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Beginner training help?

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Old 08-11-16 | 03:29 PM
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Beginner training help?

I'm running 4.5km in 30 mins and cycling 33km in 60mins and another 4km run.(gym,medium resistance)
I've been doing this for a couple of weeks all together but always done the cycle distance (couldn't run more than 3min two months ago)
Is this good as not got a clue?
Hopefully do a duathlon soon and triathlon next summer

Last edited by Josephstephen; 08-11-16 at 03:33 PM.
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Old 08-11-16 | 03:34 PM
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Are you riding outside or on a gym spin bike? It's not clear from your post.
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Old 08-11-16 | 06:24 PM
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Originally Posted by Josephstephen
I'm running 4.5km in 30 mins and cycling 33km in 60mins and another 4km run.(gym,medium resistance)
I've been doing this for a couple of weeks all together but always done the cycle distance (couldn't run more than 3min two months ago)
Is this good as not got a clue?
Hopefully do a duathlon soon and triathlon next summer
"Good" depends on your own goals, and how quickly you want to get there.
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Old 08-12-16 | 01:36 AM
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it sounds good to me because I can't run one minute lol
you are improving, you are having fun, you are doing something and getting out there. That's good. you will keep improving at your own pace, just keep riding and running and have fun.
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Old 08-12-16 | 03:40 AM
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Terrible. if you can't run 75 minutes in an hour you just aren't trying.

So ... why ask a bunch of strangers who have no clue about you? You could be extremely fit and loafing, or extremely unfit and totally killing yourself. We have no way of knowing.

Tell us how You feel about your progress, then ask questions to which we might be able to give meaningful answers.

Or, if all you want is encouragement ... yeah, of course, keep doing it,. The numbers mean nothing, the will to act and the action are everything Congratulations for making the effort, and congratulations for making progress.
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Old 08-15-16 | 10:51 AM
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5k in 25 minutes is a good benchmark for someone who is considered a "runner" and is an attainable goal for almost anyone with regular training. racers and serious runners are MUCH faster than this . . .

33km in an hour is pretty good, thats over 20mph sustained which would be decent even for a beginning racer . . . if you were outside on the road riding solo. racers and very serious cyclists are still faster than this, and some are MUCH faster than this.

indoors on a spin bike there is literally no way to measure it. if you have the resistance set low, you can "spin" as fast as you want, meaning the distance means nothing. start riding outside. if you can actually cover 30km on the road, solo, in varying weather, consistently, you are doing well. my guess is that you will be MUCH slower than that in real life.
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Old 08-15-16 | 11:49 AM
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Originally Posted by ypsetihw
5k in 25 minutes is a good benchmark for someone who is considered a "runner" and is an attainable goal for almost anyone with regular training. racers and serious runners are MUCH faster than this . . .

33km in an hour is pretty good, thats over 20mph sustained which would be decent even for a beginning racer . . . if you were outside on the road riding solo. racers and very serious cyclists are still faster than this, and some are MUCH faster than this.

indoors on a spin bike there is literally no way to measure it. if you have the resistance set low, you can "spin" as fast as you want, meaning the distance means nothing. start riding outside. if you can actually cover 30km on the road, solo, in varying weather, consistently, you are doing well. my guess is that you will be MUCH slower than that in real life.
That my plan till I save for a bike so just using a exercise bike cycling at 33kmp on level 15
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Old 08-15-16 | 12:03 PM
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Originally Posted by Josephstephen
I'm running 4.5km in 30 mins and cycling 33km in 60mins and another 4km run.(gym,medium resistance)
I've been doing this for a couple of weeks all together but always done the cycle distance (couldn't run more than 3min two months ago)
Is this good as not got a clue?
Hopefully do a duathlon soon and triathlon next summer
As a reference, the one and only 5k I ever ran, I ran in just a couple seconds over 30 min. That was with no real training except for a week of treadmill leading up to it and then spending the night before out at the bar until 3am. I was 24ish at that point and probably 5-10 and 190#.

Can't really help any more than that. Ignore the distance on the stationary bike, it is really pointless. My fiancee tells me all the time "how far" she biked on the exercise bike, and there is no way sh comes close to any of those numbers outside on a real bike. Work on sustained heartrate for a certain amount of time if you need a benchmark there.
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Old 08-15-16 | 12:57 PM
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Originally Posted by Josephstephen
That my plan till I save for a bike so just using a exercise bike cycling at 33kmp on level 15
It is impossible to answer your question because no one knows what that means.
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Old 08-15-16 | 03:07 PM
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JosephSteven;

Sorry if I poked a little fun at you. I see a lot of these kinds of posts where the poster obviously has not thought through the question but still expects a meaningful answer.

If you really think about your questions, you can ask better questions, and get useful answers. “Is this good” is like asking “What is the best shade of blue?” A lot more info is needed, and rather than asking if your performance is “good” it might be better to ask for suggestions on training methods for the events you seek to enter.

If you can run 4.5 km in 30 minutes that might be good, or great, or terrible. Have you been running for years? Running hard for years? Are you considerably overweight or in amazing physical condition or in between? Is the course flat, uphill, downhill? Lots of stops for traffic, or can you run undisturbed? Is it a cork running track or concrete?

You say you have been doing it for a couple weeks .... how long was it before you started that you did some or any or a lot of exercise? How is your health? Injuries, heart or lung problems, anything else pertinent?

As for the spinning ... I used to spin several times a week until I hurt myself riding. Every single bike in the gym was calibrated a little differently, so 15 on one might be 13 or 17 on the next.

As jefnvk suggests, look for x number of minutes at a sustained rpm and/or heart rate, and then using that as a baseline you will be able to measure improvement. But riding a spin cycle has nothing to do with riding a bicycle.

Using the spin cycle I would recommend a few things: after a warm-up do intervals for a while with higher-rpm recovery periods, i.e. go flat-out on medium load (whatever that is for you) for a minute (or two, depending on fitness—I usually start with 30-45 seconds because I have no fitness) and then drop to say, 90 rpm (of maybe 100---depends on you) at a medium load for a minute or two, and repeat until you feel really terrible This promotes explosiveness, quick recovery, and is great for improving cardio and breathing.

Then pick a medium-high load and push steadily as quickly as you can sustain it for about 20-40 minutes. This mimics a long, low hill or just keeping pace with a quick peloton. Steady strong output for 20-40 minutes can also form a second baseline so you can track improvement. Hop up and sprint every now and then at higher load both to shock the muscles, break the monotony, and to mimic covering an attack.

But seriously, don’t listen to me, There is a racing forum here where folks who actually study the science of training and racing hang out. Here you are getting advice from a fat, old man with a bad heart. If your goal is to reach the lofty levels of fitness I have attained ... get off the bike and start eating ice cream.
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