10 day blocks....but....5 days off...



GeoSpectrum

New Member
Sep 24, 2013
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Hi, I hoping to get a little advice or suggestions for training for the coming season.

Due to an unusual travel and working pattern im forced into having to train for 10 days (prety much as much as I would like) then rest for 5 days (ie no training of any sort) So im attempting to prepare for the coming season in 10 day blocks.

Ill be road racing with a scattering of time trials and distances are upto 100k over rolling terrain.
this is a comback seasion for me and ive been riding again since last April.

Im trying to figure out the best way to structure those 10 day blocks. Focus on one system for 10 days ie FTP, V02, endurance,
or mix it up a little and concentrate on building CTL? CTL is slowly growing howver it drps back significantly on my 5 dyas off.

I'm using Golden Cheetah to track my training and have a PowerTap.


Any suggestions would be very welcome, I'm digging a hole for myself at the moment reading through all the possible options
and not really coming up with a plan......


Thanks in advance.




Some background---------------------------------

25 years ago I was previoulsy a 2nd cat in road racing and did a little time trialing with a 10 time of 21.38 and a 25 of 57 something (I didn't do very many).

I am 52, currently weight 183lbs (slowly loosing it) and have an estimated FTP(CP) of 274w (via 20minx 0.95 test) I need to test again as I think my FTP is up a little since last test (in December)

Im training in Norway where the weather is cold/icy wet or some variation of the three so road time is limited and has to be grabbed when available.

CTL is currenly 61.
 
Originally Posted by GeoSpectrum
Due to an unusual travel and working pattern im forced into having to train for 10 days (prety much as much as I would like) then rest for 5 days (ie no training of any sort) So im attempting to prepare for the coming season in 10 day blocks.
Just for clarity sake....the unusual travel does not allow you to use a gym or hotel bike on some of the days away?

I would not have the answer anyway, but there are others here that have the same difficulties and can maybe chime in.

Of my personal friends that travel for business several have sort of a routine schedule to where they have to go and have established either various hotels in different cities that have stationary bikes or have located hotels near a fitness center. However, I realize that many places do not have that luxury away from home. I was just curious as I am sure you have already looked into this.

And I will include my traveling friends have all said training away from home is not equivalent, but it is their hope not to have such a big gap between their training days and that it is at least a little effective.

best wishes
 
Im based for the 10 days in Norway where I have an apartment and both my bikes. The 5 days are spent at home catching up with my Wife and Daughter and maintaining family life, this 5 days does of course count as recovery/rest from a training pint of view. I'm thinking that if I can build enough TSS/CTL into my 10 days and manage it carefully without digging too deep bearing in mind im 52 and have to manage TSS carefully, i can slowly build my fitness to start racing at the end of April (in Norway).
 
You are old but you were a Cat2. I would not worry about over training or digging a deep hole.

I would plan on doing as much outside riding as I could. Do it as hard as I could for the time I had available. 100k races are 3 hour more or less. 3-4 hour rides would be reasonable training rides.

I would start with 10 days determining my LT and FTP and how I recovered. I would have a variety of routines that I could chose from. I like 30 minutes at FTP/LT. I can tolerate it. I can recover from it for the next day.

But you need to find out what you can handle. And show up everyday.

5 days at home. Rest the first and last day. Do any heavy work on the other 3 days.

But at 50 always make sure your family is happy when you are home. So don't beat yourself up on the day before going home.