ridethepanther

How many of you go out for a training ride on your lunch break? How much do you feel this benefits you from a training standpoint?

I can work in about 40 minutes of riding at lunch, which usually equates to a little over 10 miles. Lately, I've felt that by the time I'm warmed up, it's almost time to go back to the office. I'm starting to wonder whether it's worth the hassle of getting out there.

MDcatV

I think you can get a good bit done in 40 minutes.

examples:

-recovery type ride to just clear your head and break up your day
-15 mins. up, 10x30" on/30" off, 15 mins. cool down
-10 mins. WU, 20 hard as you can go, 10 mins. cool down
-40 minutes as hard as you can go

Ideal? no. but I do think that in most cases 1x40 is better for training than 0x40.

waterrockets 

I have a 20 minute commute to work, and about a 45' lunch ride, 4-5 days/week. I usually take weekends completely off. Once/week, I try to get closer to 90 minutes for the lunch ride.

I just upgraded to Cat 2 this year.

Fat Boy

^Freak.

Crash716

truly

cedricbosch

Hard to imagine how you can manage to get a decent workout in. Seems like alot of dressing/undressing too. But it's better than nothing!

ridethepanther

This too. In addition to changing clothes, I have to check my bike in/out with security. There's at least one security officer that isn't too concerned with how long I have to wait for him to come open the gate.

Thanks for the responses. It's encouraging to know that some are having success with this, freak though they may be!

waterrockets 

Yeah, it's all I've got right now, so I make it work. I'd be much better prepared for long road races with some more volume in there, but this is working well for crits and circuits.

SaddleBags

My lunch workouts are very productive - ranging from interval, FTP, VO2 and speed workouts from 1 to 1.5 hours. Sometimes up to 2 hours depending on my schedule. But I work out of the house so I'm sure it doesn't help you.
When I did work in an office, I did what WR did. Bike to work 3x week and get in hill repeats at a nearby bridge at lunch. Unlike WR, I'm still a 4.

cmh

My training consists of 60-70' lunch rides about 3 days/week and 1 weekend ride or race of 2-3.5 hours on about 3 out of 4 weekends. The lunch rides are definitely an important part of my training. I also just upgraded to Cat 2 this year.

ridethecliche

Losing lunch on the first hill?

McTufferton

I used WR as inspiration earlier this year... training mostly over lunch. However, my lunch training schedule more closely resembles cmh's. Minus the whole "Cat 2" part

I'm in sales so I come and go as I see fit; riding longer on nicer days, shorter when workouts are more intense.

JohnKScott

I try to train at lunch once a week. I get about 45 minutes of actual riding in once I get dressed/undressed & showered. But I find it works out well for an extra workout during the week. I can make it as hard or as easy as I need it to be. There is very short hill that has a stretch between 15-20% that I can hurt myself on if I feel the need .

blarnie

Work through lunch. Leave earlier.

waterrockets 

What if you have a daycare pickup closer to work than to home?

queerpunk

I've been a commuter for years. I think people who commute, who ride a lot and don't have to find time to ride, or squeeze rides into their schedule, have an easier time getting fit. Especially at the lower levels (maybe this is relevant for you. Maybe not).

Even in a traffic-y commute I can still work on spinning a high cadence, some standing start spin-ups, and a little bit of time at tempo. My training is not very structured but I do feel that it's good for me. I suggest you do it. Or if you don't want to do it during lunch, then work through lunch and have a nice, long, roundabout ride home.

cmh

Not possible for me. Also, there is a lot less traffic at lunch than around rush hour and in the winter it is light and often drier at lunch.

ridethepanther

My job is much more results oriented, so technically, I could take a lunch and leave early if I wanted to. Realistically, though, I'm not going to leave before 5, even if I did work through lunch.

blarnie

If you don't establish precedence, then it will be that much harder and noticeable when you do. How about don't work through lunch and leave early.

I was under the impression that this was about how to get riding time in your life. And the answer, is by any means necessary.

How about get up early and ride before work, show up late, eat a good lunch and leave early. Then ride.

This isn't the work forum. This is the bike forum.

How about quit the stupid job. And ride. Tell the wife to work late. Or make the kids work.

ridethepanther

I'm actually able to do a decent commute home once or twice a week on average. Some weeks, though, there's something going on every night of the week and the only rides I can get in are at lunch. I guess that's better than nothing, though.

*new*guy

simple. sell the children into indentured servitude. :-D

ridethepanther

Actually, it was about whether a short ride at lunch was worthwhile.

Makes sense to me!

waterrockets 

Certainly, setting expectations is key (for lunch rides, or leaving early).

You need to re-read post #1. Besides, I consider training at lunch to be in many ways superior to other times. The only disadvantage from a training perspective is the (likely) lower volume. Certainly, I would always prefer 45-60 minutes of riding at lunch to 45-60 minutes of riding just after work. I'm fresher, it's closer to race start times (weather adaptation), and it's not as tempting to skip it to go rescue kids from daycare an hour earlier.

New Craigslist category?

Second Mouse

The waterrockets-Lunch-Training-Ride-PlanŽ has moved me up from consistently otb to solid back-of-the-pack material.








Small steps.

hocker

I get in lunch runs maybe once or twice a week.