For training three months prior to the Elite Tour (which is March for me), PAC Tour suggests riding 150-200 miles per week with 1 ride per week being over 100 miles. With that standard in mind, I had a respectable month of March. I rode a total of 927.3 miles and had 5 rides over 100 miles. The weather conditions here in Cleveland were a little sporatic so I had to spend some time on the trainer early in the month. Then the Cleveland Orchestra spent a week in Miami in the middle of the month and during my free time, I managed to get in rides of 120, 180, and 100 miles. The century I rode in 5:20 averaging 19.1 mph while on the bike.
Today is April 1st. I now have 10 weeks until the start of the Elite Tour. PAC Tour owner and director Lon Haldeman has written that it takes a rider 10 weeks to go from pretty good shape to great shape with proper training. Well I do feel like I'm in pretty good shape and have a solid aerobic base. The training suggestion for April is 200-300 miles per week with 1 to 2 rides each week over 100 miles. I have no plans other than to follow the suggested training. I will get in my long rides and throw in some fast group rides to work on my speed as well as some hill repeat rides to work on my climbing. Not exactly rocket science. The trick sometimes is finding the time to train while balancing work and family responsibilities.
Usually here in Cleveland the month of March is wet and cold. I normally don't think about getting out on the road much before April 1st. But this year of course I couldn't afford to think that way and get prepared for the Elite Tour. Thankfully, due to getting to spend a week in Miami and some decent weather here, I'm way ahead of where I have been in past years at this point in the riding season. The start of the Elite Tour feels right around the corner and the thought of it still feels incredibly intimidating. But I feel very positive about my training and my fitness and I will just continue to build on it. In my next post, I'll report on my April training.
