Hi Raven22,
Sorry for my late response. I have been occupied with some private matters lately. Most endurance athletes feel that they are not doing enough. This is exactly why I like to coach them, you seldom have to stimulate them to do more. Most of the time I tell them to do less.
For you, I would advise you not to compare yourself with others. Endurance is always a competition with yourself, even in a race with others. The truth is that you can never outrun yourself, so it doesn’t matter if someone else is faster or slower.
It is just you and your path to the best version of you. With that mindset, there is no need to compare and stress about not doing enough.
It lays the focus where it needs to be: on you!
Now that the others are out of the equation, your question is: Am I on the right path to optimize my performance?
While more hours often lead to better performance, making just more hours doesn’t complete the picture. Making more hours comes with eating more on and off the bike, sleeping more, and getting rid of other forms of stress in your life.
While the whole thread is about more hours, I hear you say that more hours are difficult because of recovery. As a coach, the first question I would ask you would be recovery-related.
Think about:
Are you eating enough carbs on the bike?
Do you eat a recovery meal?
Do you have a healthy, deep sleeping pattern?
Are there any other factors in your life that lead to above-average stress?
Important for a woman is also your period, which is very personal and can have a big impact on training and recovery. Does your period hinder your performance?
When that is tuned in, then we can ask the training questions:
How long have you been riding?
Over the last few years, have you tried to cycle for more hours?
Have you tried different schedules?
For instance, you can ride 3 rides a week. That will make it more difficult to do a lot hours, but it is doable. You should be able to do a 2-hour, a 2-hour, and a 4-6-hour training. That last training varies.
You can also do a 2 or 3 day block. I like to do these, but they ask for everything else to be right for the best recovery.
I really like a one-day-on/one-day-off schedule, but that is almost impossible to maintain in a regular week. Especially when you have kids.
It is important to know that building performance takes time. I’m not talking about weeks or even months. It takes years. Be patient and keep developing these mini steps. It is also important that you build rest weeks into your schedule and rest months into your year.
In short: Yes, more training will help, but it takes time to build. Don’t forget to change the rest of your life with it.
Hope that sets you on the right path.
Lots of fun, Coach Robert
!
I have alot of reflect on!