Training to become an elite endurance athlete, there are a lot of factors that can affect my training. When training 6 days a week, I need to make sure that I’m well rested, I have the proper fuel, and I’m focused. To get the most out of my training days I like to follow a routine, here is a typical weekend in my life when I I’m training:
6:00am – Wake up after 8+ hours of sleep. Drink coffee and make breakfast.
My Favorite Breakfast: 2 packets of gluten free oatmeal with peanut butter and honey.
6:30am – After finishing breakfast, I spend a half an hour catching up on some homework with the remainder of my coffee. I then plan my ride route and check the weather.
Morning Vitamins: Calcium, Magnesium, Zinc, Multi-Vitamin, and B-Complex
7:am – Get dressed for training; check my bike, fill water bottle, and stock up with food.
I typically go with about 200 calories per hour of training, plus one extra bar in case it’s an especially hungry day. This makes for some full pockets on most days, but it’s worth it.
7:15am – Start training ride. Settle in to target power zone for the day, stretch out at the first few intersections, get heart rate up, and try not to look at the clock for the first hour.
I spend anywhere from 4 to 6.5 hours on the bike, stopping for water every 2 hours or so (more if it’s hot), and eating every 45 minutes. I do planned intervals or just ride steady on endurance days, stopping as little as possible.
4:00pm – Get home. Estimate calories burned above 2,000. Before anything else I make my favorite smoothie.
Recovery Smoothie: Peanut butter, honey, dates, chocolate protein powder, non fat milk, 2 bananas, 1 tray of ice cubes, and ground flax seeds – this works out to be about 900 calories.
4:30pm – Shower, then upload ride data and send to my coach. Finish smoothie and hop into bed.
4:45pm – Nap for anywhere between 1 and 1.5 hours every day — this is extremely important.
Ideal Nap for Non-Nappers: I often don’t fall asleep, but with soft music, a sleepmask, and a comfy body pillow I fall into a deep relaxing state that is like sleep. My body usually naturally wakes up or gets antsy after an hour to an hour and a half.
6:15pm – dinner with friends. My favorite dinner is one that takes a long time to eat, is delicious, and makes me feel incredibly healthy.
The beautiful thing about cycling is the amount of food you get to consume after a 5000kj training day:
7:30pm – finish dinner with friends return home to continue watching my latest Netflix binge obsession. Legs up of course
8:30pm – Make some coffee. Return to Netflix and roll legs on foam roller for 15 minutes.
9:00pm to 10:30pm – Free time. Mostly spent on the couch in my friends apartment hanging out or Netflix binge watching, but it can also be time for writing articles, doing hw , fixing bike, etc. Normally I find myself falling asleep on my friends couch.
10:30pm – Finish hanging out with friends, as they perceive to leave for the bars.
Before midnight: Bedtime.
6am: Wake up and do it all over again the falling day.
