Training on the trainer

Ride the trainer much? In the 20 rides I've done this year all of them have been on the trainer, including the first race of the year! When I bought my first trainer it was difficult to ride for even 30 minutes at a time due to boredom. Today, some of my scheduled rides call for riding up to 3 hours and with the weather as it is, it's necessary to ride the trainer. Getting over the boredom is a hot topic this time of year. Training plans get ditched for some simply because they can't handle long hours riding inside. Here are some of the tricks I've used to keep me riding:

-Have a scheduled, time based workout! Breaking up your workout into 1 to 20 minute chunks really helps the time go by. Just sitting there riding zone 2 for 2-3 hours will bore most people to death. Breaking up the workout into tempo, intervals, rest, ramps, etc will keep your eye on the clock but in a good way. Several sets of XX minute intervals with XX minutes of rest between really helps the time fly.

-Keep your mind occupied! I've spent time watching and rewatching the 2004 Tour that I have on DVD. If the workout calls for hills, I'd watch a hilly stage (stage 10 was my favorite), tempo I would watch a flat stage and sprint at the end for fun. Go to NBC's website and re-watch all the episodes of Heroes or ABC's site and re-watch LOST. At 45 minutes per episode, you can catch up on shows you missed AND get quality time on the bike. Watching TV doesn't really work with intervals though as it's hard to pay attention when your eyes are bleeding from your heart rate being way too high!

-Music! Listening to music is necessary for long inside riding at least to me.

-Virtual trainers! I have a Travel Trac RealAxiom V2 trainer that I got last June. Hooked up to my laptop, I can watch my heart rate, time, distance and wattage while riding a course that I programmed myself (it also comes with pre-programmed courses). It works great because I program courses to suit my necessary workouts. There are many different options out there for virtual riding, but I chose the RealAxiom mainly based on price, and I've not been disappointed with the quality of the unit.

Now there are no excuses not to do long rides on cold, crappy days (like today).