But, but,..I need to train!!!

Coping with Training Interruptions…It’s All Part of the Challenge!

17 Weeks out from the start of the Tour Divide and training is finally in full effect. Weekends see me riding 5-7 hours on Saturday and 3-4 hours on Sunday. That is in addition to riding (trying to at least) 2 hours every day, Monday-Friday. Add that up and you can see that “ideally” I am riding 18-21 hours a week. That is in addition to hiking, yoga, and basketball.

Sounds easy!! You have 24 hours in a day, or 168 hours a week! But…

Working a local and full-time job, whether telework or on-site, I can make this work (you just don’t sleep – even more Tour Divide training!!) However, successfully training while on travel status for work is nearly impossible. Lots of my work trips involve travel to the East coast, including supporting early morning and late evening meetings. Doing so during the winter and early spring months mean training outside while on travel is a no go.

I do the best I can to overcome this challenge by hiking or running in the dark hours, usually after work. That said, I still can’t maintain cycling fitness when work takes me away from home. So, what is one to do?

Luckily (or perhaps by laziness) I follow the old training model of periodization, that is, at the current time training load increases for 2-3 weeks (for example 16, 18, 20 hours/week of ride time) followed by a rest week (10-12 hour of ride time). But since I can never predict my travel schedule weeks out, I generally just keep increasing the weekly training hours, knowing that life will let me know I have to take a rest week, whether by fatigue or by life getting in its own way. It’s inevitable.

I truly believe you cannot “make up” for lost training, by going harder than planned the next week.

You do the best to control the things you can, get back on your path, and move forward confident in the knowledge that even the best athletes have unanticipated interruptions in their training schedules.

Live life well.

Shane