kajero

I have until June to get ready for the MS150 in Minnesota. I'm taking spinning classes, my sixth one was this morning -- a 90 minute endurance ride. Later in the afternoon I went for a ride around the lake. The ride is approximately 10 miles with about 5 miles of long hills. Sheesh . . . Most of the time I couldn't go faster than 7-8 miles an hour except for when I went downhill when I managed to get to 17 mph. (I could have been tired from the spinning class yesterday and this morning). But I have to do better than 7-8 miles or I'll be riding a very long time in the MS 150. Any advice on the best way to get myself in shape? I work full-time so I have to plan training around the 8-5 job.
I also had my heart rate monitor on and kept getting over my AT. It happened when I went up some of the steeper hills. Any advice on that as well?

kuan

There is one hill on the Munger trail. Most years you'll have a tailwind. I'd just try and ride a 30 mile loop one weekend, a 40 miler the next, and a 50 miler on the third week. You'll be fine.

Pat

Well, it is hard to get out on the road with a full time job. Ride during the weekends. Try to get in at least one training ride that is 70% of your target distance. The MS 150 is usually a 75 mile out and a 75 mile back with a night in between. So you need to work up to about a 50 mile ride. It would be best to do a 50 on Sat and a 50 on Sun if you can.

With cycling, the more aerobic exercise that uses your legs that you can get in during the week, the better. If you can get in a spin session on most weekdays, that would really help. Spinning is very similar to road riding. I find that they vary the pace far more in spin sessions than a road cyclist would do. Just trying to get aerobically fit by exercising on the weekends really does not work that well.

ericm979

It's not that hard to train with a full time job. I ride 8000+ miles a year and work full time, and I know plenty of other riders who do the same or more. Good bike lights help as does the willingness to get up early.

If your HR is over AT, don't worry about it.

How did you get your AT? 220-age is useless. Don't even bother with it. You need to measure yourself. When I was first doing endurance events I found the HRM useful to keep me from going too hard at the beginning. Now I know myself better and don't need it.

kajero

I got my AT from Lifetime Fitness. 180-my age. What is "too hard at the beginning"?

telebianchi

First, congrats and thanks for taking on the MS150 challenge. I'm preparing for my third MS150 which will be on the same weekend as yours. https://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/joe2011



It's hard to tell from your post exactly where you are at in your fitness/training. You don't mention what type of riding you have done in the past. However, the fact that you are asking questions makes me guess that you are in need of more and better-focused training. I apologize if I make some inaccurate assumptions. But, here are a few suggestions:

1. Plug "bike century training plan" into Google (or your favorite search engine). You'll find lots of plans to work with. You'll want to base your training partly on where your fitness is today.
   One Example: https://sweat365.com/library/training.../century-ride/
2. Your MS150 website has a link on their website for training. You also get a free membership to TrainingPeaks.com with your BikeMS registration.
   https://bikemnm.nationalmssociety.org...E_MNM_Training
3. Have you joined a team for the MS150? Ask others on your team for help, support, training rides, routes, etc. If you haven't, then go do it. I got hooked up with my team by calling the local MS Society chapter...they are there to help you.
4. Ditch the spin classes and get out on your bike. Spin class is a nice substitue if you absolutely, positively can't get out on the real bike. Otherwise, get out on the bike.
5. Doing spin class in the morning and then a bike ride in the afternoon is probably counterproductive. Too much training in one day, and that's not what you'll be doing on the weekend of the MS150 so why do it now?
6. A ten mile ride on similar roads to what the MS150 will be using should not be difficult. Try your same circuit on a day when you do not do spin class. Use that as a gauge for your bike fitness level.
7. Be sure to prepare for two days on the bike. Most century training plans have you do one long day, increasing in distance as the weeks go on, but then followed by an easy or rest day. One of the (fun) challenges of MS150 is doing a long, hard ride...and then getting up the next day and doing it again. Be sure to train the same way.
8. Yes, you work a full time job. The economy thanks you. But you knew that when you signed up for BikeMS, so don't use it as an excuse now.
9. If Minnesota runs their BikeMS like the DC Chapter does, you will have a spectacular time. I think that the sacrifices you make to "earn" the donations of the people that sponsor you are done during training. The weekend of the ride is the fun part.

Again, thanks for signing up for the Ride and Good Luck!

kajero

Thanks for all the great advice. It looks like I have a lot of training to do! I hardly rode last year. The year before I did manage to go on a 42 mile fund raiser ride and a 50 mile ride on my own, but I was stretching it. I guess I know what I am capable of if I work at it. Unfortunately most of the group rides I looked at seem to conflict with other commitments; I am going to try and reschedule my commitments. Thanks again for all your suggestions. Now I gotta figure out how to get the bike rack on the car. Someone's always done it for me, but they are not around this year.

surreycrv 

If you have time for a 90 minute spin class, that needs what, 15 minutes to get there and 15 minutes to get back, why not just go for a 2 hr cycle. At 7 mph thats a starting distance of 15 miles. And it will get longer each and every ride. To add to another poster, you have more than enough time to ride, its up to you whether you really want to or not. Get up earlier, go out after dinner, decide to NOT do something so you can go for a ride, and then ride at least 4 days a week. Best of all, its free to do it. If you won't go by yourself, get over it.

koffee brown

+1 surreycrv. As a spin instructor, if I had someone tell me they were taking my class to train for the MS150, I'd tell them to leave and go ride your bike. Your butt in the saddle will go a long way.

If you just can't find the time to ride your bike, then yeah- go ahead and take a spin. But it ain't winter there anymore- you should be outside riding by now. Go on, git! Scat!

koffee

kajero

I've been riding every weekend. Even got up to 50 miles one weekend and I had so much fun. Most of the time my weekend rides are 30-40 miles depending how lost I get. I still go to the spin classes in the morning because it is dusk when I get home.

rmr1923

lol... that's an interesting way to increase your distance. go somewhere without a map/GPS/smart phone and see how many miles you rack up trying to find your way back home. but congrats on increasing your mileage. i made the mistake of increasing my distance too much too fast and ended up with a nagging case of IT band syndrome, so be careful not to overdo it. sounds like you're in pretty good shape and should have no problem completing the MS150 though. have you hooked up with a team? if not, find a fat dude and draft behind him the first half of the ride. you'll have a surprising amount of energy for the 2nd half.

kajero

What's even funnier . . . I get lost even though I have the maps. I don't knowwhy I think I can read a bike trail map . . . I can't even read a car road map. I won't even get into my misadventure's with the GPS.
I am riding with the "Purple Pumper" team. Hows that for a name!

kuan

Get a light. Explore Minneapolis at night. If you're on the Greenway at night try and wait for a few people to show up and ride together.

kajero

I did it!!! I rode 75 miles each day. And no SAG wagon. I barely made the last 10 miles but I had a great team who supported me. I can't believe I did it! I think I probably averaged around 12-13 miles which I know is slow, but I still finished!

Joemess

Congrats!

Seanholio

Congratulations! I'm training up for the Bike MS Northern California in September. 100mi the first day and 75 the second. I can't wait!

caloso

Too hard at the beginning means not being able to sustain for the full interval. But you need to know what your system can do.

Assuming you are relatively fit and free of heart issues:

Warm up well, then find a relatively flat stretch of road without signs or lights and do a 20 minute time trial. Aim for 7 or 8/10 perceived effort. It should be uncomfortable but not huge suffering. Try to go harder in the second 10 minutes. Use the avg. HR for the 20 minutes as your threshold HR. (I have no idea how old you are, but I have a feeling that it's going to be higher than 180 minus age.)

kajero

I am having some stress tests done. The doc things I do have a lung issue or something like that. I will see what happens.