Starting HIM training- whento stop 20 mile RT bike ride to and from work?
So- after much advice from the Haus, I decided to do Challenge FL 70.3 in Nov. I loaded the plan into Training Peaks, read the wiki and 2013 thread on slower runners (and decided to stop adding mileage to my long runs "just to be safe"), and am excited to start training and really try to closely follow the plan (in the past, I have not been super faithful about the bike intervals). With that said, here's my concern. I live 10 miles from work and have been bike commuting- definitely getting stronger! The ride in is mostly downhill, with the wind- a 45 min easy ride on my cyclocross bike. Home is a different story- 50-60 min, depending on the wind. At what point should I stop this commute and just suck it up and drive? When I can't hit my HR/power splits? When I start to feel fatigued? Now? Never? I love my bike commute, despite the fact that it is a logistical nightmare. Thanks!!!
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Leslie - I bike commuted to work 2-3 days a week 1997-2010. I started doing it before I ever took up triathlon - before I ever ran a step for any reason. I just kept it up after I got into this sport. I never viewed it as "training", just as something I did that made me feel good for lots of reasons. I also did weekly bike intervals, and longer rides on the weekends. The commuting was in addition to the training plan, not a replacement for it. That way, there's no reason to feel as if you have to be "working/training" during the bike commute. Let it be your secret weapon on race day, because, as you note, it will make you stronger. As well as saner.
This. Never let triathlon get in the way of this statement. x2 on Al's advice to not view the commute be viewed as a 'workout'. Do it because, "I love my bike commute."
I am wholeheartedly aligned with Al's comment above. I have commuted by bike for years on the days when I'm not traveling for work. I suggest two key principles:
1. Consider not commuting on days when you have a scheduled bike workout later that day, as it may undermine the quality of the bike workout. For me this kills a lot of commutes because I do my trainer workouts at night.
2. If you are already prone to bagging the interval work, please do NOT let the "extra mileage" of commuting be an excuse for not doing the workouts as prescribed.
I'll caveat the following by saying that my season this yr is "not traditional" so I'm not really following the training plan as diligently as I did in years past or most other people "should". BUT, 100% of my (non-Saturday) bike workouts this yr have been during my commute. If my legs are trashed, I take it easy and if I want to consider it my bike "workout" I simply hammer it the entire way (to work or) home from work. But I'm only doing this 2-3x per week. I'm also using my commute as my "long run" as well. At the beginning I was driving to work one day and leaving my bike at work. The next day I would run into work, then bike home. Now I've built up to running both ways (to and from work) on the same day. So I basically drive 1 or maybe 2 days a week now which has been AWESOME!
FWIW, my shortest possible commute is ~12.6 miles one way, but on my bike sometimes I stretch it to ~14.5 miles for fun. On my fat bike that's between ~45-65 mins.
Thanks!