half century training

[bikedude2006]

Hi, I'm kinnda newbie to biking and I decided to enroll in a half century ride.
I need some training info on what I need to do. Here's my training schedule:


Monday: Core Secrets
8 miles stationary bike
5min. stair climber
2 sets of 20 squats
2 sets of 20 lunges
2sets of 20 calf raises
Tuesday: same as Monday except for Core Secrets

Wednesday-Friday:Same as Monday and Tuesday


Saturday: 7miles on road riding a mountain bike




I just started exercising last week and the above info is how much I can do for right now.



I would appreciate any help given.




Thanks, bikedude




P.S.- I have to do this ride by July just as a helper.

[djbike]

50 miles in 5 months is no problem. You could probably train up to 100 in that time frame.

Roughly what you need to do is ride a couple of afternoons a week, starting with shorter rides, maybe 5-10 miles, and working your way up to 20 miles per day. On Saturdays try for longer distance, starting with your 7 miles that you're doing now and working up to 50 or close to it by July. That's roughly adding 2-3 miles per week.

[Brock Samson]

I'll make some assumptions

1. You are riding a mtb for this 1/2 century
2. You average ~15 mph on your mtb
3. You want to be able to ride this 1/2 century and not be toast afterwards


I would recommend riding for an hour this coming saturday and add 10 minutes every following Saturday until you reach 3 hrs. Doing so should enable your body to handle the workload necessary to ride 50 miles.

Once Spring starts you should be able to start riding with a group on the wknds and any wkday rides you can implement will help your training program. I'd be aiming for 6 hrs per wk on the bike by mid April and your desire to ride should continue to grow and you may be doing more.

Good luck

[djbike]

Brock brings up a good point. It is much more motivating when you have other people to ride with, plus it is usually safer. Check around your area to see if there are groups meeting at bike shops or whatever, that ride the distances and speeds you need.