Originally Posted by
GeorgeBMac
Wow! Thanks! I'm a nurse and have studied cardio related things quite a bit -- and I can generally hold my own.
But that was not only very well stated, but also very informative. And it even makes sense!
Originally Posted by
DnvrFox
And, that is exactly the reason why fit runners and bicyclers are so amazed when they first jump in a pool and try to do a lap and are exhausted. More muscles to be fixed up with veins, capillaries, etc. It takes awhile.
Originally Posted by
TexLex100
Very enlightening. I had no idea that one's body can actually generate any new anything after the age of say 18-20!
Now to connect that to exercise physiology and athletic training:
What we've been talking about are "base miles". Everyone says athleticism of any sort on the bike cannot be built until after a goodly number of base miles. Now you know why. Base miles build and maintain the total body cardio infrastructure. Even the TdF guys work on base miles first in every new training season. And they maintain their base miles training throughout the season.
In my own cycling, I've found I need to maintain 50-70 miles a week of base miles just so I don't backslide on cardio fitness. With that level of base miles, it's fairly easy to seasonally add speed or hill-climbing power.
That's part of the reason I changed job locations a couple of years ago, so that I could maintain my base miles through the winter just on commuting alone. Come spring, I'm slower than I was in the fall, but it takes only a couple of weeks or so to build up so I can hang with the fast guys again.
My big climbing ride is in September. Building on my base, I need only four to six weeks of specific hills training--and most of that only on weekends--to build up to a ride that includes more climbing than the entire week I spent in Colorado a few years back--and I trained four to six months for that.
Back to the beginning cyclist. This theory of cardio infrastructure building and remodeling explains why we build endurance first. It's why we go from a mile to five miles to twenty, fifty, and more in a season, but still at the same speed as whey we first started out. Endurance takes only change in existing muscle function and some base miles. Speed and power takes new muscle, which can't be built until after the infrastructure is in place.
So especially in the first year, ride your rides. Have fun, and don't worry about keeping up. Build lots of nice, new capillaries. Then put them to use.