We all know consistency is the most important factor of successful training. Has anyone been derailled recently by life, bad luck, just general stuff?
I’ve just missed another session, due to, of all things, a snapped valve in my tube! No time to replace as I’m on a tight schedule with 3 kids under 6. The last 2 sessions were missed due to power outages in our area, the session before that my youngest son would not settle and was screaming the house down.
I’m missing that glorious feeling of training momentum that comes from consistent successful sessions, it’s scary how quickly that momentum can be halted and how hard it is to get the wheels in motion again.
This post is probably more of a way to ease my mind as I sit hear getting anxious about missed session, lost fitness etc. Please share your experience to make me feel better!
My recent experience probably won’t make you feel any better, but it might indicate that you’re not alone.
Last year I was able to put in about 7-10 hours a week training for my first middle distance. Even though our first son was born in October 2017, and I’m working a full time job. I was pretty proud on my consistency and being able to get out of bed early to get in some training. Also me and my wife had some good arrangements about our schedule, and I was very flexibel to any neccessary changes as well.
I’ve held on to this training schedule even after my A-race in september. Until Christmas time, which had me skipping some training sessions due to some time off from work and doing some additional family things. Off course very important and I love spending time with my family. But somehow the structure in my schedule was gone and I’ve had a hard time getting it back.
Also the last few weeks I’ve been coping with some illness of myself and our son as well. Which off course doesn’t really do any good for training and leaving my wife when I’m out for a run.
The coming period and season will even be a lot harder. Even though I’d expected it to be easier because our son is a little older now, but this also means less sleeping time during the day. Which have been some precious indoor training time for me.
And to add to that we’re expecting our second son in the end of July. Again I’m over the moon for that to happen. Unfortunately my wife currently hase some pregnancy issues, so I’m having to cover a lot of things around the house and with our son to keep her from doing to much.
So yesterday I did a new Ramp Test to get back into training again. And my FTP has fallen about 20% since last time. Whether this is due to my illness of the recent period, or because the lack of consistency I don’t know. All I know is that it felt really hard and I really blame myself for losing all that fitness that I’ve build last year.
How to go from here? I don’t know, yet. Probably just gettnig back into training and doing everything I can to get some consistency in training again. And I’ll be building my fitness from there and we’ll see what this year will bring me.
We have 4 children, youngest being 1.5yrs. It helps that my wife is staying at home and is very supportive of my sports. As well, I schedule my bike training mostly for times when our son is sleeping (morning, mid-day, evening). Running is on a treadmill during lunch.
With conditions such as yours or mine it pays to be very disciplined: equipment, pre-workout and recovery food, hydration on the bike, clean kit, etc. I make everything ready at least 10-12 hours in advance. Same goes for my gym bag and work schedule on the day of running.
I have quit all social media (except this forum) including messengers or otherwise time-wasteful activities to be more productive at work (effectively work less hours) and be more present with the family (no staring at the phone screen or TV).
One also should look at training holistically and adjust the plan when circumstances dictate so: move around the dates, intensities, duration and types. Be very intentional about nutrition, recovery and hygiene - avoid downtime due to illness or injury.
Every week I have to compromise to some degree because of work/ family/ life balance. For me, I end up swapping a session/ day or two for commuting, and add in a run sometimes.
I try to keep the two main workouts, but that doesn’t always work. I know the commute isn’t the same as a workout, it’s still time on the bike, and maybe not pure junk miles…
“I have quit all social media (except this forum) including messengers or otherwise time-wasteful activities to be more productive at work (effectively work less hours) and be more present with the family (no staring at the phone screen or TV).”
this is good life advice not just cycling
What I found is I’ve had to switch to training AM before work, get it done before anything can get in the way, you also need to be organised, proactively maintain your kit, and overhaul/service your bikes at the end of the season etc, don’t wait for things to go wrong