MSers In Training 2011

[pawpaw]

Larry, I really think you don't realize how much the climbing you are doing is making you stronger. It is very impressive that you can hold a zone 4 heart rate for nearly an hour. My threshold drills are only 5 minutes. I know you could do 16 mph on the flat routes we do around here.
I didn't get my standing power efforts in yesterday during the ride. It is hard to do that in a group. I am getting a bit better with the standing stuff.
Tomorrow we are doing a 31 mile ride with 10-15 mph wind. We will be exhausted but it will be a good exercise in threshold work.

Marina- Let us know how your Sunday ride turns out. I bet you are stronger this week. I have noticed that the hills don't seem to mind the swearing.

Pell

PS. Sunday- was dropped on my own ride. I just couldn't keep up and there were weaker riders in the group. Don't know what the problem was. I was short of breath if I pushed. I turned around and rode alone. I ended up covering nearly the same mileage, just at a bit slower pace- less than 15mph.

[Marinadca]

Couldn't ride outside today - sustained winds of 25 mph + and strong gusts... I chickened out.

So did an hour on the indoor trainer. Bringing the total to 2 hours and 45 minutes on the trainer this week - and no time outside. Not good!

Pell and AMF - thanks for the tips again, especially on hydrating, it has really helped. Good to hear you're getting out there!

[AMFADVENTURES]

4/18/2011

Pell, I was surprised I could hold my HR that high that long too. My speed only averaged 5.6 on the climb, my buddy’s was 8.6 which probably points to a more significant limitation than strength. I’ve long suspected marginal pulmonary or cardiac capability. I’m going to do a VO2 test in a couple of weeks, maybe that will shed some light on things. I’m not complaining anyway, it’s day and night from where I was 7 or 8 years ago. Regrets on being dropped on your own ride, who knows, hydration, diet, limited recovery, phase of the moon, at least you made the best out of it. Interesting, the concern the AAN is showing regarding Gilenya.

Marina, sorry the wind shut you down but like Pell, at least you made the best of it. It was windy here too. I didn’t go out but my brother, a 20+ year cycling veteran, did and called me afterwards to just to complain about the wind.

“You never get off the ride. You just learn to hold on a different way.” From True Blue by David Baldacci, whose sister has MS.

Stay safe,

[pawpaw]

Marina- We have had pretty crazy wind here as well. You will get out soon. It finally calmed a bit this evening so I managed a short interval ride. I hit my highest heart rate since starting Gilenya- 156. I was much slower on this interval ride. Not sure why. I did stop a few times to take photos, so that may be it.

We are off tomorrow to pick up our new tandem. This will be interesting to see how we do with it. We are also changing the type of pedal/clipless system we use. We have been using PDFs and mountain bike shoes. We now have Speedplay and fancy carbon sole road shoes. I am too scared that I can't unclip from them, so I have only worn them on the trainer in the basement.

Larry- pulmonary and cardiac limitations can be overcome with training, so there is hope. I will be very interested to hear what your VO2 max is. I think it will be high.

Pell

[AMFADVENTURES]

1000 Miles YTD

Got 9.75 hours in this week, didn’t seem like that much. Still couldn’t get my HR up when I did the interval work on Tuesday but did manage to get a good workout. I think I might be in need of a rest week. One more climb tomorrow then take it pretty easy for 6 or 7 days.

Went out with my yoga instructor today. Wind was blowing 20 mph when we left and never stopped. Of course it was on the nose going uphill but what a ride back down!!! Anyway, she passed “Riding in the Wind: 101” with flying colors.

Pell, I’ll send you my VO2 results, I do it a week from Monday, should be interesting. Love the colors on the tandem.

Spring issue of the ACSM newsletter is out. There are 2 must read articles on Endurance Exercise. “Preventing the ‘Low Fuel Light’ in Endurance Exercise” and “Sports Nutrition Guidelines”, really really good summaries on these topics.
http://www.acsm.org/AM/Template.cfm?...ONTENTID=15867

Keep the rubber side down,

[pawpaw]

I tried to post a photo of the tandem without much success. It is really fun to ride and it will be great on long rides where I tend to get dropped. Now I have to figure out how to tell when I am weak before the ride starts so we will be on the right bike.
Larry- good articles!

Pell
http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php...type=1&theater

[pawpaw]

Smoking on our tandem

We have now managed to dodge the storms twice and ride some of our usual routes around Lexington. We are fast! We are averaging around 19mph without really killing ourselves and it is fun.
I am still trying to get out often on my single bike because I don't seem to be working hard enough on the tandem. My average HR yesterday on the tandem was 124. Today I did threshold efforts ( 6 efforts of 4 min submax effort/ 4 min easy riding) today with an average HR 135. This ic certainly not on the level of what you can do Larry. I may try an hour ride pushing as hard as I can, just to see what I can do.
The weather must be soon to break. Everything is flooding around here.

Pell

[AMFADVENTURES]

We have now managed to dodge the storms twice and ride some of our usual routes around Lexington. We are fast! We are averaging around 19mph without really killing ourselves and it is fun.

Pell

Pell – I was afraid of that, that bike just looks fast. Guess my only chance now is to catch you on the big hills. Pretty cool Pell.

We haven’t had the dicey weather you guys have but I tried to get out on Saturday for a little climbing and got shut down by snow. It wasn’t sticking and I had enough clothes but I just couldn’t convince myself that it was going to be much fun. I did get a little less than an hour and a half in on Monday though and averaged 15.5 for 22 miles at an avg. HR of 146. That’s a first for this season!

The rest of this week is an off week for me. I’ve got the bike on the trainer and am shooting for about 5 easy hours. I’m afraid I’ve become quite and endorphin junkie. It’s kind of like the more I ride the better I feel. I really have to force myself to limit my time and take it easy on these off weeks. Fortunately the weather is cooperating with plenty of rain and snow.

Very interested to hear how the climbing goes on the tandem.

L

[pawpaw]

We aren't too bad

We have done 2 group rides now. This morning we went out with the fast crowd and averaged 19MPH- wind assist- for about 15 miles before we dropped back. We were able to keep pace with them on the hills, but the hills were not steep or long. Most of the hills were in the roller range. I did wear myself out doing that, so we slowed down for the rest of the ride. We hit some bigger hills (still not Colorado quality) and slowed to 8mph on some. We finished at 18mph for 33 miles.
The biggest challenge for us is the downhills. We can really move and we need to be in the front. It doesn't quite work- front for downhills, back for uphill.
We hit 34.7mph on a relative flat run yesterday!
Observations for the first week on the tandem-
It is really fun
I ride harder because I don't have to worry about blowing up and being dropped
I haven't been angry while cycling because I am not always chasing and trying to hang on.
Even though I am riding harder, I don't burn as many calories. Too bad- I like eating those calories.

Pell

[Stella]

Hi there, that is so wonderful to see your progress. I watch this thread with interest and wish you lots of luck. I will keep my fingers crossed that the big storms stay away from you in the south. I saw the devastation they have left on Thursday's news. So sad.

[AMFADVENTURES]

4/29/2011

Got 6 hours in last week all at an easy to very easy level so am fully recovered and ready to start the next training period. This period should include 2 longer climbing rides each week and maybe another shorter high intensity ride. It’s time to pick up the mileage and the climbing if I’m going to get anywhere near the second day century on the MS 150, much less the 120 miles and 10,000 vertical ft. of the “Triple By Pass” two weeks later.

Went out yesterday with my yoga teacher, who by the way, has joined the MS 150 team and will be riding for a friend of hers who was recently dx’ed with MS. It was cold with 20 – 30 mph winds and rainstorms everywhere, don’t know how we missed them all. We were supposed to go out this morning with the team trainers and do some hill and interval work but the ride got cancelled due to cold, wind and the possibility of rain and snow. That’s OK by me!

Pell, sounds like the tandem fits you guys perfectly. Also looks like I’m going to have a hard time keeping up, even on the hills. Guess my last chance will be my incredible ability to ride non-stop for hours and hours (old guy and MS urgency problems permitting).

I get my VO2 test Monday, seems to take them 3 – 4 days to get the report out but will let you know how it goes. My buddy did his last week and scored 163% of normal for his age group. Overall they put him at the level of a category 1 pro biker. Guess that should make me feel better about not being able to keep up with him but somehow it doesn’t.

Marina, are you doing all right out there?
Teresa, is your season over? One of my neighbors is doing the LA marathon, in a wheel chair (a super high tech, very fast wheel chair)!
Sue?
Jenn?
Dave?

Stay safe and remember,

The Human Body is the only machine that improves with use

[pawpaw]

Thanks Stella. Where are you in Scotland? I have relatives in Edinburgh- we visited a few years ago and had a wonderful time.
Larry- Your training program is amazing. Hats off for your consistency and stamina.
We have done a few rides lately, but the storms have stopped most. Tonight we turned around and just managed to out run a big storm. Only 14 miles and 50 minutes on the bikes.
I am hoping to do some intervals tomorrow and then a group ride on the tandem on Wednesday evening. I always get dropped on the Wednesday night ride, so I am really looking forward to doing it on the tandem. Mike wants to do a 63 mile hilly ride on Saturday. The longest we have done is 33 so that will be a stretch- or actually, a real pain in the rear.
I am liking the tandem, but I don't push my fitness as much on it. Hopefully tomorrow I can push hard and get that HR up.

Pell

[ActiveMSers]

I'm still chugging at a steady 30-40 minutes on the exercise bike per workout. I feel like I can push it further, but with a couple trips scheduled in May I'm not tempted to push my endurance levels just yet. But all feels great! In June I hope to hit the 50 minute mark. I'm also thinking of renting a trike if they are available in ABQ. Nothing beats the outdoors....

[Stella]

Thanks Stella. Where are you in Scotland? I have relatives in Edinburgh- we visited a few years ago and had a wonderful time.
Larry- Your training program is amazing. Hats off for your consistency and stamina.
We have done a few rides lately, but the storms have stopped most. Tonight we turned around and just managed to out run a big storm. Only 14 miles and 50 minutes on the bikes.
I am hoping to do some intervals tomorrow and then a group ride on the tandem on Wednesday evening. I always get dropped on the Wednesday night ride, so I am really looking forward to doing it on the tandem. Mike wants to do a 63 mile hilly ride on Saturday. The longest we have done is 33 so that will be a stretch- or actually, a real pain in the rear.
I am liking the tandem, but I don't push my fitness as much on it. Hopefully tomorrow I can push hard and get that HR up.

Pell

Hi Pell, great going you all! What is a tandem if I may be so bold to ask? I am in Glasgow, Pell. I was there in Edinburgh not too far back, I had to go to the U.S. Embassy for something. Nice train ride to get there. Edinburgh is such a beautiful city. My favorite is Inverness. Do you go to the Kentucky Derby? That always comes to mind when I hear of Kentucky. I have always been an avid fan of horse racing. You should see the horse racing here - it is out of this world.

Stella

[pawpaw]

Progress not perfection

Dave- You are definitely making progress. After my fall 18 months ago, I was only comfortable on an inside bike. It is an excellent way to build fitness and stamina with minimal risk to your body and joints.
Stella, my family (Wardrop) was originally from Leshmahagow Scotland- basically Glasgow.
A tandem is a bicycle built for two. We bought it due to my reaction to Gilenya with the decreased exercise tolerence despite pretty aggressive training. Now I can ride the longer group rides without being dropped or left behind. I have attached a photo-maybe.
Pouring rain today and I am too lazy to go to a spinning class. Even though the Derby is only 80 miles away, I have never gone. I am waiting to the invitation to the posh clubhouse. I am not an infield sort of girl.

Pell