Some Long Thoughts on a Difficult Ride.

By Pam Harris

Legally speaking, you're of sound mind. You have a real-time job and a full-time family. You hit the weight room when you can and run occasionally in months that include the letter "r." Your friends think you're in pretty good shape, and your mother calls you a "health nut" because you cycle every Saturday morning if the winds are behaving. If challenged, you'd bet a stranger that you can cycle around Inyokern Loop in 90 minutes, give or take 30 minutes. To usher in the next millennium, you've decided to complete the Death Valley to Mount Whitney Road Race. And, although you've got the resolve to see it through, you haven't a clue of how to train, simultaneously keep your job, and convince your family you aren't having a "mid-life crisis." This is the first of a series of articles designed to help you make it to the top of that mountain and minimize the inherent pain of getting there. The factual information presented was obtained from The American College of Sports Medicine Fitness Handbook, The USA Sports Coach Cycling Manual, Greg LeMond's Complete Book of Cycling, Essentials of Exercise Physiology (McArdle, Katch, and Katch), and Food for Sport (Dr. Nathan J. Smith). The rest of my thoughts sprout from eight years of cycling—including numerous trial-and-error days—a formal education in nutrition and food science, countless discussions with other wise cyclists in our valley, and a smidgen of Lance Armstrong's training principles for luck.
December – Establish the Basics: For some cyclists, the highest hurdle is finding the time to train; the second, enlisting the support of family members.
Draw Up A Behavioral Contract. The first step toward achieving your goal is to absolve yourself of any guilt about abandoning your family in the months ahead. The second step is to convince your family to buy into this philosophy to maintain familial harmony. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends the use of behavioral contracts so that all parties know from the get-go exactly what steps must be taken to achieve particular goals. These contracts also help identify possible obstacles and countermeasures. Identify Vital Statistics Now that you have your family's blessing, it's time to uncover some of your vital statistics. This information will be incorporated into your specific training program next month.
Count your resting pulse rate . For one minute each morning, count your heartbeat (pulse) in any of these three locations: near your wrist, forearm (brachial artery), or neck (carotid artery) BEFORE you get out of bed. Get out of bed and record that number as beats per minute in your training log. Take your pulse rate every morning. With proper fitness training, your resting pulse rate should decrease. An elevated pulse rate may indicate that you are training at too high a level.
Calculate your maximum heart rate. If you know your maximum heart rate, as measured by a cardiologist or fitness specialist, use that number. Otherwise, for this training, the following formula can be used. MHR = 220 - age in years
Start Training Once your training schedule is established, start cycling at least two days a week. Grow accustomed to the idea that this time is your time. Include other family members or friends on these cycling expeditions. Cycle with your kids and have one of those "meaningful" conversations. This will ensure that you are not cycling too fast. Alternatively, you can borrow a tandem and cycle with your spouse. GO SLOWLY. Let your spouse set the pace. Have fun. Make it a date. Go to breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Stop often. Do snacks. On your other designated day(s), run, hike, ski, walk, bowl, swim, play with your kids, or rough-house with your dog. Starting early is important for several reasons: (1) it establishes a training pattern, (2) it gives you a head start mentally and physically, and (3) it allows other family members to participate and to get used to the idea that mom and dad need playtime too.
Think about what you are eating. Are you eating too much? Not enough? Do you skip meals? Lack energy? Have a difficult time recovering after a workout? Here are some general guidelines for healthier eating. During and after cycling, it is best to follow the KISS principle of eating. The bulk (70%) of your calories should come from bread, cereal grains, fruits and vegetables and their juices, milk products (excluding cheese), pasta, potatoes, and beans. For a typical 2000-calorie diet, 1400 calories should come from these carbohydrate sources. The rest of the calories (300 to 400 calories or 15 to 20%) should come from lean protein sources—poultry, seafood, eggs (egg whites are 100% high-quality protein), cottage cheese, lean beef, ham, and pork—and fats and oil (200 to 300 calories or 10 to 15%)—nuts, hard cheeses, peanut butter, butter, margarine, bacon, and salad dressings. This plan leaves little room for junk food and alcoholic beverages. Female cyclists require a minimum of 2000 calories a day, but caloric needs will vary with age, activity level, body type, and basal metabolism. Male cyclists need at least 3000 calories a day. These values assume you do not want to lose weight. Each hour of moderately intense cycling (~85% of maximum heart rate) burns approximately 600 to 900 calories; very intense workouts (93 to 97% of maximum heart rate) burn even greater amounts: approximately 1100 to 1400 calories per hour. During pure aerobic training, the fuel source is endogenous fat. During the most intense anaerobic training (such as powerlifting), the fuel sources are creatine phosphate then glycogen (long chains of glucose stored in muscles), and then blood glucose. Cycling can involve the use of any of these fuels or a combination simultaneously, depending on the intensity and/or duration of the effort. The human adult body requires about 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight to maintain its lean body mass. If you are trying to increase your muscle (or lean body) mass through strength training (either in the weight room or on your bicycle), eat an additional 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight (to total approximately 1.6 g per kilogram of body weight; 2.2 pounds equals 1 kilogram). To maintain an isocaloric diet (to keep your calories the same), replace some of the fat in your diet with additional protein. If you are already at the lower limit of fat consumption (10%), then decrease the amount of carbohydrates in your diet by no more than 10% to accommodate the additional protein calories. Learn to read food labels. One gram of fat = 9 calories; one gram of carbohydrate or protein = 4 calories; one gram of alcohol = 7.5 calories. Remember cereal grains and milk products also contain varying amounts of protein, which should be considered in your calculations. These foods contain too much fat and too few nutrients to be worthwhile and, even with a small visitation, do too much damage to your waistline. If you can't live without them, eat these foods (to your heart's content) only on the six major holidays (Easter, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Day) or as a reward for completing a tremendous physical effort, such as a six-hour endurance ride. Fat is an important component of food, and every human body needs the essential fatty acids. Dietary fats are vital building blocks for cell membranes, including blood cells and muscle fibers. Dietary fat provides a sensation of fullness often lacking when extremely low-fat diets are consumed. On the other hand, how much fat is too much? Be aware that every one-ounce serving of cheese or nuts and every tablespoon of oil, butter, peanut butter, margarine, and salad dressing provide approximately 100 calories. Adding a handful of nuts to a muffin, cookie, or cake recipe will increase the nutritional value of these items without significantly increasing the calorie content of one cookie, muffin, or piece of cake. However, grabbing a can of mixed nuts and eating them by the handfuls during your favorite movie is not safe. High fat diets can also make you lethargic. Thirty-five unused servings of fat equal one pound of fat somewhere on your body. Based on your activity levels, decide for yourself how much fat is too much.
Sample Behavioral Contract:
Goal: To complete the Death Valley to Mt. Whitney Road Race Time Frame: May 2000
To reach my goal, I will:
  1. Rain and/or wind: I will cycle on a trainer indoors for at least 45 minutes if it rains or if the wind is excessive.
  2. Vary the intensity and duration of my workouts to enhance my cycling abilities.
  3. Find a cycling buddy or buddies.
Goal supporting activities:
  1. Buy and maintain a bicycle and accessories, including shoes, water bottles, helmet, proper clothing.
  2. Watch TV only after I have completed by training.
  3. Reward myself with 30 additional minutes on my computer time every time I successfully complete a training session.
  4. Take my family on a 3-day vacation of their choice when I have reached my goal.
  5. Let my family know about my plan and have them encourage me to cycle according to my training schedule.
Barriers and countermeasures:
  1. Luncheon meetings: I will cycle for 45 to 90 minutes before I leave work on days we have meetings during lunch.
  2. Rain and/or wind: I will cycle on a trainer indoors for at least 45 minutes if it rains or if the wind is excessive.
Signed: __________________________________________________________________
Date: __________________________
Family member: ___________________________________________________________
Date: __________________________
This contract will be evaluated every month:
Date: ________________________________________________________________
Revisions: __________________________

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