Good post Warren,
Good to see some have a method to the madness. This
is pretty much what I recommend to new riders also.
I used to train @ 80-90% all the time. Gung Ho meat
head thinking. Worked in the gym....mostly.
I'm not a beginner any more and have gotten better at
training and following a plan. But........
Quickest way to prepare for a race? Well quick is not
generally the best,.. but in 2000 I decided to do a
marathon when 15 miles was the longest and the norm
was 7- 10 miles and I decided one week out to do the
race. The race was 26.2 miles on a Sunday and it was
the Saturday a week before. My best avg speed was 9mph
for 10 miles. After talking to an older rider ex-racer
I set on this plan.
Sun 10 miles, Mon 15 miles, Tuesday 20 miles,
Wednesday 25 miles, Thursday as far as I could (32
miles- bonked), Friday 8 miles easy, Saturday no ride,
Sunday 7am warm up for 3miles, 8am race 26.2 miles avg
speed 11.1 mph. I improved 2 mph at over 10 miles
farther.
Not the best plan. Warrens is better if you plan
ahead. But if you are in a pinch....it worked for me.
I will mention I was in pretty good shape from lifting
weights and had ridden a handcycle several months so I
had a lesser chance for injury.

Now I pretty much I follow the Same plan Warren wrote
about only with minor differences based on preference
and convenience. However I do pretty well on the diet
and nutrition end most of the time.
If you want the fat to go and muscle to stay and
recovery to be quick. Eat 1 to 1.5 grams of Protein
for each # of body weight limit simple carbs to pre,
during,and post intense training sessions and steer
clear of refined/processed foods. (this would be on
interval days, hill training days, etc.. Eat plenty of
fibrous and low glycemic carbs(complex)like broccoli,
peppers, zucchini, cucumber, yam, etc.. Be sure to
keep saturated fats low and steer clear of trans-fatty
acids (Called "hydrogenated vegetable oil" in most
"butter" spreads,name brand peanut butters like Jiff,
potato/corn chips, Ramen Noodles and many other
processed foods). Consume good fats like olive,
conola, flax, saflower, sunflower, peanut, etc.
As far as calories that is tough. The best way is to
track your eating habits to see where you are now. If
you are eating clean and are not gaining or losing
weight you are at a "maintenance" level of caloric
intake. If you want to gain or lose then eat 200-400
more calories per day. If you lose more than 2-3 lbs
per week then you will sacrifice muscle as well as
fat. If you gain more than 2-3 lbs per week then you
will gain some fat. These assumptions are made with
the thinking you are training. Any change in
energy(calorie) out put will change your calorie
intake needs. You need to know your body, eat clean as
you can, and exersize with a plan/goal in mind. If you
eat well 90% of the time then the few times you
don't(ie: getting an ice cream with the kids, a
beer/drink with the friend, or the super bowl junk
food fest) you will not get far off track as long as
it doesn't get to be often. Good rule of thumb is 1
out out 10 days you can eat silly if needed but don't
plan it that way.
That is a simplified way to look at nutrition. There
are many schools of thought on diet/nutrition and we
are breaking new ground all the time in our
understanding.
On a side note: I eat like a horse a several days
before an event. Not really crappy but more carbs than
usual and about 500 calories more food in general.
Not sure about the science behind my thinking but it
works for me.


James Watson BS
Business Management
Southwestern College
Exersize Theologist
Nutrition Experimentalist
Home School of Research and Experimentation


Just being a lil silly on the signature but it
reflects my "official" experties and special
qualifications. ;-)
--- Warren Strickland <warrenstrickland@...>
wrote:

> Handcyclists,
>
> I have noticed a few of the members of the group ask
> about beginning programs for handcycling so you can
> get into racing or in shape.
>
> First, you have to realize you have to have a base.
> That cardio base depends on your lifestyle,
> nutrition, and how much cardio you already do or
> maybe not do. If your racing, in my opinion you
> need a base of about 250-500 miles of slow riding to
> allow you body to adapt the cardiovascular system to
> burning fat which is your primary source of energy
> for endurance events. (endurance events being
> anything of 60 minutes or more) I know 250-500
> miles is a large range but that depends on what type
> of background you have....are you genetically
> altered to be an endurance athlete or a strength
> athlete. If your more of an endurance type person
> than maybe you only need 250-350 base miles to
> sufficiently acclimate your Beta-Oxidative Energy
> System (Beta-Oxidation is fat metabolism which is
> the primary system of endurance athletes). On the
> otherhand, if your more of a meat head like myself,
> your body is better adapted for the Phosphagen
> System which is the system responsible for short
> bursts
> of energy such as sprinting or 1 rep max bench, so,
> we have to put in more base miles to try and alter
> our metabolism to burn fat over the long haul such
> as in handcycling. This is just a simplistic
> approach to the definition of these two systems but
> you need to understand what system you have to be
> able to get yourself into a program correctly....On
> to the program...
>
> 1st--put in your base miles. This may take a couple
> of weeks. It will probably take 2-6 weeks depending
> on what type of metabolism you have. If you have a
> good base 2 weeks is sufficient for this phase.
> During this phase all you want to do is go out and
> spend 45-60 minutes on the bike a day....Ride slow,
> take the breathing test, you should be able to carry
> on a conversation during all of these rides. One
> ride a week should be long, dont worry about the
> speed or mileage just spend one day out on the bike
> for 2-2:30 hours, nonstop! Remeber, dont get your
> HR up to much, not over 60% of your MHR (max heart
> rate). All you want to do is tap into your fat
> stores and condition the body to use fat for energy!
> Try to ride 5-6 days a week.....at least, 3 days
> with one long day on weekend.
>
> 2nd--Once you have gotten in your 250-500 base
> miles, your cardiovascular system should be ready
> for more intense training for racing in an event
> probably for most of you a marathon. The beginner
> should not just try to go out and go hard every day,
> even the elite can't.....Your body has to have rest.
> Start off Monday with a brisk 5-10 mile ride for
> beginners. (brisk--it's a little harder to carry on
> conversation but you can) Tuesday-go another 5-10
> miles or 60 minutes and add 3-5 ...30-60 sec
> intervals to where you sprint for the whole
> interval, remember do 3-5 30-60 sec
> sprints.....Wednesday--do your 10-15 miles or 60
> mins but do it at a slower higher rpm pace, so your
> body can recover from the 2 previous
> days.......Thursday...ride 10-15 miles or 60 mins,
> try 3-5 hard effort sprints up hills or some sort of
> incline (maybe use your trainer and set it on hard
> gear to simulate hills)...Friday--easy, slow pace,
> high rpm recovery ride just like
> Wednesday...Saturday....long, slow,
> preferrably high rpm ride of 120-150
> mins....Sunday...Rest day!
>
> Do this for 4-6 weeks! After you have reached the
> 6th week depending on how you feel increase all
> rides or mileage by 5-10%!
>
> This is just very basic but it gives you an idea of
> what you need to do to get ready for completeing a
> marathon comfortably with a decent time! If you
> want to race at a higher level obviously you need to
> add some time and mileage and possibly some weight
> training and most of all proper nutrition! Along
> with putting in the time on the bike, nutrition is
> probably the 2nd most important
> thing...........Nutrition has always been a problem
> that has nagged me in my racing........Although, my
> diet is better than it has been in the past, it's in
> my opinion, the thing that seperates me from the
> elite riders!
>
> These are just some ideas. Most of all you have to
> listen to your body.
>
> Warren A. Strickland, Jr. M.S.
> Exercise Physiologist
> University of Louisiana at Monroe
>
>
> ---------------------------------
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> [Non-text portions of this message have been
> removed]
>
>


=====
Future is as future does,
our past predicts the present,
change is constant, always was,
history is our lesson.
JW-94




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