Cross country training

[Jaybird_91]

Hey all,

Recently started up xc riding a couple of months ago and really tend to struggle on the longer 30-40 mile rides on a sunday I can just about keep up on the 10-15 miles rides on wednesday rides. I have had a few surgeries on my leg and only really started walking on it at the start of the year after 2 years on crutches. I notice my CV fitness is lacking on the hills but really it is leg strength that I am missing. My goals are to be club fit by the end of the year then race fit for next years race season. I am unemployed so cant afford the gym really but can have unlimited training time for the time being :-) Just wondering whether you thought this sounded reasonable:

Monday: Recovery from sundays ride - exercise bike for 30 mins with intermediate sprints
Tuesday: 2 Hour cycling at a 7 mile circuit in the forest (8 laps) + 30 minutes on exercise bike
Wednesday: Night ride with club 10-15 miles at speed + 30 mins on exercise bike
Thursday: Techincal training - 3-4 hour ride up to harlestone firs and try to increase my technical ability (non-existant after a few years of the bike)
Friday: 30 mins on exercise bike + 2 hours on 7 mile circuit
Saturday: Hour ride at high speed
Sunday: 30-40 mile club ride

Just wondering whether this sounds reasonable and whether there are any training tips to help me increase my overall fitness.

Cheers all in advance,

Jason.

 

[RedBike]

The best tip I was given is that most people don't do their easy rides slow enough or there hard rides hard enough.

If Monday is a recovery then perhaps you shouldn't be doing intervals.

If your intervals are hard enough then you shouldn't really be in a fit state the day after to go out for 2 hours the next day, nevermind spend an extra 30mins on an exercise bike!

 

[Jaybird_91]

Cheers Redbike,

Yeah I always give it everything on the slower sunday ride but seem to really struggle on off-road up hill sections and over fields. The exercise bike on monday is to make sure my knees keep moving and dont stiffen up as i normally run it on a low setting for my CV fitness. I will get rid of the sprint intervals though as my preformance on them is pretty shocking on mondays anyway. Cheers for the advice,

Jason.

 

[RedBike]

Cheers Redbike,

Yeah I always give it everything on the slower sunday ride but seem to really struggle on off-road up hill sections and over fields. The exercise bike on monday is to make sure my knees keep moving and dont stiffen up as i normally run it on a low setting for my CV fitness. I will get rid of the sprint intervals though as my preformance on them is pretty shocking on mondays anyway. Cheers for the advice,

Jason.

Wouldn't a high setting on the exercise bike be better for your CV fitness?
perhaps even following a some sort of training plan.

I wouldn't ditch the intervals. Just move them to another day. You need rest days to recover both before and after intervals.

Long steady rides for base fitness. Up the intensity for power/speed.

 

[trio25]

At the moment you seem to have no rest days, not a good idea.

Seeing as you are only recently off crutches you will need to build up your leg strength. At the moment worrying about long rides is not what you should be doing. From what you are doing you obviously have good cv fitness. Maybe what you should do is some hill repeats during the week?

Maybe something like this:

Sunday: 30-40 mile club ride
Monday: Recovery from sundays ride - either complete rest or a very easy spin - feels like you are doing nothing!
Tuesday: Technical practice, session stuff and keep the intensity low but stay out for at least 4 hours
Wednesday: Night ride with club 10-15 miles at speed
Thursday: Rest or very easy recovery
Friday: Hill Repeats, you should always feel like you could just do one more but it would be slower
Saturday: Rest or recovery ride, ready for sunday

I have got ride of the exercise bike on wed, if the club run is hard and at speed it is not needed!

 

[RedBike]

I would listen to Trio. She wins nearly every XC race going!

 

[trio25]

Not true at all, I am rubbish at xc really! Much more of an endurance girl. I am however a personal trainer so do know a little bit of the theory!

 

[Jaybird_91]

Brilliant thanks alot guys its much appreciated as I used to ride BMX so really lack alot of fitness and technical knowledge. I play saxophone as well which really helps with CV fitness. Forgive my ignorance :-) but are hill repeats what they sound like? Hill then flat/downhill then repeat. I just hate having rest days as I really want to make the most of the time I have off but obviously having rest days is part of that. I think I will do a light spin on rest days as my knees get stiff otherwise. Just to clarify does a high gear mean high resistance which means the effort goes through your legs or have I got this wrong? Thanks alot for your help both of you its much appreciated.

Cheers,

Jason

 

[trio25]

Yes hill repeats, ride up the hill, coast back down to recover repeat.

High gear to make the resistance harder!

You should really have one complete rest day a week, and go and see a Dr about your knees that is not normal!

 

[Jaybird_91]

Thanks again trio. The stiffness comes if i lower my saddle to make techincal bits easier as my knees are too weak for low resistance. I have had three leg surgeries one was having an iliazarov frame applied like of forest gump! The stifness is because my ligaments etc are not used to the rides but it has been getting better and my consultant said to slowly lower my saddle as my muscle and ligament strength increases. Thanks for your advice trio.

Jaybird

 

[trio25]

If you lower your saddle for descents put it back up for the hills. I am not a saddle dropper, but it is a good idea if you are not confident on technical stuff, just make sure it goes back up for the uphill again!

 

[Jaybird_91]

Do you think it is probally better just to get used to the technical bits without moving the saddle? Managed to get lost in the firs today, good fun all the same.

Cheers,

Jason.

 

[trio25]

That depends, when racing you won't put saddle down so you need to be able to ride with it up. But if the saddle up means you get into bad habits, gripping it with you legs etc, then you should put it out of the way and learn good techniques!