MSers In Training 2011

[AMFADVENTURES]

Magnificent weather this week. Got 7 hours on the bike, 1.5 indoors on the trainer and 5.5 outside on the trails. Right now I’m working on time in the saddle, in another month or so I’ll start building speed and strength.

Marina, I would definitely say less weight is better especially if you’ve got any hills around. You might leave your credit card at home, take your time, visit a few bike shops and just try out some different bikes. Try some high-end bikes if for no other reason than to feel the difference. Meanwhile, I’d dump the knobby tires in favor a more pavement friendly tread, maybe get a tune up, and keep riding what you have. Seems like txhollyann and Lucia both did excellent posts somewhere on here about getting a new bike, also the forums on web sites like Active.com or MapMyRide might give you some ideas.

Dave, sounds like you’re making good progress. Intuitively, it seems like taking a physically active role in post HSCT recovery has to lead to more rapid improvement. I wonder if anyone in your HSCT study is monitoring stuff like that?

AMF

[Teresa26.2]

Sorry I've been MIA. Training has been going great. I've finished my big training. Yesterday I ran 16 miles and felt strong. Now I am tapering until the race. I have 2 weeks until Napa. I'm looking forward to it.

DH will get to do all the wine tasting. I hope to at least bring home a couple of bottles.

[AMFADVENTURES]

Got 6.5 hours this week, 4.5 outside and 2 hours on the indoor trainer and although I won’t make my February goal of 8 hours/week, I will remain healthy and enter the next training period stronger.

I had one very difficult day early this week. It was on the trainer for an hour at a relatively low heart rate but an inordinately high level of effort. Figured out later that I was probably dehydrated. While I love these 50 – 60 degree days, it does seem to be more difficult to stay properly hydrated. Something to watch out for as it can make the going quite a bit harder than it needs to be.

Love your choice of marathons Teresa, Napa would be fantastic.

AMF

[AMFADVENTURES]

I finally got my 8 hours in this week. It even included 2 hours of moderately hard riding. Next week will be a rest week, maybe 4 to 5 hours at an easy pace and then I'll start adding longer rides and a high intensity ride or two each week.

Weatherman says snow is in the forcast. Bummer! Perhaps next week will be a good time to clean, lube and tune the bike and get it ready for spring.

Good luck at Napa Teresa,

AMF

[Teresa26.2]

I did it! Napa Valley Marathon in 4:52:22. An 8 minute PR. It rained a lot! Totally even mile splits at 11:05 per mile. It's a good day!

I'm tired.

[Marinadca]

Wow Teresa that is fantastic!!

I finally got a new bike after much hemming and hawing about it. I went for the local bike shop when the folks didn't ignore me because my budget was under 1500. I ended up getting a pretty good deal on a new (2010 model) bike.

Its this one: http://www.bikepedia.com/quickbike/B...ezia&Type=bike

Did I do good?

I should be getting it on Wednesday or so... and I am terrified of it....so this should be a fun 3 months!

[AMFADVENTURES]

Teresa, congratulations on the new PR and breaking the 5:00:00 barrier, seems your training program is working and you are well on your way to a banner year. That is really cool! I have been fighting a speed barrier myself, but you’ve provided some new inspiration, thanks. Hope you managed to acquire a few good bottles too. What’s next on the agenda?

Marina, She’s a beauty! You should get many good years of service out of her. A couple of things now:

First, you’re right to be a bit apprehensive about riding her, it could take a little time to get used to the racing style handlebars and steering action, but once you do, I think you will really like them. (You’ll also be grateful for your yoga, don’t stop it.)

Second and maybe most important, make sure the bike shop gives you a good fit to the bike. Make them spend some time getting your saddle position and reach right, get them to explain to you what they are doing and why. If they recommend you trade out some of the existing parts for different ones to accommodate a better fit, you should consider doing it.

Third, don’t skimp on the bike clothes, especially the padded shorts, comfy socks and a good pair of gloves. On a long ride, comfort makes a world of difference. The first advice I got from a pro when I started seriously cycling was to buy 3 to 4 pair of the same high quality shorts. It turned out to be very good advice.

Last, if you don’t already have a good book, consider getting one. Knowing a little about training will help you prevent injury and build your confidence and enthusiasm for riding. Personally, I like Joe Friel’s training methods but there are a lot of good authors out there.

Happy riding Marina, above all, stay safe!

[AMFADVENTURES]

Fyi

FYI, these two articles were so good I just had to pass them along,

For the beginner cyclist:
http://www.active.com/cycling/Articl...risid=21548215

On fundraising for chairatable events:
http://www.active.com/triathlon/Arti...risid=21548215

AMF

[Marinadca]

Thanks so much AMF

I picked it up on Tuesday but have only had the chance to ride it a little bit and I can already see I am going to need to make some adjustments.

My biggest concern now is that I have problems reaching and pressing the breaks. It could be my hands are too small...or perhaps its MS causing weakness in my hands or something...but I cannot seem to find a comfortable, stable hand positioning that allows me ready access to the brakes that feels quick enough and safe. They are just so tough to press in.

The plan is tomorrow to take the bike (and me) to a huge parking lot (used only during the week) that is empty with no pedestrian, bike, or car traffic and just try to get more comfortable with the bike and see if I can work on my positioning on the bike.

Its also pretty scary...but hopefully will be less so with each time I get on it.

[AMFADVENTURES]

Marina, get your bike shop or somebody to loosen the cable on the brakes a bit, that will allow you to pull the handle in more before the brake engages, worth a try, works better for me.

Got 6.25 hrs in this week, 4 hrs were last Saturday (55 mi.), the rest of the week was real easy. Have a long ride scheduled for tomorrow, about 70 miles, less concerned about making it than speed and level of effort it might take to do it.

AMF

[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!

[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,

[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!!

[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!

[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