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Summer Goals Start Indoors

Indoor training is not my favorite thing to do. It’s always been hard for me to sit still in my life. It also reminds me of what I trying to get away from (computer screens). And, when it comes to indoor training, you are sitting still and looking at a computer screen. There has always been something odd to me about getting all dressed up to ride my bike and just not move. I don’t think I’m alone with this thought either. And I’m sure that’s why Zwift was created and also why it, and other platforms, have become so popular over the last 10 years. These programs help you focus and also take your mind off things at the same time. I think the latter was the first thought in the creation process when it came to the “WHY,” while the first part ended up being the cherry on top.

We all know CompuTrainer was the pioneer in the industry. The innovative CompuTrainer allowed you to immerse yourself in the virtual world and, at the same time, gave you the ability to be super hyper focused on the workout you had. No down hill sections to just coast – just consistent work. I remember back in the day the pro’s would say, “two hours on a trainer is like three to four hours outside.” And, in one sense, that still rings true today. In another sense, those three to four hours outside can be 100 times better for you all around.

Over the last four years I have been very up and down with training. I have, for the most part, never walked away from some sort of daily activity, but I have had all sort of issues with injuries. Largely because of my new lifestyle of sitting way too much for my job, and not taking care of myself when it comes to doing the daily things to counter balance those hours of sitting.

It has simply been my own fault, and the repetitive daily choice has been I sit all day because I have LOTS to do, and I have lots to do because I want to do lots of things. And so, naturally, I’m always trying to find that balance of what I can do with the time I have to do it. Sadly, we all know that we only have 24 hours a day to work with. Like most, I am constantly running out time when I’m trying to fit everything in. That means I tend to skip the small things that, in the long run, would end up making the most positive difference. I also refuse to let go of the past when it comes to current goals and results. So, when I think of training and racing, in my head I’m thinking about what I did back in the day. I was doing 4:30 to 4:50 70.3’s and running 1:22 to 1:26 half marathons with about six weeks notice. So, in my head, if I have 90 minutes for a workout, instead of riding for 60 mins and then spending 30 mins doing other important things like core and yoga(which is what I need), I decide that 90 mins isn’t enough time anyway, so I need to spend all of that going hard. In reality, 60 mins is all I should be doing because, lets be honest, unless I can get my crap together I will be lucky to finish a 70.3 without injury and, currently, I’d be lucky to finish a 10K without my knees telling me a thing or two.

But these shouldn’t be excuses for me as many people within our community are doing these race times at my age and they are doing them without the help of “Doctor Visits.” Yes, we all know what that means. The reality is that I am just at a much lower starting point and, if I’m going to work my way back, it’s going to take consistency with the basics and time.

So going into 2025 I have (like always) a lot of goals, but one thing I have really decided as the important goal is to be realistic.

What are those goals?

#1: I want to get back to racing triathlons.

#2: I want to do more Gravel and Road racing.

#3: I want to be able to jump into to any of them at anytime

Now, coming to terms with reality, I have figured out that while indoor training is not my first choice, it’s what is needed. I think most people are in the same boat. The lack of sun in the winter is just a buzz kill. For others that live in dense cities that lack safe roads to ride, less sunlight and time just compounds the challenges. So, while we all probably think that indoor training is our least favorite option, at the same time we are all truly grateful for it.

Like most people that work in this part of the space. I’m lucky to have many options at my disposal when it comes to gear and getting gear. But, with that luck, comes the responsibility (and also the requirement to commit time to it). So, with that said I want to dive into three options I have been reviewing, and the reasons I wanted to review them.

The first goal that I have is getting back to racing triathlon. It’s the foundation of my personal life when it comes to endurance sports and it’s core to my life and job at the moment. And I have always been a true believer that if you want to lead, you better lead from the front. So, in other words, if the person that “runs” this online community isn’t training and racing, then what am I good for? So back to those three goals.

#1 Getting back to triathlons

Step one means I need to get back on a TT bike. Which means I need to slowly get back to riding on aerobars. I haven’t really been on a TT bike for about four years, which means I have many issues I have to tackle. That involves mostly neck, hip and shoulder work. So, I went to Lincoln, NE, where we now hold Slowtwitch Fit (yes we have renamed it). I spent time with a recent Slowtwitch Certified Fitter, Ryan Lepa. We went over my goals, the issues I have, and how I thought we could address them. So, I got my “ideal” TT fit – where I want to be in come the start of May. I also got an idea of where I should be on my Road/Gravel bikes. Now I need to slowly start to move from that fit into my TT fit over time. Some people may disagree, but this is the approach that I’m going with.

The main issues that I talked with Lepa about was how, over the last couple of years, I have dealt with a lot of psoas issues.

This is mostly been caused by sitting too much and the lack of activation of the other muscles that support over use and/ or tightening of my psoas — AKA dead glutes. I wanted to make sure I was in a position that helped me make sure my glutes were firing while also putting me in a position where I wasn’t closing off my hips. So, even though I have tried my best to keep my cranks at 170’s (it’s just where most test bikes come with at my height), I have officially moved to 165’s.

So what is my tool for this?

WAHOO KICKR SHIFT

Why? It is one of the easiest tools that you can buy that allows you to adjust and mess around with fit.


5 Point Adjustability

With the ability to adjust stack, reach, setback, saddle height and frame height, there is no reason why anyone from 5′ to 6’4″ can’t have an almost perfect fit. And, with the ability to swap out the base bar and easily throw on aero bars, it is the easiest way for me or anyone else to gradually move their position up, out and forward without having to do anything except measure, slide and tighten.


Crank Size Options

165,167.5, 170, 172.5 and 175

#2 Gravel and Road Racing

One of the things I really dislike about indoor training is the lack of movement. It’s one of the main reasons I dislike Zwift’s business model. The goal is to keep people inside and online. I’m not saying I don’t like the idea of Zwift, or I don’t ride Zwift. All Im saying is that when I look at the entire ecosystem, I have yet to see how they prepare people to ride outside besides getting them to put more time on the saddle indoors. I learned this lesson the hard way last year. I started the year kicking butt in my garage. I started riding in December, and I was putting in really solid rides all winter long. I wanted to do the 70-mile Belgian Waffle Ride (BWR) in March, so I was getting up to three hours on the trainer for my long rides as I neared the race date. I went to Arizona with the best base fitness I’d had for at least three years. And, after I did that race, I was WRECKED. It wasn’t because of my endurance fitness. I didn’t push the pace at all, but when it was all done, my core stabilizing muscles were destroyed because I had spent the last four months sitting in the same spot on a trainer in my garage. After four hard hours of gravel riding I totally cooked my core and back.

WAHOO KICKR MOVE AND WAHOO KICKR CLIMB

Why the Kickr Move?

8″ fore-aft motion (Forward and back movement) being able to have this much movement will help keep all of my muscles firing.

Why the Kickr Climb?

Thanks to simulation 20% up and 8% down (10% with Kickr Move), I can get used to the pressure going up hill puts on my lower back and hip flexers. When I’m going down hill on a long decent on ZWIFT, I can also make sure I’m getting used to riding on the drops on my road bike.

So, this year, I won’t repeat that same mistake. The other thing I need to remember is that it’s not just BWR Arizona that I need to prep for. It’s the ability to enter spring with more all-around fitness. Late spring and late fall are the best times to ride in Utah. There are about two to three months where we have amazing canyon’s with closed roads that cyclists have ultimate freedom on. These are the same roads that nordic skiers enjoy for most of the winter. And, as the snow starts to melt and the roads start to dry, we get to explore just how high we can ride. So, getting to spring with a solid fitness base, but without a solid core and stabilizing musculature, is a recipe for injury. By trying to use the Kickr move and Climb at least once a week I hope that I can get all my muscles prepped for riding outdoors.

#3 Jumping in when I can

Being nimble was something that my younger self was good at. I knew 22 years ago I wasn’t (and didn’t want to be) a “professional athlete.” I remember sitting down with Tim Deboom at Wildflower one year and realizing that he was at the peak of the sport and, while he made a solid living, I was never going to be as fast. I realized it would be stupid to chase that dream if the main reason was to earn money. Instead I should probably just take photos of him and everyone else. Rather than try to be a professional athlete, I just focused on being a solid athlete. And, for years I did that. I would show up, race well, and enjoy it. Then I took a break from it all. After a while, “jumping in” just hurt. So, being able to jump in means I need to prepare myself to do that. How I do that will be time spent on the Wahoo Kickr Roller. Why the kickr Roller?

It takes about 30 seconds to swap out a bike. Starting February 1, once a week I’m going to flip a coin to decide what bike I’m going to ride that day. Once I know which bike (road or tri), I’m going to flip a coin again to see if I do a zone 3 or zone 2 ride. This is how I’m going to become nimble again. It’s also how I’m going to try to have some fun with it, too.

All in all, I hope to use these tools a little more this winter so I not only become a stronger athlete, but so I can have more personal information on these products and how they can really help you. I’m a little behind on this article and, truth be told, while I haven’t started the coin flip just yet, everything else is going according to plan. I’m a little sore two to three days of the week, but it’s a good sore, and so far I feel like I am getting stronger.

If you have indoor plans for the rest of this year, try to see if you can work on “movement” on the bike. We should aim to do things that will lead us to success once we’re on the road again so that the training we are doing gives us the best chance of success when we do get back to racing. Also, remember that it’s a long season. Set the right goals and slowly work towards them.

If you want to listen to me repeat myself about stabilizing muscles. Check out the video below. Probably do it while you’re on a trainer 🙂

If you want to check our more things that Wahoo can help you with your indoor prep check out WAHOOFITNESS.COM

Tags:

Indoor TrainingTechologoywahooWahoo Kickr ClimbWahoo Kickr Move

Notable Replies

  1. Where’s the endless pool and Vasa?

  2. Avatar for E_DUB E_DUB says:

    I dont have room :slight_smile:

  3. psssh…sure you do. There’s tons of space if you move all those bikes over, a little bit. Try harder. :slight_smile:

    And if you have three bikes, and trainers…how come you only have one monitor stand, and headwind-fan? n+1 applies to more than just bikes.

  4. One fan is plenty.

    It’s the whole opening the basement door thing that really makes it nice and brisk. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

  5. THAT wasn’t mentioned in the article. Besides, I live in Texas where its never cold enough outside to not need a fan, and we don’t have basements. :stuck_out_tongue:

  6. Oh, I don’t know where Eric’s set-up is…I just know that I’m a basement dweller. So winter just means fan on 2, open the door, and suddenly the temperature plummets about 50 degrees in that room.

    In re: Texas – Must…resist…urge…to quote…Full Metal Jacket.

  7. Avatar for DoronG DoronG says:

    To me this reads like a Wahoo ad trying not to look like an ad.

  8. Needs a fern

    #IYKYK

  9. OMFG. yes. Must go and try to find…that can’t be lost to the snap.

  10. only two things… moooo.

  11. I got it, no worries

  12. Avatar for E_DUB E_DUB says:

    I mean. I hate to break it to you… but every single article we post is for 1 reason and 1 reason only… Bring attention to the things we want too.

  13. Not really sure its trying very hard to “not look like an ad.” I mean the article ends with a link to wahoofitness.

    Someone has to keep the lights on around here. Better Wahoo than me. Unless they want to charge the LR $0.01 per post.

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