Training & Nutrition - How many miles per week?

http://www.sfbike.org/?racing

According to that site, beginners and intermediate riders train anywhere between 150-250mi per week. I calculated if I do 40 miles per day Mon-Fri and 50 on Sat, I could reach the 250mi goal.

Its just that I raced a couple of years ago and would train "hard" all of the time for only 11mi. I can't imagine ever riding 40 mi easy, even though I can't do it. Have I been training wrong the whole time?

Am I supposed to go long distances like 40mi but easy, then try to speed up?

I don't know many racers who think about training in terms of "miles per week" anymore.

Most folks who understand training concepts, talk in terms of hours / minutes and intensity levels. That's why you see all the talk about zones 1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ 5 etc and intervals and 2x20's and FTP etc.

If you want to do well at cat 5 / cat 4 races, many of which are only 45 minutes to an hour long, you don't _need_ to do rides much longer than an hour or two. Sure, most guys do, but you don't have to.

You do, however, have to do rides that simulate race efforts - riding at and above your max sustainable pace, with jumps and surges and sprints of 5 to 60 seconds at max, then very brief recoveries, and longer periods right at the highest pace you can sustain.

There's a ton of literature about these training concepts... browse the old thread for a while... read sites like Carmichael and roadbikerider.com and even Bicycling that have sample training plans.

According to that site, beginners and intermediate riders train anywhere between 150-250mi per week. I calculated if I do 40 miles per day Mon-Fri and 50 on Sat, I could reach the 250mi goal.

You are thinking about it wrong... it's not a "goal", it's just a range of what is common.

Its just that I raced a couple of years ago and would train "hard" all of the time for only 11mi. I can't imagine ever riding 40 mi easy, even though I can't do it. Have I been training wrong the whole time?

Am I supposed to go long distances like 40mi but easy, then try to speed up?

Yes ... it's called Base Mileage.

Can you ride 40 miles, or is 11 miles your distance limit? If 11 miles is your current limit, you do not want to leap into 250 miles a week ... build up to that gradually.

11mi is my distance limit if I go near my max HR for the most of the ride. But on a hilly weekend ride I last the 25mi because it has rests.

The 11mi is flat loop with a side or headwind.

I will def. read up on intervals, but my main goal would be to finish in a 40mi road race. The intervals will work on the crits, but then what should I do for the rr?

11mi is my distance limit if I go near my max HR for the most of the ride. But on a hilly weekend ride I last the 25mi because it has rests.

The 11mi is flat loop with a side or headwind.

I will def. read up on intervals, but my main goal would be to finish in a 40mi road race. The intervals will work on the crits, but then what should I do for the rr?

If you want to finish a 40 mi road race, you've got to be able to cover the distance ... without resting.

Do intervals one or two days a week to work on your speed, but one or two days a week work on building up your distance. 25 miles is a start, but aim for at least 50 miles. If you find 50 miles comfortable in training, 40 miles in a race won't seem so hard. The recommendation is 10% per week ... so since you've done a 25 mile ride, this coming weekend do a 27 or 28 mile ride ... and keep building up each week. Work on staying on the bicycle, without off-the-bicycle rests, too.

Oh, and don't ride it really slowly, ride it at a long steady distance pace ... that's the fastest you can ride and keep that same speed for the whole ride. In other words, if you start the ride at 15 mph, you should be able to still be riding 15 mph, without too much struggle, at the end.

A 40 mile road race is not going to be at max effort the whole way. There will be hard efforts and lower effort periods, similar to crits you just have to be able to go hard and recover repeatedly.