Hey all I’m a cat 5 cyclist and my goal for this season is be competitive in a few local road races and not get dropped from the field and to bike the 200 on 100 in Vermont. I don’t have a coach and I work as a nurse doing rotating shifts and work 13-14 hour shifts 3x a week. so i really can only manage training 4x a week. my typical training time has been 8-10 hours a week and managed to get 7000 miles in my legs in 2021. My thoughts are for the base season splitting up my days as either hard or endurance days. with say intervals i.e 4x8 or 5x5 one day fallowed by a 3-6hr ride (depending on fatigue the next day and repeating that sequence for a few months mixed in with XC skate skiing. my schedule is erratic and as a travel nurse I have no say in my schedule. I like many people probably overthink training so any pointers or wisdom are greatly appreciated.
Hi @nateduquette. I’m on a similar schedule in ER, working on average 4 days per week. I’ve recently focused on doing hard interval days and long rides on non-work days as my patience for the patients suffers if I work after a fatiguing ride. I do easy short rides and/or weight training/physio on work days. So right now my three non-work days are filled with (1) 5X6min @ 105% (2)4X10min @ 90% (3) 3-5 hr endurance ride. I struggle a bit with interval sessions being too close together when my shifts aren’t spread out. I tend to take a “rest week” if I’ve got a busier work schedule than normal. I like to take advantage of vacation to get a 3-4 day overreach block, every couple of months. I also avoid interval days pre and post night shift. Avoid intervals pre-night shift because it will effect your sleep. Avoid post-night shift intervals because it will effect your interval quality and fatigue/recovery. I don’t mind doing the endurance ride the day after an interval day if the work schedule dictates that. I also think its good for me to ride on tired legs as my goal event is a six day stage race. Happy training in 2022!
thank you that’s very helpful.
Good tips above from roberthall1.
I am impressed you were able to get 7,000 miles in working that type of schedule. Well done. With limited training time it seems wise to focus on your percieved weaknesses. If you think that is endurance, dedicating one off day a week to get in some long 3-4 hour rides could really pay off. Alternatively if you feel like you lack top end power to stay in a surging group, you might try doing Seiler 4x4 or 4x8 min intervals once or twice per week. I am no expert, but you may want to consider the physiological load of a typical work day. A 13 hour shift may well equate to the muscular stress of a Zone 2 ride. Don’t underestimate the off-bike “training load” of a 13-hour nursing shift - and perhaps track that as part of your training log somehow.
thanks @EG1 much appreciated for the insight. Luckily full time nursing is 3 shifts a week so i can usually get some good volume in if i wake up early enough. thats an good point with the stress load of a nursing shift, ive kinda found that im tanked the day after a shift and will do Z2 the day after work and then do intervals whenever i dont feel like a pile of garbage that came out of a covid isolation room.