MSers In Training 2011

[pawpaw]

Marina- It sounds like you are doing great. We all slow down to 8mph on hills. What is your 60 mile ride? Is it a supported ride with rest stops? If you will be taking several stops, you can manage a much longer ride than you have previously done. You will be able to do 60 in a few weeks. Increase to 30 or 35 this week but don't push the pace. Slow is perfectly fine. You just need time in the saddle, not speed.
We are continuing to love the tandem and are having fun going so fast. Tonight we did a 28 mile ride at 19.5mph! 20 miles into the ride we were at 20.1mph. We are hoping to do a 100 mile ride in 3 weeks. We managed 42 miles on Saturday but we were hurting.
Pell

[AMFADVENTURES]

Marina, you're doing super. Assuming you've got a pretty good base built up, it should be OK for you to push yourself a bit. If you can get your long ride up to 40 or 45 miles, Pell's right, you should be able to finish the 60 on the day of the event. You can always make a plan B, get a couple of cell numbers for the SAG wagons. That's a good thing to do for an MSer anyway, there are always a few variables on these rides that can influence your performance. It's part of what makes it so much fun. Just remember that you'll want to take it pretty easy the 6 or 7 days before the event.

Pell, looks like you're just about on target. Hope you get some good weather there so you can get your long rides in. Also, I'll be interested in your elapsed time on the century. I only wish I could hold 8 mph on the hills!

We did 55 miles on Saturday, what a stuff up that was. A road closure forced us onto a bike trail, but only after quite a few wrong turns. Bike trails on Saturday aren't any place to get a workout. They're pretty much wall to wall walkers, joggers, dogs on long leashes and moms with baby strollers. It got hot and ended up taking over 6 hours. Grueling at best. I did another 55 mile ride yesterday in under 4 hours elapsed time and it included a lot of short hills. I was pretty beat up last night but I'm feeling good today.

Enjoy your rides,

[pawpaw]

Larry- good point about getting the SAG phone #- I had a close relationship with one SAG driver by the end of the MS ride. I never needed her but she kept my cooling vest for me.
For the past 2 days I haven't felt great and had some other commitments, so I haven't been on the bike. My sister is coming for the weekend, so no riding then. I hope to get out tonight for an hour and tomorrow morning for a few hours. If we can get to 60 miles in the next few weeks, I feel we can do the century. We are both struggling with our saddles on the tandem. We have to solve that before much more riding.

Pell

[AMFADVENTURES]

5/14/2011

Got a little over 140 miles in 10.5 hours this week and it included about 6,000 ft. of ascent. Did a short climb yesterday, 9 miles, 2280 ft., in 1:10 and felt great. That was also the best time I’ve turned in yet on that climb. The climbing legs could be just over the next hill.

Ouch on the saddle problems Pell, a rest week with a few short easy rides is OK but don’t take too much time off, your rides are too close! And don’t get sick.

Same goes for you Marina, your ride is getting close, stay healthy.

Later,

[Roo]

Doing the MS150 in Colorado

Hi Everyone,

I'm so happy I found this thread, it's nice to know that other MS'ers are as active as I am (or want to be ) and are training for endurance events. I'm doing the MS150 in June June 25th and 26th) and am actively training (well as much as the CO weather allows right now, grrrr). My pace isn't so great (trying to work on that) at 12 to 13 MPH. I have been riding about 15 miles 4 times a week and longer 25 mile rides on the weekends, tomorrow I'm riding my longer ride at 42 miles. Yikes!!

In the past I've done the endurance walks (50 miles in 3 days) but never the MS150, it's always been a dream to complete it...so this year I took the leap!

I am completely new to road biking, but LOVE it.

Anyway, thought I'd introduce myself, say hi and join in on the conversations.

Thanks!!
Joey

[AMFADVENTURES]

Joey, welcome to the ride. This will be my 5th year to do the MS 150 in Colorado. It's my #1 ride and I hope to do it for many many more years. I really think you will absolutely love it. Drop me a line if you'd like to go riding sometime, I do most of my riding in a triangle defined by Lookout Mtn., Chatfield res., and Cherry Cr. res. but I'm not allergic to traveling further. Regardless, I trust our paths will cross eventually. Glad you're here!

Speaking of crossing paths, any chance of enticing you down to Ft. Collins for a beer Sue? I'm planning to be in Ft. Collins on the afternoon of June 25th and would love to see you again.

Larry

[Roo]

Hey Joey, is the 50 mile/3 day walk you did the Wild West MS Walkabout in Fort Collins? I ride bike support for that walk every year. Welcome! S

Hi Sue, Yep!! That's the one. I'm so sad they're not doing it this year (such a fun event!!). I've probably seen you on the walk...there aren't that many support riders. I did meet someone last year that was on her bike and had MS, her neurogolist was the same as mine...so we chatted about it (I don't remember her name) but her doctor was Dr. Miller...I'm wondering if that was you.

[Roo]

Joey, welcome to the ride. This will be my 5th year to do the MS 150 in Colorado. It's my #1 ride and I hope to do it for many many more years. I really think you will absolutely love it. Drop me a line if you'd like to go riding sometime, I do most of my riding in a triangle defined by Lookout Mtn., Chatfield res., and Cherry Cr. res. but I'm not allergic to traveling further. Regardless, I trust our paths will cross eventually. Glad you're here!

Speaking of crossing paths, any chance of enticing you down to Ft. Collins for a beer Sue? I'm planning to be in Ft. Collins on the afternoon of June 25th and would love to see you again.

Larry

Hi Larry!! So nice to "meet" you. I live in Longmont and ride mostly on bike trails in the evenings but am brancing out to Hygiene, Niwot and Gunbarrel areas. (being fairly new to riding, riding amongst cars has been scary). I would LOVE to get together and ride sometime. I always appreciate the company. I could definitely travel to meet you as well.

I have heard the MS150 is a great ride and a life changing experience...I'm really looking forward to it. Hopefully, this year will be the first of many.

[banshee]

Roo - I did the MS150 in Dallas last year, and again this year (2nd day got rained out). It is one of the best things that I've done since I was diagnosed. You'll have a lot of fun. I'd also suggest you join a team or start one up. Makes the experience even better.

[AMFADVENTURES]

I live in Longmont and ride mostly on bike trails in the evenings but am brancing out to Hygiene, Niwot and Gunbarrel areas. (being fairly new to riding, riding amongst cars has been scary).

Joey, I put a few miles in on the Niwot to Hygiene road last year but not this year yet. That is a fabulous area for riding.

Yeah, bike friendly roads help but riding with the cars and particularly the trucks, is still a good exercise in concentration for an MSer.

Banshee, congrats on your 2nd 150, I bet that does feel good.

Stay safe, look forward to getting a few rides in before the 150.

Larry

[Marinadca]

Been a little discouraged this past week with a nasty cold.

Only got 2.5 hours on the trainer and no long ride on the weekend. Totally blew our training schedule

This week trying for 4 hours on the trainer and 35 mile ride we'd planned for last week.

I am still not feeling 100%, but I guess we will see, it tends to take me forever to shake the after effects of the cold.

Worried because there are only 3 weekends left until the ride - but not much I can do about getting sick...better now than the weekend of the ride.

Pell, I am so interested in the tandem road bike, me and my husband see others with them on the trail...maybe you've posted this earlier...but where did you get it from?

Marina-

[pawpaw]

Tandem

Marina, Our tandem is a Co-motion. There are several bike companies that make good, light weight tandems. We liked the Co-motion steel tandem with carbon fork, handlebars, cranks, etc. There are other companies- Santana, Caffee, DaVinci, Cannondale- that make good tandems. I wouldn't buy a cheaper box store bike unless you realize that you will be replacing it soon. It is important that the bike fits both of you well.
We bought ours from a tandem dealer in Birmingham but there are dealers all over the country. I forget where you are. If you are in California, Colorado or New Jersey, there are very good dealers near you.
Our weather has been awful as well. We haven't been on a bike in a week.

Pell

[AMFADVENTURES]

Got 8.5 hours in this week, had lousy weather here too, in fact, got rained on a little today. Since it was forecast well in advance I was able to change my schedule to include fewer hours at higher intensity though, hope it doesn’t backfire. Tried to put together a couple of tough days back to back without luck, don’t know what that was all about, but next week is a rest week, so maybe I’ll do better in the following period. Overall, I’m making good progress on my climbing and I might even be making a little progress on my speed.

Marina, if you can get through the cold, you should still be OK. The most important thing now is just to stay healthy, don’t risk making your cold worse by trying to do too much, or as Pell would say, “listen to your body”. If you find yourself struggling, ease up to let your heart rate come down to the 135 range that you see on the trainer. You might be surprised at how little time you actually add to your ride by doing that. If the cold gets into your chest, you probably have to take some time off.

There’s a lot of research on “exercise imunology”. Basically, too much exercise can be detrimental but exercise done right should strengthen your immune system. Eventually, if you pay attention to how your body is responding to the exercise that you ask it to do, you will get a feel for how much is too much. It is a learning process though. Google “exercise immunology” and you will find more than any human could absorb in a lifetime.

Be healthy,

[Marinadca]

Well we did go out and ride on Saturday - 35 miles, my longest ride yet. Towards the end I though I might die...but I made it. It was really tough - I was definitely very sore afterward.

The plan is to get 3 hours on the trainer in this week...

I am worried about taking the distance up further, but I guess we have to...the ride is in 19 days - that 30 mile route is really looking better and better to me. I don't want to give up or fail...which is what I will feel like dropping from the 60 miles to the 30....but with 2.5 weeks until the ride...and wanted to take it easy the week of the ride....it might be the best option.

What do ya'll more experienced folks think?

[AMFADVENTURES]

Marina, 35 miles! Congratulations, I'm sure it was tough but you did it!

Actually, although there is a difference in scale, there is a lot of similarity between our situations. You're a little over half way to your ride distance, I'm a little under. You've still got about 2 weeks of training time left, I've got about 6. I don't know how bad the hills are on your route but I know I'm less than half way to getting up the hills on mine. And we are both having doubts about completing our rides.

The whole point of this is that we need a strategy. I know about what heart rate limits I’ll need to stay within in order to ride 120 miles (average less than about 80% of my maximum) and I could do that except for the 3 mountain passes and 10,000 vertical feet of climbing involved. I’m pretty sure that by the end of my training I’ll be able to do at least the first 2 passes but I’ll have to keep my heart rate as low as I can even if it means stopping for a minute every ½ mile or so on the steeper parts. Even at that, I’ll be heavily anaerobic most of the time on the climbs.

I know it will be critical to consume about 250 calories and about a liter of water and electrolytes every hour and I know from experience that I’ll need something solid, like a tuna fish sandwich, at about hour 5 or 6.

I think the ride could take +/- 12 hours from start to finish, I’ve never ridden that long so that will be a test. I’ll try to do the whole ride but I’m not going to beat myself up if I just can’t. We’ll have our DW’s along the way and if necessary, a phone call should get me to the top of the last pass and I can essentially coast in to the finish from there. It is possible I’ll manage the whole ride but in any event, I know I’ll leave everything I have in me on those mountain passes, and that’s all I can do.

I think all we can do is wish ourselves luck, trust our training to take us as far as it can and have a plan B in place just in case.

Good luck Marina, keep your training up, ride smart and hope for the best. If you really think you need to switch to the 30 mile ride, you can probably do it at the last minute and don't worry about it, it is undoubtedly better to live to ride another day.

Larry