TrainingPeaks member profile: Andrea Wilson, cyclist

Despite getting a late start on the bike, Andrea Wilson quickly managed to catch up. “Most people are surprised to hear that I didn’t learn how to ride a bike until after my 12th birthday. I caught on quickly, though, and soon enough, I graduated from training wheels to a bright pink Huffy mountain bike from Wal Mart. I promptly destroyed it when I found a park with some incidental dirt jumps in a back corner of my neighborhood. My dad took me and the bike to the local shop, where the mechanic chuckled a little and said that the only way he could repair two bent rims and a cracked frame was to sell him a new bike that was able to handle all the abuse that a 13 year old could dish out.”

As time went on, Andrea’s interest shifted to other things, including horse back riding and weight lifting, but she eventually found her way back to both cycling and running. “Once I started going to class at University of Memphis to get my degree in Health and Sport Science, I got very interested in weightlifting. Olympic weightlifting- the type you see, well, in the Olympics. I got big and strong, but ended up having to take time off due to a back injury (too much overhead lifting). During that time, I wanted to stay in shape, and discovered trail running. I enjoyed it so much that I never really started back full-time into weightlifting (though I still lift 1-2x per week to maintain strength and help prevent injury). I made some great trail-running friends.”

“One day, early in the Summer of 2006, when the trails were overgrown with cutweed and spider webs, they invited me to come out for a bike ride. I borrowed a friend’s heavy, somewhat cumbersome hybrid and had at it. To everyone’s surprise, even though they were on road bikes, I was able to keep up for the entire 30 miles. I was hooked. I borrowed the hybrid several more times to go out with small groups and the occasional charity ride (my 3rd ride ever was the annual 4th of July metric century!)”

Andrea graduated not only from a borrowed hybrid to a road bike of her own, but also from her Master’s program. “Eventually, I saved up enough to buy my first road bike. I started going to faster group rides. I had absolutely no training program to speak of- I just went out and rode hard a few days a week, and had a blast doing it. The competitiveness of road cycling was (still is) addictive to me! I joined a local team and started racing in 2007- about the same time, I graduated with my master’s in Health and Sport Science.”

The strategy involved with racing was part of what kept Andrea interested in riding. “Once I started racing and realized the role of strategy in road competition, I fell in love with it again. Unlike a triathlon or footrace, it’s often NOT the fastest person who wins, but the person that can play up his/her own strengths and exploit his/her opponents’ weaknesses. Another thing that kept me interested is that I was just pretty darn good at it! After my first season with a local team, I was recruited into the developmental elite program of Team Kenda Tire. I raced with them during the 2008 season before I was recruited again to the Metro Volkswagen team out of Dallas for the 2009 season.”

“However, sometimes things don’t go as planned. After training harder than ever over the winter and going to a couple of races, I’d lost all enjoyment, missed all of my trail running buddies, and had “secretly” been going on some insanely fun (though wreck-filled) mountain bike rides on the old Univega that I rescued from the cobwebs of the garage. I was ready to throw my road bike into the Mississippi River. So, in April, I quit.”

Andrea took a break to reset her priorities. “I took some time for myself, went for some trail runs (even managed to place 2nd in a 50k trail race exactly one month after my “quitting”), had some beer, and sold my time trial bike for a mountain bike. I eventually decided NOT to throw my road bike off a bridge and have been competing in regional road and mountain races (I’m about to partake in my first 50 mile endurance race on the 15th), and I’ve taken to some adventure racing as well. I am sponsored by a very supportive local shop (Bikes Plus- http://www.bikesplus.net), and I couldn’t be happier.”

Over time, Andrea’s training plan has developed to include the use of power meters and TrainingPeaks. “I’ve gradually evolved and refined my training program. I went from NO plan at all to having someone else coach me (one of the perks of being on a good team!) to coaching myself. Likewise, I’ve trained using perceived exertion, heart rate, and now, power (via an SRM powermeter on my road bike).

“I actually never used TrainingPeaks until I needed to coach myself, though, looking back, I wished I’d had it all along so that I’d have a better understanding of the training programs that were handed down to me by my coaches. The organization of data it offers is priceless, and I really like the TSS and TSB metrics. TSS is great for giving me an idea of the physical strain of a workout, and I’ve learned how to manipulate TSB so that I don’t fatigue myself too much and am well-prepared for upcoming competitions. My education has helped a lot with my training, but I consider it to be a complement to the use of TrainingPeaks rather than a necessity. TrainingPeaks is definitely something that you don’t need a Master’s in Health and Sport Science in order to use/understand.”

Andrea has learned a lot not only about training and technique, but also about herself. “Cycling has really opened my eyes to just how much the human body is capable of doing. There have been points in time where I’ve been in the middle of a race and asked myself, “Are you serious? Am I actually riding this hard/fast?” Yes, I was. Same goes for training. The first time I had a 15 hour training week, all I could do by the end of the week was eat and sleep. I thought it was crazy. Now I’m occasionally stretching duration to 20 hours. It’s been life changing to accept and achieve so many challenges.”

You can read more about Andrea on her blog at http://blog.brickhouseracing.com. Happy training!

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