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That isn't unusual, in fact it is normal. Heart rate monitors aren't much use after the first part of the first day.

Thanks Chris, that is very useful to know the idea is working for you in practice.

Thanks for the comment. It is a good system, I think the trick is finding good triggers and appropriate responses to them

Thanks @youtroop, that is interesting and a useful tip. We live near Font Romeu, which is the french altitude training centre and see lots of XC skiers putting the work it, both summer and winter. It's a tough sport - good luck with the upcoming season.

Thanks @wazzup, useful comments as usual. That's a good point regarding the hydration pack, you can even keep it under your clothing for extra warmth. I like the mountain bike in winter too as slower speed means less wind chill and easier to stay warm. Thanks again.

You're welcome.

Thank you Steven. I am glad you found the video useful.

Thank you. I am glad you like the video. That is an interesting topic that is hard to answer in a short response like this so a video on the subject is a great idea. I will add it to my list.

Thank you

Good question, thank you. If you are referring to the spreadsheet in the video, the numbers are for a 45kg female, so protein requirement is only 90g/day even for 2g/kg of bodyweight. The values of carbohydrate and fat are based on the advice in the book but I agree, carbohydrate is often higher. As I hope comes across in the video, I typically focus on protein intake as a priority in day to day diet and typically aim for around 1.6 to 1.8g/kg of bodyweight. For carbohydrates I focus on fuelling the exercise effectively and don't worry too much about the mix of fat and carb's in the general diet as evidence seems fairly mixed. Some people do well off a high fat diet and some off higher carb's. The spreadsheet is there to illustrate a way of calculating and if you use it for yourself you need to adjust numbers to meet your specific requirements. If you want to talk in more detail, feel free to book a meeting via the link in the description and we can talk about your specific needs. I hope this helps and makes sense, let me know please.

Thank you

More fun as well….IMO !

Thanks!

My pleasure

It's a pleasure Max

Thank you, that is kind of you to comment. I am glad they are useful to you. My journey!: maybe the subject of a video but the short story is that I've always been interested in training for sport, why people are good at it and some aren't and what makes people better as well as being interested in psychological skills. When I started coaching Karen I realised that it could be something I could do as a job and it developed from there. I had no interest in climbing the corporate ladder but that was the only way to move into more challenging roles as an engineer, so I gradually moved into coaching. It was helped a lot by meeting a lady called Lee Craigie, one of Karen Darke's friends, who was an elite mountain biker, having ridden for Scotland in the Commonwealth Games. Lee's goal was empowering women to take on adventures via her organisation The Adventure Syndicate and I have always been keen to help people help themselves, sort of the reason for these videos, so we decided to run an endurance cycling camp in Girona, near where I now live. At the camp I met Jenny Graham and offered to coach her and a few other people at the camp for free for a year and things just developed from there. It's been a long journey but taken me to many interesting places and experiences. There has been a lot more but the above and the snippets in the video give a rough idea. Before coaching I was a professional structural engineer, after being stuck in what I felt was an unfair (not to me but to the people I managed) corporate system, I left and became freelance in Aberdeen, Scotland, working on oil and gas structures. It was the freelance work that allowed me to manage my time and gradually move to France and doing what I do now.

Thank you, both for sharing and commenting. I am really pleased that you are finding the videos useful.

I am glad you like the channel and find it useful. Thank you for letting me know. 'Long distance' is different for everyone, one person I coach did a 200km ride in just over 5 hours and it takes most of us at least double that. Set your own goals and enjoy your cycling, please get in touch if we can help further. Remember you can arrange a chat via the link in the description if you think we can help you build up as you get back into things. No pressure though, this isn't a sales pitch!

Yes, but also take things in incremental stages.

You are right, it makes a massive difference and conversely, if you can manage those external factors more effectively you can do more exercise. It is all a balancing act that works best if you stay on the safe side of the line. Thanks for commenting and highlighting this important issue.

Thank you for sharing this. Over doing things physically (and/or mentally) is over doing it however it is done and the principles of over-training certainly hold. It must be quite common in manual labor and probably massively under-reported. I am glad that you have been able to work through things and continued to do some cycling and running. I hope you never end up in that state again, I know it is a very unpleasant experience. Good luck with your future endeavours.

Jenny was great to work with and I am proud and privileged to have her as a friend now... she is an amazing person. Thanks for your comments, as ever.

ps great channel :)

@ds5914 Thank you, I’m glad you like the channel. My observation is that there are a lot of people like you who enjoy long rides but not very long stuff. The trick is to find challenges that are inspiring but not so long to be demotivating. Something that can be quite difficult at times. Thanks again for commenting.

Hi Justin, 52 isn’t particularly old to be struggling with back to back rides. Do you want to send me an email with a bit more detail and maybe I can help? My address is john@endurancebikeandrun.com

It’s a pleasure Frank

Thanks Andy, you can ask questions anywhere and I’ll help where I can. The main thing about tapers for ultra events is to focus on enough recovery so you don’t start tired. A bit too much rest is no problem but too little isn’t helpful. Also get plenty of sleep and mental recovery during your taper. As a rough guide, do your last long ride at least 3 weeks before and start tapering about 2 weeks before cut training volume by 50% in the first taper week and even more in the second week. The aim is to feel fresh and relaxed on the start line. Does this help and answer your question?

Thanks - Yes it does - much appreciated

Great comment, thank you. The best recovery ride physiologically is no ride. You make a great point about easy rides as both low stress aerobic exercise and a big win on mental health.

Great comment, thank you. The best recovery ride physiologically is no ride. You make a great point about easy rides as both low stress aerobic exercise and a big win on mental health.

Thank you. I’m very pleased it helped you.

That’s a very good idea. Thanks for sharing it.

Thanks! I think people can be more, or less distracted by little things as they get more tired. Lucas was obviously in the latter category! Similarly, Alli Holland in winning Pan Celtic last year told me her bike developed a squeak, which she imagined was a voice telling her to keep going forward. I wonder whether the faster riders have a different mindset, or we are all the same. Thanks again for sharing

Truth! This reminds me that one of my plasterers said that when he gets tired, suddenly the monotonous noise of the plaster saw whispers to him "keep going, keep going!"

Perfect! A great tip, thank you.

Thanks! They are all good ideas. I think dried fruits are good but they are quite high fibre so you need to test them to make sure they don’t upset your stomach if you eat a lot of them. It’s a good point about bottle hygiene, it’s definitely something to be cautious of.

@@EnduranceBikeandRun thanks

I understand the bottle hygiene issue. I dumped a soda in one during a race last year so I could get on the road quickly, and by the end of the day, I had to pitch the bottle as stuff seemed to be already growing. I've swapped out to Bivo bottles (I have no financial or personal relation to the company in any way) as, since they're metal, they can be put in a dishwasher or scrubbed with very hot water and not give you PFAS or other issues as you get with plastic bottles. They are slightly heavier than plastic bottles, but, for me, a few grams is minor on a loaded bike, and the fact that they are insulated and keep ice for hours and hours is a huge plus in hot weather. My two cents.

Thank you Steven - that is a great tip.

Thanks - that is a good topic, we had a workshop on the subject so I'll check out the details and see if I can summarise it in a video.

Thank you

Thank you for your comments and also for the vote of confidence... hopefully more viewers will come in time but as long as what I am doing is useful it is worth doing.

Thank you for the comment. Resting heart rate and heart rate when training aren't the same for everyone, so you need to calculate your own training zones. You might like this article that Clare wrote endurancebikeandrun.com/blog/2021/01/26/what-are-my-heart-rate-training-zones If you force yourself to stay in training zone 2 for a lot of your training you will get faster and faster at that lower heart rate but remember to mix in a bit of harder stuff - it is important to have a good mix. Good luck

I don't focus on power, I ride to how I feel with an eye on time, power and heart rate and try not to spend much time above 75% FTP. I'm not too worried about how fast I do the rides as long as they are within the allotted target. If you want to see how fast you can do a 200km and it is hilly, it is better to work a bit harder on climbs (when you are going slower) but it is a bit of a tricky balancing act. I think trying to sustain 70% FTP is a reasonable target but it would be quite individual to you, so give it a try and see what happens!

Hopefully!

Yup. Always keep moving. I always try to make my average speed and my average moving speed match. When I ride alone, there is usually a 0.1 mph difference between the two. I’ve gotten pretty good at always moving. I can rest when the ride is over.

Thanks, it's nice that your experiences are consistent with the numbers and my observations

Thank you, that’s a very good point. Being flexible with your plan is important.

100% a strong headwind can destroy your time especially on a bike (but even running)

My pleasure! I am glad you like the videos and sorry for missing a few weeks...

Thanks Stephen Wonderful insight and advice as always, based on your own wealth of experience.

@nadeemafzal8984 thank you for your comment. Enjoy the learning curve and the joy of hills.

Hi Ed, Well, like most things in training for sport, it depends on a lot of factors but I'd be inclined to try 1 to 3 sessions every 2 weeks and then have a week with no VO2max intervals. They can be hard to sustain every week, both mentally and physically, so breaking them up into blocks can be good. Try one a week for 2 weeks, have a week off and repeat it, if you improve you're on the right track, if not, have a rethink. Sorry it's not an exact prescription but hopefully it gives you a good start? Good luck and let us know how you get on.

@@EnduranceBikeandRun Thanks for your reply. I think you are suggesting doing 1 -3 VO2 max interval sessions per week for two weeks. And after those two weeks, take a week off from doing those intervals. Is that correct?

Hi Ed, No, 1 to 3 sessions every 2 weeks, so 1 to 2 a week for 2 weeks and then an easier week. Similar if you are doing threshold or tempo workouts … I think 2 ‘hard’ sessions a week is probably enough. It depends on your training history though.

The beauty of intervals is they don’t suck for long. 😅

Both good points… it’s nice to have a discussion. Thanks for commenting. I quite like intervals in a strange masochistic way!! 😬

I do long intervals. Where the work interval is 3-5 hrs and the rest interval is 20 hrs. 😁

A lot of people do that but it isn't the best way to do it if you do all your rides at the same intensity. 20 hours recovery isn't usually enough for most people after a hard effort so it is better to do some of your rides hard and some easy. The protocol of 3 to 5 hours most days is good but it is better to vary the intensity to get the most benefit. I also suspect you work harder on climbs than descents and therefore do shorter efforts in that way as well... Thanks for the comment - it's a good point.