OR: I’m not ready yet. Now what do I do!?
After an amazingly mild Winter, it looks like an early Spring. This could catch a lot of folks off guard. Are you among them? “Wow! It’s time to ride, but I’m sooo out of shape!” Does that describe you? When was the last time you were on your bike? Do you have to think about that question? If so, read on. There’s help and good news for you.
First off, keep always these three principles in mind:
1) There are no “shortcuts.” The body takes the time it takes to do what it will.
2) The past is gone. Focus on now and the future.
3) It is not possible to be consistent part of the time.
If we have arrived at this point in the year, "out of shape,” then that is where we are. There is no “Re-Do” key on life. But the good news is about equally good. If we have achieved some level of fitness in the past, the body will respond to conditioning more quickly now.
Step One: Get on your bike and ride it.
The “Miles Myth”:
Training, and getting in shape is not about “doing big miles.” No two miles are the same. In fact the same mile is never the same on two successive days or hours. Temperature, wind, humidity, and your personal condition are all variables. More, your heart, lungs, and legs do not “understand” what a mile is. What your body “understands” is duration and quality of effort.
To begin with, any effort is a higher quality than the lack of exercise that has led to this point. So take it easy but do take it. As for duration, we need to do a bit of a “fitness test” to establish the correct levels.
The basis of this fitness test is the idea of the “Long Short Ride.” Pick out a short loop in the vicinity of your home, or starting from some easily accessible nearby venue. This should be only about five to ten miles long. (Closer to five would be better if you are really out of shape.)
Now, get on your bike and start riding around that loop. (This is best done alone!) Time yourself. NO! You are not going for speed! You are timing to establish a “Duration Limit.” So ride easily, breathing and heart rate elevated, but not highly so. Focus on enjoying the process and just spend the time moving the bike and breathing.
This is not a test to destruction! This is not a test to failure! All longer rides have three parts. 1) I feel great and I could do this forever! 2) If I keep this up, I’m going to get tired. And 3) I should have stopped this before I started. (That last is sometimes known as the “World of Hurt.”) Usually Part 1 lasts for an appreciable time. Part 2 will be a lot shorter. Note the time when Part 3 starts, and then go home.
That’s it. You have just established a baseline time. You now know how long it will take before you are really tired and sore on the bike. It doesn’t matter how long this time is. If it’s 15 minutes, then that’s what it is. If it’s three hours, that’s fine too. You just need to know how long it is.
Step Two: Recover. You are going to be stiff and sore after your “fitness test.” Give yourself two to three days to recover. (Not more than three days!) This will let your hands, shoulders, butt, legs, back, neck, all those stiff and sore places, all those chafed spots get back to normal.
Step Three: Do less and do it more frequently. Let’s say you’ve established that Time X, the time it takes to get to the “World of Hurt,” is one and a half hours. (It can be any number. It is what it is.) Go out and ride less than that time, three to four times per week. This will start building you up and increasing your tolerance for staying on the bike. It’s amazing how much gain there is in just three to four weeks of this.
Step Four: Repeat. At the end of March, do the same test again. This time on a somewhat longer loop. You will be surprised at the gains.
Step Five: Add some structure. We’ll deal with this next week. For now, GO RIDE and do it CONSISTENTLY!
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