XC Racer Blog Post

Training Blog - Week 2 Louise Robinson

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BY: Louise Robinson

Published: 16th March, 2014


This is the second of the XCracer teams weekly training blogs. Having just worked out that I am actually old enough to be Paddy's mum, my training schedule is understandably somewhat different. With two children (8 & 5), a job, a husband, a house and two cats my life would be busy without mountain biking. So many of my friends complain that their growing waistlines are because they have no time to exercise. And I understand, its just that you have to squeeze it in where you can.
My husband, Jason, is also a mountain biker, which is in fact a double-edged sword. Whist he understands exactly what I do (not to mention keeps my bikes in perfect working order) he also wants to be doing exactly the same thing. And with two kids to look after, this usually means our training and racing is something of a "tag-team" affair. 


I do not follow a structured training plan, although I am sure it would improve my performance, because I have never found anything flexible enough to fit in around family life. My training philosophy is based on Chris Carmichael’s "Time Crunched Cyclist" training plan but my rides are a mixture of what I know are good for me and what I enjoy. I do not want to make major sacrifices (well other than time in front of the telly and Sunday morning lay-ins) for mountain biking (as it is just a hobby at the end of the day) and my family will always come first. But I am a great believer in "get on and do" so what I try to achieve is a compromise on all fronts.

Sunday - 50mile solo road ride (on a CX bike as I don't trust myself on skinny tires) over the Devils Punchbowl. I left just before 7am and was back by 10.20am. 50 miles and 800m of climbing zone 2 &3 training. Once home Jason hopped out on his mountain bike for a couple of hours on the local trails. I switched into mummy mode and tackled the washing, cleaning up, supervised homework etc.. 



After lunch my second training session of the day was 2 hours of pushing/running after the kids on their bikes in the woods. This is where the "squeeze it in whenever you can" philosophy comes in. If you have never pushed a five-year-old +bike up a 50m climb after a 50 mile ride earlier in the day you have never experienced real lactate burn. Legs feeling weary by the end so on with the recovery tights and time to cook everyone tea!

Monday - Rest day for training. Sunday is usually either my race day or a hard training day so I usually take Mondays off. I often have great intentions of doing a short recover spin at lunchtime but it rarely happens!

Tuesday - After finishing work, collecting the kids, supervising homework, sorting out squabbles, listening to two school reading books, testing two sets of spellings, reading two bedtime stories, brushing two sets of teeth I would love to collapse onto the sofa but its turbo trainer time. Today it was "The Hunted" a Sufferfest training workout targeting threshold and VO2max training in a hour long session. phew...now pass the chocolate biscuits...

I always use Trainer Road on my turbo sessions to display vital power out - allowing me to judge my effort fairly accurately 


Wednesday - Working from home today (this usually happens once or twice a month) so stole a quick 40 minutes on the turbo trainer at lunch time. A technique based workout of high cadence spinning and one legged drills. This type of session is a great "add in" because it doesn't add too much stress and affect training on other days.

Thursday - Group ride. My chance to leave kiddie duties to Daddy and head out for a bit of night riding. Its a quick turn around after getting home from work, cooking and shoveling down a light tea and grabbing bike lights and kit but by 6.45pm I am heading out of the garage to the arranged meeting point. 2 hours of XC riding around my local woods with a likeminded bunch of guys. I find these rides do wonders for my bike handling skills as I inevitably end up riding faster than i would on my own.



Friday - No work today. After doing battle with Tesco's, the housework and four thousand emails that have come from the kids schools in the last week it's time to pick the kids up from school and head to the park. No riding time today.

Saturday - Race day tomorrow so a short, easy spin is required. We have just fitted suspension folks to Isaacs bike and he was desperate to try them out so my race prep became an hour and a half family ride. Don't knock the benefit of towing a tag-along, it is a damn sight harder than it looks. 




Sunday - Race day. Round 1 Southern XC at Wasing. We arrive at 9am with the kids in tow, just enough time to sign on and do a quick practice lap. 2nd placed Elite lady show the training is paying off but the photo below clearly shows my next training aim has got to be racing starts...almost dead last off the line AGAIN!


Click any of the images below for a larger view / slideshow





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Louise
 

Louise Robinson

Mum, Pharmacist and XCracer Team Rider

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This blog post was written by a third party and their views do not necessarily reflect the views of XCRacer.com

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