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07-30-03, 03:00 PM
Ok so in the interest of getting a little healthier and to feed my own whacky ego desires I want to start doing some races, mostly just time trial type stuff, and maybe some du/triathlon (I have a relay partner - yea I know, takes all of the fun out of it) events, etc, almost all of these events are pretty short at around 10 miles. So at least use that to start and then go from there.
But I'm pretty much completely out of shape for doing such things, I've been working on my base level of fitness - playing an hour or two of racquetball a couple nights a week, spending time on the trainer or stationary bike and here's what I know so far;
My time on the bike has been 30-40 minutes at a time.
My lactate threshold is hovering in the low 170bpm range, if I keep my HR under that my legs feel pretty good, go above that and the burn comes in pretty quickly.
I've been sticking to the trainer/stationary bike mostly to improve my spin, back in my younger years I was always a big gear mashing powerhouse (75-80rpm), so I'm working on my spin now with limited success trying to get at least another 10rpm out of my legs at a minimum.
I have absolutely no power in my legs at all, my pace at the above levels is around 10-12mph on the trainer (running a bit of resistance though), on the open road it's probably around 13-14mph. If I up that to 17mph or so my legs tell me how much they hate me and go on strike.
Here's the good news, my body has the ability to make HUGE amounts of power and takes well to conditioning. In the before mentioned younger years I had no problems cranking out 10 miles in the low/mid 20 minute range through hilly terrain and dodging NJ traffic, and even then I wasn't in the best shape, had many bad habits, etc. Now some 10+ years later I live in S. Florida where there are no hills and even crazier drivers, so I know I can get to that level fitness again.
So essentially, what are some good ways to get some power back into my legs? I have the typical nautalis type equipment available to me for doing weight work. Riding is a little bit of a problem, at least right now during the week (I'm usually working to the point that it's getting dark outside) hence the use of the trainer and stationary bike (which has some good programs in it, intervals, simulated hills, etc).
Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.
Andrew
But I'm pretty much completely out of shape for doing such things, I've been working on my base level of fitness - playing an hour or two of racquetball a couple nights a week, spending time on the trainer or stationary bike and here's what I know so far;
My time on the bike has been 30-40 minutes at a time.
My lactate threshold is hovering in the low 170bpm range, if I keep my HR under that my legs feel pretty good, go above that and the burn comes in pretty quickly.
I've been sticking to the trainer/stationary bike mostly to improve my spin, back in my younger years I was always a big gear mashing powerhouse (75-80rpm), so I'm working on my spin now with limited success trying to get at least another 10rpm out of my legs at a minimum.
I have absolutely no power in my legs at all, my pace at the above levels is around 10-12mph on the trainer (running a bit of resistance though), on the open road it's probably around 13-14mph. If I up that to 17mph or so my legs tell me how much they hate me and go on strike.
Here's the good news, my body has the ability to make HUGE amounts of power and takes well to conditioning. In the before mentioned younger years I had no problems cranking out 10 miles in the low/mid 20 minute range through hilly terrain and dodging NJ traffic, and even then I wasn't in the best shape, had many bad habits, etc. Now some 10+ years later I live in S. Florida where there are no hills and even crazier drivers, so I know I can get to that level fitness again.
So essentially, what are some good ways to get some power back into my legs? I have the typical nautalis type equipment available to me for doing weight work. Riding is a little bit of a problem, at least right now during the week (I'm usually working to the point that it's getting dark outside) hence the use of the trainer and stationary bike (which has some good programs in it, intervals, simulated hills, etc).
Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.
Andrew