Originally Posted by
Ride_Fast
I wouldn't mind having a coach, actually. Just how intense was it? What kind of work did you do? Also, how much is too much? If you only did two sessions a week how often do you really need to ride to improve?
1: Anything is better than nothing.
2: All beginners will progress (see point 1 above).
3: It's all about Stimulation, Rest, and Super-compensation. In other words, do something outside of your current comfort zone. Rest. And while you are resting, your body will make you stronger than before, thus moving your comfort zone a step higher than it was before. If you rest too much, then your body will regress to where it was before.
4: Training once a day 4-6 days/week seems to be what most masters can maintain. Elites will train 2x/day for up to 6 days/week because they can recover faster.
I'm not gonna get into the details of the workouts I did. But, it was 100% on the bike stuff for my first season. I worked from home (programming) and lived a reasonable drive from the track (before ATL traffic got awful). I was on the track probably 5-6 days/week doing lots of long and short efforts on the bike. This helped me a lot as a beginner simply get used to the track and the curves.
Oh and...
5: If your goal is to compete and win (not just race for fun and fitness), don't be fat. I know this sounds silly, but it is very possible to out-eat your training program and hold on to unnecessary weight. In the masters world, there are very few fat guys on the podiums. Cleaning up your diet and leaning out (not roadie mountain goat lean) will help you get fast and fit.