Sara Mills

I am a young cyclist who is suceeding in the sport and I have high hopes of making it onto an NRS team. However, I am currently struggling to balance school and my training. I aim studying to be an engineer and with my HSC course about to start. (year 11 and 12). I live far away from where the rest of my cycling squad train and often ride and train on my own. I have tried many times to try and make a program but I'm not sure if it is balanced. I don't really have friends at school, just people I interact with. My main friends are in my cycling squad. I just need advice, maybe a sample plan on how to train. I am a 16 year old female, excels in road hill climbs and MTB. Don't have much strength on the flats and I really want bigger, stronger muscles! (Yes! I just said that!)

I am currently 16 years old and have seriously toned down on my riding (I was riding almost everysingle day and making it HARD!) because I simply just couldn't maintain it. It's exhausting to train like that plus deal with school and study. I have year 11 coming up and at the moment my coaches say that I don't need to focus on fitness (they say I'm already very fit, just not strong. I seriously lack stregnth). My current week is looking like this.

MON:

am: 7.30am Gym (lifting upper body, lower body)

pm:3.45 maybe a run

TUES:

am: 7.30am Gym (lifting upper body)

pm: 6.30pm track training (easy and skills)

WED:

am: 1 to 11/2hr bike ride

pm: 6.30pm Easy abd light Road skills

THUR:

am: 5am 1-2hr ride

FRI:

7.30am Gym (lifting upper body or lower body)

SAT: Long ride 2-4hr or racing or run or rest

SUN: Long ride 2-4hr or racing or run or rest

I really don't want to get burnt out and HATE cycling (which was starting to happen before as it just wasn't fun anymore). My goal is to get on a team and be the best I can in the amount of time I have been givn. I plan to study engineering when I leave school and head up to Canberra. The thing is when I listen to other junior cyclists they say they train everyday, and do all these things and I'm sitting there feeling like a lazy, unfit, undedicated young female junior cyclist.

If anyone can help me and tell me what I should be doing that would be fantastic. Futhermore, if you too are a junior cyclist tell me what you do. I am struggling with this extremelly because cycling is just not fun for me anymore and I cringe everytime it's time to ride. I love the sport but I need a balance. I know that I can't maintain riding everday! I LOVE I MEAN LOVE the gym! I am going there for chance, for the social side of it (as I normally ride with oldies 50+yrs and we don't really talk) and it's a change. I'm also recently coming out of trouble with an eating disorder and I want to gain muscle back and gain stregnth back and 'bulk' in short. Please just help me out! I want to do well in cycling but I need a balance!

I think I have a habit of over training. Now I'm stuffed and I am forcing myself to have a recovery day. The problem is these aren't often for me and I actually don't know what to do? I know it sounds like the stupidest thing but I really have no clue if I'm suppose do as little as possible and lower my calories or keep them up. This week has been hectic, this was it:

Mon: 7.30-8.30am Gym (lifting) - 4pm 5km run

Tues: 6.45-7.20am hard powerwalk 7.30-8.30am Gym (lifting) 7-8.10pm Track cycling (skills, light effort)

Wed: 4.30am start- 1.5km running race (This day a little lighter for me)

Thur: 5.30am 25km bike ride (Hills)- 7.30-8.30am Gym (lifting)

Fri: 7.30-8.30am Gym (lifting) 3.45-4.20pm bushwalk (Hills)

Now I'm only 16 and am recovering from an eating disorder (anorexia). I am a cyclist but am lifting to gain back lean muscle mass and strength. Am I doing too much? What can I do to bulk and should I rest? Is this light or heavy? What do I do? Please help me, I want to feel fresh this coming Sunday for training. It's Friday night and I'm shattered! I want Saturday off (as much as my mind and Anorexia are telling me to move and excercise because other people are).

I've looked around and found nothing. I really want to try PB2 because none can fathom my LOVE for peanut butter, but im an athlete in training and need to watch what I eat. Shipping is extortion from overseas and a lot of the websites don't ship to Aus. I live in Sydney, any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I was almost on the brink of becoming anorexic and being hospitilised. November last year I was 48 kg. It’s now mid-March and I am 5,5 (166cm) and I exercise a lot. I am unsure of my current weight (as mom chucked the scale out) but I assume that it is around 110lbs (50 kg). Almost every day for 1.5+ some times 3 hours. I am a cyclist and have massive dreams of doing the sport professionally. I am serious about overcoming this as it has just seriously just hurt my mother and there is no way I EVER want to put her through that again. I also hate seeing my joints and bruising and hurting easily. Also I get really cold on the bike in the mornings due to low body fat. I am a hill climber and endurance person but I also love the high intensity. I participate in Track, Road and MTB and do pretty well in each. I am just starting to get into racing and I want to become sponsored. But I know that I won��t get there unless I change. I don’t know how much energy I burn but after a ride I think my breakfast energy intake in around 500-600 kj. I just don’t know what to do now. I thought I was getting better as my hair is shiny, my skin is glowing and I’m not afraid of eating food. But today my PE teacher (who’s been helping me a lot) told me it looks like I’ve lost more weight since the beginning of the year. This is a massive blow for me who thought that I was getting better. I refuse to let this rule my life anymore but I just don’t know what to do. I cannot afford a nutritionist and I don’t know what to eat and when. If anyone else has struggled or can help me out please answer. My question is simply, how do I gain weight but keep up my training at the same time?

Anorexia is not going to get it’s claws on me, I am fighting this for my family, friends and for myself and my future!

I am making a Christmas cake for a customer and I have covered the cake in marzipan and it is setting really well. Just one little problem. My cake has lumps and the marzipan emphasizes them. I did plug the holes with marzipan before I spreaded the jam on and them put the marzipan on top. Now I am just curious as to if I could put a small amount of buttercream to smooth the bumps before I put the fondant ontop and gain a perfectly smooth finish.

Any prior experiences would help and also any tips on making the marzipan smooth when I lay it over the cake would also help. I know buttercream and fruit cake don't mix but I'm pretty desperate.

Many thanks, Sara

How to gain muscular endurance for 100m Butterfly?

Hi there, I would love to know how to gain some muscular endurance for a butterfly event I want to compete in in about 8 months time. I am fifteen, 1.68m and am pretty strong and have a knack for butterfly. The only problem is once I finish 50m I am absolutely shattered!! I would really like to compete in the 100m category but I need some help. Do I need to do resistance training? do I need to change what I eat? What drill's should I do? Any help would be fantastic as this is the first event I am seriously training for. :D