Am I doing enough?

[Mike G]

Please tell me that we are doing enough training!

We are doing a 50 to 60 miles per day Lejog in August, and have been upping our miles every week since about March.......with a big increase when the new saddles were fitted! At the moment, we do about a 30 miler on Sat, about 55 miles on Sunday, and a couple of 15 or 20 mile runs in the week. The shorter runs in the week are done fast (well, it feels fast to us!!) and include lots of hills. I'm quite confident that I am fit enough already.................but some of you guys do scary mileages.

So, if we steadily increase our weekly miles, are we on track?

Mike

[thirdcrank]

... I'm quite confident that I am fit enough already ...

IMO a huge part of cycling any distance is in the head, so if you are truly confident you should be OK, with room to spare. OTOH, getting in the miles between now and then has got to help.

IMO, one valuable achievement is to do several rides which are a fair bit longer than your planned daily max - 20 - 30 miles extra, possibly even more. That way you know that your plan is well within your capabilities and you also have some spare if a longer day becomes necessary. Getting the miles in also helps you to get to know how to pace yourself etc.

One important thing is to be sufficiently confident not to be overawed at the thought of what lies ahead. Most cyclists with a reasonable level of fitness are physically capable of more than they think, the trick is in believing that.

[Big T]

I'd say so. We were doing similar mileages prior to our JOGLE and we managed Ok averaging 60 miles per day. You do get fitter whilst you're doing the ride itself. Perhaps try extending your saturday ride to 45-50 miles, so you are doing back to back 50 milers on sat/sun.

[fossil]

i was doing 14 miles , to and from work , most day's when the weather let me .
or lejog was mostly 60/70 miles with a nasty 85 miller

on a 'specialized Avatar ' saddle , my bum was a bit sore from the hour's in the saddle , but tollerable
Nick's on the other hand ,, he had not doneas much milage as me , and he was useing loads of chamoise cream , and two pairs of padded short's

he was not good

[fossil]

and another thing
try and do two, day rides ie a sat/sunday will give you an idea of what's to come

[Mike G]

Perhaps try extending your saturday ride to 45-50 miles, so you are doing back to back 50 milers on sat/sun.

I'd love to, but our house is on the market so we have to have all Saturday free to show people around. We sneak the miles in after 5pm.

-

Thanks for the comments, much appreciated. I've already decided we are OK for this undertaking. My wife, who is actually fitter than me, won't believe she is capable of it until we're a couple of days from J O'G! So the question was really aimed at encouraging her.....

Mike

[thirdcrank]

... I've already decided we are OK for this undertaking. My wife, who is actually fitter than me, won't believe she is capable of it until we're a couple of days from J O'G! ...

In that case sure I'm you've cracked it. The problems I was referring to tend to arise just before the start, rather than approaching the finish.

[keviboy]

I'm pretty sure you are doing enough. At 50 to 60miles a day there is sufficient spare time to slow down a bit and still meet your targets. I found that after about 4 days you have settled into a routine and the body seems to accept the demands put on it. The key thing is to train enough not to put excessive strain on yourselves when you start the tour and also to enjoy it. Good luck.

[Mike G]

Cheers guys. Nice to hear this stuff from people who have done it themselves.

Mike

[John-D]

I think you're doing plenty. I averaged about 65 miles a week in the 3 months up to my Lejog last year (oddly I'm doing a lot more this year though my planned tours are far more modest)

[boink]

Yes.

A friend of mine told me I'd need to do some scary 70 mile peak district stuff months before the ride to prepare for cornwall.
My thinking was like yours, build it up slowly. I jumped up one saturday from 40 miles to 72 and never looked back.
Golant to Exeter was very tiring with a bit of pushing on the way but we made it. 15 straight days and yes, we felt fitter (and thinner) every day.

[PW]

Just carry on as you are. Start the ride on 50 miles/day, after 3 or 4 days up it to 60, another .....oh 5 days and you'll manage 70 without too much pain. The trick is not to increase in huge jumps, just 10 miles or so every 3-4 days. Don't attempt a 100 miler until near the end, too much too soon and you could blow the entire trip.

(Note, that is for someone on this sort of practice mileage - eg me! I'm not saying 100 mile/day LEJOG is impossible for anybody).

[Mike G]

Just carry on as you are. Start the ride on 50 miles/day, after 3 or 4 days up it to 60, another .....oh 5 days and you'll manage 70 without too much pain.

Whilst you may well be right about this, I'm wanting to do the trip slowly. This is our summer holiday...............the sooner we finish the ride the sooner I'm back at work. I'm hoping to take at least 18 or 19 days, giving us the chance to explore a new place most afternoons.

Mike

[PW]

In that case fine, stick to 50 miles, and enjoy the scenery. The ride's there to be enjoyed, some people do it by blasting through in the shortest time, some take the route with most hills, some just poddle along and look at the view. The "Right" way is the one you get most pleasure from. If you're doing 100 miles per week now, you won't have any bother at the daily mileage you propose.

[bikes4two]

Answer yes IMHO. Wife and I did LeJog April this year on our tandem -- aim was 40-50 miles a day over all quiet roads (which often equates to hilly) - due to flu beforehand, we only managed 350 miles training in the TWO MONTHS before starting. I am approaching 60 and am definitely not an athlete or even a hardened cyclist - wife even less so, and we coped with no problems, sore butts etc. As one previous writer said, dealing with the ride is mostly in the head. We had a great time, enjoying every day - go for it!