any advice on a training regime base on this!

[andyfromotley]

hi all,
a bit of a long winded question. i am 41, 6' and weigh 15.5 stone. i started keeping fit in january and have a 24.40 5 k and 52.11 10k. i run or cycle every week day and have a hrm. my max hrm appears to be around 185.
i can do a 4.2 run at work in a lunch time (my avg hr is about 165 if i take it v easy it takes around 40 mins) pb of 35.30.
i can cycle to and from work 23 miles each way, about 1.5 hours eaach way. avg hr 120 -130.
given that what should i be doing as a mix of the two each week? and at what intensity? i am minded to cycle mon-wed-fri at current intensity.
run tues - thurs no idea what intensity i should be doing. i find it really tough to even jog and keep the hr below 160. i guess this is because i have a low base fitness?
i have a dual aim of losing at least 1 stone and getting my 10k pb below 50 mins. i have tried to come up with a training program myself but have ended up getting confused and fed up with all the conflicting advice.
help gratefully received!!
thanks andy

 

[stevenb]

The most important aspect of keeping fit is the enjoyment I find.
If you make it too militaristic you'll end up giving up and getting back to square one.
Take one step at a time and don't do too much too soon.......its a common mistake.
I have made it myself and basically I ended up being ill for a couple of weeks and lost out on time so got put back a step or two.

Sometimes we also have to accept we have off days....we can't beat a PB every time.
What is important is actually doing the exercise.
If your cycling 46 miles a day one can assume your pretty fit. The stamina levels required for that journey are quite high...especially with a day at work in between.
Don't forget to eat properly too. This will help give you the required energy levels and also allow your body to recover.
Speaking of recovering....you must take suitable rest time too. A day when you don't run or bike. This allows tired muscles to re-group and your body to generally recover fluid, energy levels.
Keep it basic and set yourself small goals (ie. beat your PB once a week...not each day...and even if its very marginal then its still an achievement).
You'll then find confidence and motivation to continue. You'll reach your goal and once you have done so then it'll be a case of maintaining your required level of ability.

My 2p.
Good luck mate.

 

[Twenty Inch]

Hi Andy

You have time and weight-related goals there. They're going to start conflicting with each other, so I suggest you drop one. After all, as you lose weight, you'll get faster, and vice versa.

You've got a full exercise programme of about 10 hours' exercise a week. That's quite a lot - some people train for Ironman on that. So my first piece of input is to take note of what your HRM and body say to you. If your resting HRM is 10% higher in the morning than normal, then back off for a couple of days as you are getting over-tired or sick.

I wouldn't even bother about beating your PB at the moment. Just file it away for future reference. Instead, your main challenges are a) staying interested, and making sure you don't churn out "junk miles". What are "junk miles"? Junk miles are when you are beavering away, but no longer having any training effect, as the body has long ago got used to what you are asking of it.

Try varying your route to work, to include different hills. On both cycle and run, introduce random sprints, for instance when the next car passes you, sprint 20 seconds. Do some weights once a week if possible. Go for a swim if you can. On recovery days i.e. weekends, go for a long walk with wife and kids (if available )

On the cycle, try alternate fast and slow cycles - they both have different training effects. On the run, ditto. You can mix your runs up too - one day a nice slow plod around the 4.2 mile course, the next day - one mile jog out, then 4x 60 sec sprint, with a nice slow jog back to the start between each sprint, then one mile jog back. NB treat this session with respect! It doesn't look much on paper, but it's tough.

In other words, mix it up, keep it interesting, and try new things. After about a month of that, try your PB again.

Let us know how you get on.

 

[andyfromotley]

thanks guys,
i am worried that my commuting will fall into the junk miles catagory. (neither too easy or too hard to do me any good). so am considering doing one way easy and one way hard.
Based on a max hr of 184 do you have any idea of what 'HR zones' i should be aiming for for each one?

i keep meaning to try some speed work to spce up my runing but guess i just lack a bit of imagination! i ran the four mile route the 'wrong' way round. crikey it was hard so i guess my body had become used to it.

Thanks
andy

 

[Twenty Inch]

There's loads of info in t'internet about HR-based training, and your local library probably has books available - all of it will be better than anything I could tell you.

Other than one thing - regardless of where you start, you want your HR to go down for a given effort over time. So if it's 184 at 12 mph for one hour, in a couple of months you'd expect to see it decrease for the same effort. If it doesn't, you're probably back to the junk miles scenario.

 

[domtyler]

Unless you are in training for a specific event then I don't see why you'd want to do all measuring stuff. Just relax and do what works best for you and as stevenb put it so well, make sure that you are enjoying yourself.

Let's face it, compared to most blokes who just drink beer and sit on the sofa you're streets ahead.

 

[Perry]

Andy, sounds like you are knocking the fun out of your training.

I know it's nice to have the buzz when you push yourself. As mentioned above you are training hard.

Just ride and run when you want but enjoy it, make it fun. That way you'll have more of a desire to get back out there again.