the 9-10 mile mark...maybe 45 minutes or so it just took everything to keep pushing the pedals down, and I could not catch my breath. I had to shift down so far, I was riding in the gear I had using to get up hills on the first leg of the trip.

So obviously something is going wrong. There are so many factors though.... not the right "fuel", not using clipless pedals, not training properly on the indoor trainer, lack of physical ability....arrrgh.

But of course I am panicking about 60 miles if 15 was so difficult. With exactly 2 months left today I am not too impressed with myself

I did get 3.5 hours on the bike total for the past week...so there was some win accompany the fail

[pawpaw]

Base miles

Larry, Don't forget about base miles in zone 2- pretty easy riding. I sounds like all of your riding is stressing your body. You do need relaxing miles to build your base. There is plenty of time later in the year to hammer.
I did manage 5.25 hours on the bike this week. I think I will rest today as we have a group ride from our home tomorrow. If I am very ambitious, I may use the trainer for a short SLD session. We did the 2.25 hour ride Sunday -mostly easy riding-with the killer session into the wind for the last 9 miles. Wednesday I did a drill sessions with single leg pedaling up hills and then a race home for 20 minutes. Thursday I did 2 min off/on intervals and Friday was mostly recovery with some standing power efforts on hills. For a change, my hard rides are solo and my recovery rides are with my DH. He is still recovering from his knee surgery.
My speed is all over the map. The long ride with the wind was 14.4mph but I have managed a short ride at 16.9- 12 miles and no significant hills. My goal for the short ride is 19, so I have a long way to go.
Pell

[AMFADVENTURES]

4/8/2011

Got 8.5 hours in 5 days of riding this week. Of that 1.5 was as fast as I could go (15 mph avg.) and 1.5 was as hard as I could hammer short hills (short hill intervals), and 2.5 was with my very lovely young yoga instructor. Needless to say, my heart rate was redlining most of the way trying to keep up with her, but for an old guy with MS, it was well worth it. Going to try a 5-mile climb of about 6% grade tomorrow. That should be interesting.

Pell, even with the wind and weather here I’ve been able to get out at least 3 times a week although the opportunities don’t always fit my training schedule very well. Things are really looking good now, except for the wind, I expect to be able to keep to the schedule most of the time.

Here’s something really cool, the Raw Hinies, my MS 150 team, arranged for a discounted VO2 test at one of the local hospitals. The test includes aerobic threshold, anaerobic threshold, strength, power and balance assessments. I think I’ll have to do that even though I know my miserable numbers will probably depress me. Regardless, it will be interesting.

Keep the rubber side down folks,

[pawpaw]

Euphoric ride

All week has been dedicated to cleaning and organizing after some minor house redecoration. When it was time to leave for the group ride we do on Wednesdays, I felt tired and grumpy so I didn't go. An hour later, I noticed that the wind had died down and it looked great out. I went for a 45 minute ride alone and had a fabulous time. I raced myself for the 20 minute ride home and was able to hold a higher heart rate than anytime since the Gilenyia started. I am hopeful that I can push through this. Anyway, the ride helped my mood so much. I need to remember this.
I think it is far easier to ride outside than it is on the trainer. You will have to get over the fear factor and that will take some time to trust your bike and your skills. It will come, but not over night. This is the first year that I am completely comfortable riding alone. Also, I find that the cooling effect of the wind keeps me fairly cool so I can tolerate exercise in fairly hot conditions.
Larry, I can't believe you have any time on the bike in those conditions. Gusting wind scares me.
Pell

[AMFADVENTURES]

4/4/2011

Pell – The weather here???? Well, let me give you an example. It snowed yesterday, just a light dusting, but it was still there this morning, in fact it’s still there now. But, I just watched the weather report predict mid 50’s by this afternoon, then they mentioned sustained winds in the 20 to 40 mph range with gusts to 70 (and I was hoping for a chance to get an easy hour in on the bike). I’m not complaining though, any time I can get out to ride on a 60-degree day in January, there’s potential for a stupendous year. It’s supposed to be in the 70’s tomorrow but who knows what the wind will do yet. Glad to see you’re handling the wind so well out there. It really can get ugly can’t it? But, you didn’t have to call for help right!

Marina – That was a neat tip from Pell there on the brake spacers. I might have to look into that myself. Meanwhile, glad you managed to make them a little more comfortable, it really is reassuring to have breaks that you can actually work. You seem to be making great progress there even just on the trainer time, it can only help when you get outside. My guess it that your time on the bike will skyrocket once you are able to get out, it’s just soooo much more pleasant………wind permitting.

Enjoy the journey folks,

[Marinadca]

2.5 hours on the bike this past week... nothing compared to AMF here....but my endurance is way up - I am on Gilenyia as well and my fatigue levels have actually improved since starting it in November.

Thank you for the tip about the brakes... I may give that a go, I adjusted the force needed to hit the brakes, which has helped a lot as well.

One thing I am concerned about though.... its been chilly out here and I have been following the training schedule - on the indoor trainer. I am wondering how well that will transfer to biking outside? I have only take this bike outside to ride about 3 times. Now I am worried. What do ya'll more experienced folks think?

[pawpaw]

DH and I managed a 31 mile ride today but we limped home. Note to self- you live in Kentucky-the bible belt- don't count on small country stores to be open on Sunday. Take food and plenty of water with you- if you don't, you will hit the wall when you turn into the wind and head home.
We were going pretty fast while the wind was behind us, then things got ugly.
We are expecting more wind and some rain, so it looks like some drills on the trainer are on tap for tomorrow.
Larry, you are covering an amazing number of miles. What kind of weather are you having?

Pell

[AMFADVENTURES]

4/2/2011

Got 9.25 hours in the saddle for about 130 miles this week. My saddle time lately has tended to center around one or two fairly long but not very fast rides each week. It’s had less to do with my training plan than the crazy winds we’ve been experiencing. I think I’ve got a good base now so hope to concentrate more on shorter rides that emphasize speed and strength at the expense of time in the saddle.

Hey Pell – I’ve been pretty happy with the way my endurance carried over from last year but pretty disappointed with a 15% drop in speed and I don’t know how the climbing will go yet. Somehow I suspect that even with the side effects from the Gilenya, you are still faster than I’ll ever be. A relatively new development, maybe from all of the time in the saddle, seems to be an increase in energy. It appears to be dependent on how high I let my heart rate get but if I keep it under control, with a 20 minute rest even after a 5 hour ride, I might be good until evening.

Glad you’re back Pell.

[pawpaw]

Still training

Hi all- I haven't been on the forum lately, but I am still training. I have lost about 20% of my exercise capacity due to Gilenya. I am trying to train through it and regain some stamina. My DH decided that we needed a plan B, so the tandem is being built. We should get it in 2-3 weeks.

Marina- there are spacers that they can put in your brakes-in the hood area- that makes the distance you have to squeeze the brake smaller. My hands couldn't reach and that helped. My bike shop did it in very little time.

AMF- you are doing great with your training- especially with the hours. I am not following my training plan very well. Weather and life keep interferring. I did go to a 5:30 am spinning class this morning but that sapped my energy for the day. I am still doing kettlebells, but my weight training on the off season doesn't seem to have translated to speed on the bike. I have a new training plan. When I have a chance I will scan it and send it to you. It isn't much different than the last except it is a bit simpler.

I am surprised anyone has had weather conducive to riding outside. I don't consider rain and 36 degrees to be riding weather. It is forecast to be 50 tomorrow so maybe I will get out.

Great work everyone.
Pell

[AMFADVENTURES]

Got 7.5 hours in 3 days this week. I tried to do some climbing with my buddies last Saturday but had to drop 10 miles into the ride and find a flatter route. Seems a chicken salad sandwich I had a couple of days earlier may have been a little “off”, and it really affected my riding. Also, the wind started blowing last Saturday and hasn’t stopped yet. Sustained 20 to 30 mph winds with 75 mph gusts have been reported all week. All in all, not a stellar week, but things are looking up, I did do pretty well yesterday, in spite of the wind.

You’re doing great Marina, all we can do is follow our training and see where we end up. I’ve almost always been pleasantly surprised at the results even when I didn’t think there was any way I’d be able to do the event. It’s kind of a matter of doing the work the best you can and having faith that you’ll end up where you want. Besides, the real reason for all of this is to support a healthy lifestyle to combat the effects of the MS and I don’t think there’s any doubt that part works.

Enjoy the journey,
AMF

[Marinadca]

So, its still too cold outside to ride... but I got 30 minutes on the bike (indoor trainer) on Sunday, my usual 90 minute yoga class on Monday, and 30 again on the trainer yesterday.

I have to say the 30 minutes yesterday was much easier than Sunday....so there may be hope for me. I have been really panicing about whether I could do the ride or not....so glad to have a ray of sun in there!

[Marinadca]

Well we have admitted that we are the worse at getting outside after work during the week...so we purchased indoor bike trainer/triangle riser thing for use indoors (as we cannot really ride around our "neighborhood" since it consisted mostly of highrises/ town home communities. I also finally got actually bike shorts (well skort, I am feeling a bit modest in that regard!).

Today I got on the indoor trainer for 40 minutes at a pace that had me sweating. I don't know if this plan is good or bad. Unfortunetly Steve had to work today (rode his bike!) and we have evening plans...so it seemed better than not getting out.

Not sure if my plan is good or not, but we will see!!

[AMFADVENTURES]

3/18/2011

Got 9 hrs in 3 days this week including a long ride, 62 miles in just under 5 hrs. and a moderately high intensity ride of 2 hrs. The rest of the time was low intensity.

Dave, I did a similar thing on my long ride. I don’t think it was too long but I do think I let my heart rate get too high. Anyway it trashed me for the next two days and that’s not good because it can compromise the immune system or lead to injury.

I’m not an authority on endurance exercise training but I think most of us who are planning on doing an MS bike event are probably in a “base building” stage. This is a critical stage that should last 8 to 12 weeks. During the base stage the body gradually increases muscle size and builds blood supply networks to support those muscle groups. Joints and tendons are also being strengthened and prepared for the increased demands being placed on them, as are the heart and lungs. You can see why this stage takes a while, there’s a lot going on. (Runners are probably several months ahead here.)

The training concepts are Frequency, Duration and Intensity. Frequency is the number of times per week you exercise and you should shoot for at least 3 increasing to 4 or 5 by the end of the 8 to 12 weeks. Duration is how long you exercise each time. You’ll have to figure this one out for yourself and try to increase it as you proceed. Intensity is how hard you exercise each time. Lets assign it a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 is a walking pace and 5 is maximum effort. For the first 8 to 12 weeks, we want to keep intensity in the 1 to 3 range, 3 being the ability to maintain a conversation with only moderate difficulty while exercising.

The most important concept in all of this is “rest”. It is a physiological fact that the body only gets stronger during rest. Try to get adequate sleep. If you’re feeling tired from a previous ride, reduce the duration of the present ride, if you’re totally exhausted, blow the next ride off altogether. Give yourself a rest week about every 4th week by reducing the duration and the intensity of your rides by 30 to 50% for that week. The wild card of course is the individual CNS damage the MS has done. As Pell (user PAW on the forums) would say, listen to your body.

Happy Riding,

[ActiveMSers]

Okay, 40 minutes on the exercise bike with no rest hosed the legs for a couple days, so I'm back to doing shorter intervals and practicing a bit more patience in building up endurance. But it's hard!