Long, Steady Distance (and the Strange Allure of Cold Weather Riding)
By Coach Pam Semanik.
In our November 2020 web coaching session, we talked about the 3 focus areas for the ‘off-season’ months of training: strength, speed, and aerobic endurance. As the days grow shorter and colder, we will spend a lot of time indoors. This is just fine for the first two focus areas, since speed (cadence) workouts are probably easiest done on an indoor trainer, and strength training means more time spent in the home gym.
But that 3rd training focus, aerobic endurance, might be a bit of a challenge. Although, in general, Stelleri Performance Training coaches put an emphasis on higher intensity and shorter duration, we still need longer efforts to build our aerobic base. If you haven’t already, you will soon be seeing workouts that are of longer duration than what you may be used to.
For those of you who have distance events on your 2021 calendar, rides of multiple hours on a weekend will be critical in building that strong aerobic cycling base. The goal is to have you ready to combine intensity with duration as you get nearer your race or event – and a strong base is the foundation for race-specific training.
Long rides on an indoor trainer can be intensely boring. With COVID still raging as of this blog posting, group training workouts – where you haul your bike and trainer to a workout space so you can suffer and sweat with friends – will be hard to find. Having a smart trainer + digital program such as Zwift, FulGaz, or TrainerRoad goes a long way in terms of motivation and distraction. Some athletes use the LSD rides to catch up on their favorite TV series – but be aware that your goal is Long STEADY (not SLOW) Distance: don’t become too distracted in your entertainment or you may find that your intensity is dropping too low. (Most LSD rides will prescribe riding in high HR Zone 2 – which is not exactly a flower-gazing pace!).
When all else fails and you just can’t stand the thought of another indoor ride, remember that there are those who ride outside all year long. It may take some special equipment, good gear, and experimentation, but you may find the experience rewarding. I tend to do more towpath and paved trail riding during the winter, since bundling up like Nanook of the North makes me less reactive to traffic conditions. Or maybe it’s just that my cold hands introduce a braking lag time, or my frozen eyeballs don’t register obstacles as quickly.
If you opt to ride outside, you may not have as much control over your training conditions as you do on your indoor trainer. You may not be able to ‘settle in’ to the appropriate training zone, but that doesn’t mean your outside ride is an inferior option. Wind, rolling resistance, actual elevation gain, handling skills, and overcoming mental limitations (also known as HTFU training – if you don’t what that means, ask Angie!) all come into play when riding outside in cold weather.
I hope that you will challenge yourself this off-season to put some effort into your LSD rides and to go the full duration in your workouts. And if you’re feeling adventurous (or just really, really tired of the indoor trainer), get outside when conditions aren’t too terrible, and see if you like it. Who knows – maybe Santa will bring you a Fat Bike this year!
Things you need for long rides inside:
· Plenty of hydration
· Fuel, if the ride is longer than an hour or so
· A fan (or two), an open window, and/or a space that permits airflow and cooling
· A readily-available towel to wipe sweat out of your eyes
· A mat or towel underneath your bike to mop up the sweat
· Some form of distraction is helpful
If you have any indoor riding tips or stories, we’d love to hear them!