Training this winter

Raisins, energy drinks, flap jackets

Flap jackets?

Oat based protective waistcoat?

I've been reading many of these posts and it's good to see others' training plans. I need some help of my own. I have my first track session coming up this Friday at Calshot but I am out of shape. I got an injury and life got in the way of training. I have lost a lot of my strength that I built up with deads and squats and core exercises nice Lao lost a lot of my base fitness

What can I do to make the best of the next five days before Friday? Should I be working on strength or conditioning, or both? Weights, long rides or sprints? I realise it's late but I can still do something. TIA

4 days out, i'm not sure there is much you can do, i certainly wouldnt engage in anything extreme, as you'll end up fatiguing yourself.

not track specific but i would say the only really constructive thing you can do is a lot of stretching stretching to try and improve flexibility.

i personally think this is a good routine.

http://people.bath.ac.uk/masrjb/Stretch/stretching_7.html

Just keep your legs turning teome. Some steady riding will be much more beneficial than getting into the gym.

yeah get on some rollers if you can for about an hour x 2 at a nice easy pace and probably complete rest the day before

@Ed Yeah that does look like a good idea as my flexability has gone down hill badly. I'll try to get it done each night

@mikec I don't have any rollers sadly, that would be ideal at the moment. A friend of mine has an eliptical trainer which could have some carry-over. At least I could get my heart rate up at any time of the day. Would this be any good?

@pistaboy I went out for a ride today but I have recently moved to a very hilly area of surrey --- Godalming, near Guildford and not far from many of the good road cycling routes around Shere, Box HIll etc. The hills are killing me and I can't ride at a smooth pace, it's max efforts going up, near death recovery in the drops freewheeling on the way down (well, once I've been riding for a bit) and a bit of smooth riding in between.

I'm in a great place for road cycling so I need to get back to using it before I'm back in London in September. Would I be better off going steady on an elliptical trainer or hitting the hills on my road bike? There are some routes where I can ride on flatter sections of road but the backroutes in this are a great for cycling and so free from the annoyance of cars. I'm guessing anything on the bike will be better but I can really get some controled training done on the elliptical jobby --- long steady mixed with sprint intervals. Damn I wish I'd bought rollers a few months back when I was considering it...

i would say steady on the eliptical trainer (is that one of those cross country ski jobs that fucks up your spine??) would be a better idea, trying to increase your fitness or working your muscles hard will just decrease your enjoyment on the track.

in fairness you will make it through the first session almost purely on adrenaline have an awesome time and then be in a world of pain for a few hours/days depending on how hard you pushed yourself compared to how fit you are.

I wouldn't do anything out of the ordinary. Have a regular week, assuming that involves some cycling.

...and what Mike said.

Ensuring you get quality rest and quality nutrition is the best thing you could do with only 4 days before the session. The mental agility you'll need will be sharper if you're not tired from squeezing in a load of training.

It's too late to do anything about fitness or strength specifically for this session, a few gentle rides will be fine but not at the expense of a few decent night's sleep.

Your very first indoor session is unlikely to be particularly physically taxing unless you are *very *unfit.

@Ed: Yeah the elliptical trainer is the ski kind of thing. Didn't know it wrecked your back. The thing i like about them is that you can do sprint intervals very easily. I much prefer HIIT that SS. I need to get some rollers and jump on with a geared bike.

@STE5: Yep, this is entirely sensible, to such an extent that I will have difficulty following it. I will try to do this with a bit of other work thrown in for bad measure

@RPM: My nitrition is currently shocking. I used to be very good but I have come away from being stuck in a five or six month long self destruct mode. The track cycling is among a number of things I am currently doing to sort myself out.

I know it's too late now. I had bike issues and injury which stunted my fantastic plan to regain normality. I'll get in a few gentle rides and good sleep.

I'm glad you said the first session won't be too taxing. I don't think I am very unfit and I'm quitting smoking this week so this should help somewhat. I'm really looking forward to it despite these worries. I've still got to build up my track bike this week but that won't take me long.

For the gentle rides I'll be doing, I will ride fixed and geared. Is this a good idea? I haven't really ridden fixed since I moved from London in Feb so I'm a bit out of practice but I can't imagine I will have lost the feeling and the control for track stands etc. Do tracks let you keep your bikes there? It would make my life so much easier if I could just keep it there and grab it for sessions. That way I could go so much more often while I'm down in surrey.

...and there i was looking forward to my first track session.

@Jambon - some people like reading reams of training information on websites. Most of it just serves to make people think that competitive cycling is an elite pastime reserved only for those with personal coaches and thousands of pounds of specialist equipment.

Don't believe the hype! - use a bit of common sense and have fun.

advice for your first track session

Good point, how does one go about getting a storage space at Herne Hill? I forgot to ask this yesterday.

...and there i was looking forward to my first track session.

haha, I'm completely obsessive when I get into something --- it's a curse. I'm glad to read that you enjoyed your session even if you're not superfit

advice for your first track session

Cheers for that. It's check on all but the fitness. I'm not that bad really so I'm sure I'll be ok

Don't believe the hype! - use a bit of common sense and have fun.

Great advice, i guess common sense is more valuable than the latest carbon framesets.
I'll be sure to have fun don't you worry. I'll update in here how it goes.

advice for your first track session

Thanks, as said before it all seems fairly straight forward.

I'm glad to read that you enjoyed your session even if you're not superfit

My previous philosophy was, i'm skinny so i must be fit. Good job the weathers getting better, time to train.

Good point, how does one go about getting a storage space at Herne Hill? I forgot to ask this yesterday.

Email bikes@hernehillvelodrome.com, and ask. Dulwichrider on this forum is sorting it out, but I owe him some information before he can get stuck in properly - almost there!

It's spring now.

... yes JC!

It's spring now.

Doesn't feel like it. Fucking freezing riding in today.

Winter has never had a monopoly on coldness.

Ffs, typed that post on my phone and couldn't be fecked to correct it

Mmmmm cake

Alarming...

http://www.lfgss.com/member1056.html

@RPM: My nitrition is currently shocking. I used to be very good but I have come away from being stuck in a five or six month long self destruct mode. The track cycling is among a number of things I am currently doing to sort myself out.

@teome
as RPM mentioned, the number one thing you could do this week that will make a diference is feed your body well - and clean. Plenty of fruit and veg, quality protein and starchy carbs.
If you can lay off the caffeine for a few days that would be a good way to properly hydrate your body.
Then, when you need it, use the simple sugars and caffeine to your advantage......