Cycle-Smart: Solutions for Cycling provides individual coaching for road, cyclo-cross, mountain biking and track cycling. Their coaches are experts at guiding clients of all ability levels through the unknowns of training for competitive cycling. With coaches located throughout the country, Cycle-Smart is able to offer unique, personalized coaching plans for all of their clients.

Training While You Work
How To Maximize Your Training Time While Traveling For Business

  Written by Adam Hodges Myerson
  Cycle-Smart President
  April 25, 2006

Most of my clients are not professionals. Or at least, they're not professional cyclists. The majority of people I work with are trying to be the best bike racers they can be within the context of the rest of their lives--work, school, family--they have other commitments that they might not be able to sacrifice to be a full-time bike racer. One of my biggest challenges as a coach is helping them find the balance between their professions and their personal goals on the bike.

Within that paradigm comes a classic challenge for professionals: the business trip. More difficult than training itself is the issue of how to train when you're on the road for work. In many cases, increasing your fitness with a hard week of training is simply out of the question, and maintaining what you have is difficult enough. There are some strategies to help you get through it if you find yourself on the road during the racing season when it's not for racing.

Cycle-Smart Training Articles A Case For Base    by Adam Hodges Myerson    February 2, 2007 Power, Stability, and Confidence    by Adam Hodges Myerson    September 20, 2006 Training While You Work    by Adam Hodges Myerson    April 25, 2006 Surviving The Trainer    by Adam Hodges Myerson    March 2, 2006 You Gotta Have A Plan    by Adam Hodges Myerson    January 8, 2006 Peaking For Cyclo-Cross Nationals    by Adam Hodges Myerson    November 29, 2005 How To Improve Your Starts For Cyclo-cross    by Adam Hodges Myerson    October 18, 2005 Interval Training for Cyclo-Cross    by Adam Hodges Myerson    September 9, 2005 Hang On To That Form!    by Adam Hodges Myerson    August 9, 2005 Resting Your Way To Fitness    by Adam Hodges Myerson    June 22, 2005 How Long, How Hard, and How Often?    by Adam Hodges Myerson    May 25, 2005 Warming Up    by Adam Hodges Myerson    April 11, 2005 "Training" in Training Races    by Adam Hodges Myerson    March 13, 2005 Preparing for a Cyclo-Cross Race    by Johs Huseby    November 16, 2004 Choosing Between a Club or a Team    by Kirk Albers    October 6, 2004 Running for Cyclo-Cross    by Adam Hodges Myerson    September 22, 2004 My Aching Back (and legs, shoulders, hips, feet, neck)    by Christine White    August 4, 2004 Key Workouts for Early Season Mountain Bike Racers    by Kurt Perham    July 14, 2004 The Philly File    by Adam Hodges Myerson    June 12, 2003 Training Weaknesses, Racing Strengths    by Adam Hodges Myerson    May 15, 2003 The Lanterne Rouge - The fine art of driving the bus in a stage race    by Adam Hodges Myerson    April 18, 2003 Choosing a Coach    by Adam Hodges Myerson    March 13, 2003

One of the first things I do is try to plan ahead. If you know in advance that your trip is coming up and training will be difficult, try to set your program up so that you're on a rest week when you're away from home. There's no sense in trying to force a week of high volume or intensity when training and racing are going to have to take a backseat to work and travel. If your business takes you to a big city, simply getting out of town might be a challenge, never mind finding a place to do uninterrupted intervals. Scheduling a week of easy rides will take the pressure of training off at a time when you don't need any extra stress.

If you find yourself unable to plan a rest week because it just doesn't fit your schedule or the trip comes up unexpectedly, then you've got to make the best of what's available. Take a look on the web or in a magazine at the racing schedule in the city you're headed to. Again, because finding new roads can be a challenge if you have limited time, try to find out about a local training race or group ride during the week. And if there's a race nearby on the weekend, see if you can schedule your trip to come back a few days later and take advantage of the opportunity to race in a different region and against different riders.

Even if you are able to schedule in a rest week, you might find that there's simply no way you can take your bike with you. That may sound like a fitness catastrophe, but it's not as bad as you'd think. Plan ahead by first calling the hotel and inquiring about any nearby gyms that offer regular spin classes during the week. If you bring your own shoes and pedals, you can normally plug in and get set up somewhat close to your normal position. The hotel itself might even have a good enough quality exercise bike that you can put your own equipment on. Also ask about local bike shops that might be able to loan or rent you a real racing bike. Often if they see that your serious and your willing to give them a credit card for collateral, someone from the shop might even have an extra bike of their own you can borrow.

Often clients ask about running when they're on the road, but unless it's during the cyclo-cross season, there's nothing that'll slow you down faster. I'd rather see them find a pool to do laps in than deal with the impact running involves.

Above all else when you're on a business trip, don't push it! If you're changing time zones, spending all day on a plane, and stressed out from hectic meetings, the last thing you need to do is push yourself over the edge by training. If you need to recover from life, take the recovery and cut your losses. Getting greedy with your form usually leaves you worse off than if you simply tried to maintain what you had.

To learn more about Adam, or for more articles by Cycle-Smart coaches, visit www.cycle-smart.com.

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