{"id":23211,"date":"2016-03-29T12:12:54","date_gmt":"2016-03-29T19:12:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.trainerroad.com\/?p=23211"},"modified":"2016-03-29T12:12:54","modified_gmt":"2016-03-29T19:12:54","slug":"cycling-training-with-a-partner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/cycling-training-with-a-partner\/","title":{"rendered":"Cycling\u2019s Power Couple: How Fatty and The Hammer Train Together"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a good chance you already know who this cycling power couple is. Elden, aka Fatty, is the guy behind the Fat Cyclist<\/a><\/em>; and Lisa is Elden\u2019s wife who he lovingly refers to as The Hammer on his blog. These two are real-deal, honest-to-goodness partners in life and partners in training (we can\u2019t think of anything cooler than that) and for the six years they\u2019ve been together, cycling has been at the core of their marriage.<\/p>\n

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Getting to the point in their relationship Elden and Lisa are at now took work, a clear set of priorities and patience \u2014 a lot of patience. We wanted details. When we rung the couple, they were on their way to Zion National Park for a weekend of riding to celebrate their wedding anniversary. With their bikes in tow and humor on board, Lisa kicked off our call with a story of when the couple was in their early courtship days. It goes like this:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were still dating at the time and I was trying to keep up to impress him [Elden]. He was just chatty, chatty, chatty and I\u2019m riding over my threshold the whole time. He didn\u2019t realize how hard I was pushing. Then, finally, we had about three miles left until home \u2014 he was still yacking away \u2014 and I just said, \u2018Put a sock in it! I\u2019m working as hard as I can!’\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

They still laugh about that moment to this day. Lisa \u2014 better known as The Hammer now \u2014 no longer has to tell Elden to put a sock in it, or to hold up for that matter. For the last few years, the pair has been training and competing in races together. Now, their relationship and commitment to riding are stronger than ever.<\/p>\n

How Fatty and The Hammer incorporate cycling into their relationship\u00a0is pretty amazing. To get to the heart of how the working parents do it all, we asked the couple to tell us exactly how they make their training and real-life partnership a success. They had three vital words of advice to share.<\/p>\n

#1. Set Your Goals Together<\/h2>\n

Make your most important events the same. By and large, this is Elden and Lisa\u2019s biggest recommendation for couples who want to train together. The advice scales beyond the scope of training; it\u2019s rooted in communication. \u201cWhen you set your goals together, it not only gives you something to do together, but it becomes the thing you want to talk about when you\u2019re not training,\u201d Elden emphasized.\u00a0\"elden-lisa-together\"<\/a><\/p>\n

When Fatty and The Hammer aren’t riding, they\u2019re talking<\/em> about riding. That\u2019s just how into their shared hobby they are. And the best part? Their conversions are legit. It\u2019s not just one person going \u201cyah, yah, yah,\u201d there\u2019s genuine shared passion and interest, which is a direct consequence of having the same goals as your partner.<\/p>\n

Leadville<\/a> has always been a big event for Elden and Lisa. To tally it up, Fatty\u2019s completed the course a whopping 18 times and Lisa an impressive 11 times. Every year that passes, their goals for the 100-mile MTB race get loftier. This year, Elden\u2019s looking to improve his 8-hour, 12-minute career best by going for a sub-8 time. Lisa\u2019s plan is to win the women\u2019s Single Speed division, while at the same time besting her still-standing Women’s Single Speed record of 9:50.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to note: while this cycling power couple trains together, they do not race together. Some couples go into an event and stay together the whole time \u2014 not Fatty and The Hammer. Lisa explains, \u201cWe start at the start line together and don\u2019t see each other until the finish line.\u201d<\/p>\n

#2. Invest in Your Partner<\/h2>\n

One of the most common problems of training with a partner is each rider wanting to go at their own pace. While this approach is a-OK during an event, Elden and Lisa are quick to note it\u2019s not okay during training \u2014 even if each person\u2019s power-to-weight ratio is different, which\u00a0is pretty likely.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t make training all about yourself. You have to go into each workout with the idea that you\u2019re doing this together,\u201d Fatty advises. \u201cYou have to think about your time training together as an investment into your partner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead of leaving your partner in the dust all the time \u2014 that\u2019s not really training together Lisa clarified on the call \u2014 your time is better spent showing your partner some patience and encouragement. One day your partner is going to level up to where you are and then, as Fatty puts it, \u201cYou\u2019ve got a training partner for life.\u201d Sure, this means playing the long game with your training. But more importantly, it means playing the long game with your relationship.<\/p>\n

One tip to make the most of riding with your partner outside is to stagger your training, putting the faster rider\u2019s training ahead of the slower rider\u2019s. During the faster rider\u2019s intervals, the slower rider can get a head start and act as a carrot for the faster rider to chase. The roles reverse when it\u2019s the slower rider\u2019s turn to work hard.<\/p>\n

The takeaway here: Get creative and look for unique ways you can contribute to each other\u2019s training instead of just magnifying the speed gap between you.<\/p>\n

#3. Train at the Same Time<\/h2>\n

The best way to solve the problem of different abilities is to do the same workout at the same time, but at an intensity that works for each rider. This solution is impractical when riding outside. Riding inside, however, makes it possible and is one of the best ways for couples to train together. Elden and Lisa figured this out a couple of years ago.<\/p>\n

\"elden-lisa-setup\"<\/a>Fatty and The Hammer\u2019s current training setup is as follows: Two Wahoo KICKRs, a couple of forward-facing fans, TrainerRoad<\/a> running on each of their phones and Netflix streaming on their basement TV.<\/p>\n

Although their power-to-weight ratios are different, training indoors allows them to do the same workout at the same time. The ability to train simultaneously at different intensities has completely changed the game for Fatty and The Hammer. They explained, \u201cWe try to start at the same time so we hit those moments where you\u2019re at 150% of your FTP and you\u2019re just dying at the same time as your partner.\u00a0There\u2019s a feeling of solidarity that we both benefit from.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wrap Up<\/h2>\n

On the heels of being called slow at a race, Elden recently decided to renew his commitment to training. Naturally, that commitment involves Lisa. In a blog post<\/a>\u00a0he describes his plan, which includes training with The Hammer at 5:00 pm, as well as an early-morning solo ride at 7:30 am.<\/p>\n

To keep up with Fatty\u2019s training, he\u2019ll be blogging weekly on FatCyclist.com, sharing details including his weight and the specific TR workouts he\u2019s doing. If Elden\u2019s story compels you to start anew with your training, he\u2019s extended an invite<\/a> for you to join him. You can learn more on his site.<\/p>\n

Follow Elden\u2019s Career<\/a>\u00a0and Lisa\u2019s Career<\/a>\u00a0on TrainerRoad. If you have advice for partners who train together, share it with us in the comment section below.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a good chance you already know who this cycling power couple is. Elden, aka Fatty, is the guy behind the Fat Cyclist; and Lisa is Elden\u2019s wife who he lovingly refers to as The Hammer on his blog. These two are real-deal, honest-to-goodness partners in life and partners in training (we can\u2019t think of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":23221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[136,176,230,669],"class_list":["post-23211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-training","tag-couples-who-train-together","tag-cycling-training-with-a-partner","tag-fatty-and-the-hammer","tag-the-fat-cyclist"],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23211\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trainerroad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}