criticise my training plan for the next year!

[GettingFaster]

Hi



I've just finished my first season of cycling/racing and am now looking
ahead to next season. I'm the sort of person who likes to have it all quite
well mapped out so have drawn up a preliminary plan for the year, but I'd
be very grateful if people who've been in this game longer could take a
look and see if there are any obvious flaws.

My aims are diverse - keen on both road racing and time trialling. I'd like
to break 21.30 for a 10 and get my 3rd cat license in road racing (haven't
managed to place in a race at all yet!) The first race of the year I care
about is a 40K TT at the very beginning of May, so I'd like to peak for
that.

My thinking was:

September - chill out, take a break. Do some mountain biking, ride if and
when I feel like it.

October/Novermber/December - group rides at the weekends (couple of hours
each day) at a moderate intensity, not slow but not hammering either. One
midweek turbo - an hour at a chunky but def not flat out pace. So about
5hrs cycling a week. On top of this a good bit of running, rowing, swimming
just to keep the weight off and avoid going insane.

January/February/March - start serious training. Basic week to include 3
hard workouts on the turbo during the week - stuff like 2x20', 3x15',
30-45' continuous. All at or just below threshold (basically as hard as I
can go bar winding it up at the finish and hammering myself into the floor.)
Between 40 and 70 miles each day at the weekend, keeping it pretty hard. This will
all be done in 4-week rotations, building up for three weeks followed by a slightly
lighter week and then starting over. Hopefully finishing March
with a week away somewhere in the hills getting some serious hard miles in.

April - Start hitting the short intervals. 3 times a week on the turbo doing a
range of 3' - 5' reps flat out. Hard 70 mile rides at the weekend.

How does this seem? Any and all comments welcome. Am I leaving it too late
to start the hard training in January? Is a month of short reps enough to be in good
shape for my first important TT?

 

[Spunout]

From your peak event, count back 10 weeks (1 rest, 1 competition, and 8 build weeks) and this is your build phase.

This puts your base phase back a month earlier. Your October-December training should be more focussed, and make sure that you build gradually for March.

 

[SolarEnergy]

How does your racing calendar look like?

I know that at this time of year, you may not be aware of the exact dates of each of the most important races but do you have an idea?

Also, what did you do this year, and how did it turn out?

 

[spinner32]

I'd say it looks good in general, but I'd add something important to your winter-time training schedule: Weight Lifting.

While you are laxing in the hours and miles that you ride, you can really ramp up your anaerobic threshold and strength training. You should start out with about 2-4 weeks of light, high rep, low weight training to get your tendons and muscles used to lifting, and progress to high resistance, low rep strength training. Slow increments here! Focus mainly on your cycling-specific muscle groups, as to not gain weight where it will not help you out. For example... Squats, Leg Press, Good Mornings, Leg Extensions, Calf Raises, Lat Rows, and a lot of abdominal/core work. I wouldn't be caught too often on the bench, or curling free weights . Hehehe

Good luck with your goals!

 

[GettingFaster]

Cheers for input (others please feel free to add!!)

Spunout - what sort of workouts do you define the build phase by? - are you saying I should spend those 8 weeks on the shorter VO2-max intervals, or on the longer reps?

Solar Energy - racing calendar isn't certain yet, but I'll probably have a couple of time trials and maybe one road race through Feb/Mar/Apr - but I'm planning on just training through them, the one at the start of May is the one I care about. After that I'll aim to race every weekend, probably roughly alternating between road race and time trial, through until September (maybe with a mid-season break at some point.) Have a vague idea of looking for a stage race to target for the end of the season, but that seems a long way off at the moment! This last season I started structured training much earlier (October) and was doing more volume but less intensity - I built up to 2hrs 3 x per week on the turbo and long-ish rides at the weekend. I didn't start any threshold training until about 8 weeks before I started racing, and I did very few really short nasty intervals. How did it turn out? - well it's difficult to say really as I didn't have any previous season to compare it with. Looking back I can't say I ever really felt I was going as well as I wanted though. My testing was OK (low 22 for a 10), road racing wasn't very impressive but that was more down to the skills of riding in a bunch than my fitness I think....

spinner232 - cheers, not too sure about weights though am still trying to lose some muscle from my days as a rower!!

 

[ric_stern/RST]

spinner232 - cheers, not too sure about weights though am still trying to lose some muscle from my days as a rower!!

http://www.cyclingforums.com/t126133.html

 

[GettingFaster]

http://www.cyclingforums.com/t126133.html

ouch that is one long thread... am I correct in summarising that the gist of it is you don't hold with doing weights at all? If so then that's good as it ties in with what I've always thought. BTW if you ever feel you're up against it trying to convince some cyclists not to lift, then try going over to rowing. Suggest to ANY rowing coach (all the way up to international level) that your time might be better spent on actual rowing and they look at you like you've told them you want to sleep with your sister.

 

[ric_stern/RST]

ouch that is one long thread... am I correct in summarising that the gist of it is you don't hold with doing weights at all?

i don't hold with weights increasing endurance cycling performance. there's no evidence to supports it's use in trained endurance cyclists and some that it's detrimental.

If so then that's good as it ties in with what I've always thought. BTW if you ever feel you're up against it trying to convince some cyclists not to lift, then try going over to rowing. Suggest to ANY rowing coach (all the way up to international level) that your time might be better spent on actual rowing and they look at you like you've told them you want to sleep with your sister.

 

[SolarEnergy]

the one at the start of May is the one I care about.

That's a time trial if I am not mistaken isn't it?
How long it is?

How old are you? You were a rower. At what level?

 

[normZurawski]

September - chill out, take a break. Do some mountain biking, ride if and when I feel like it.

This is a potential problem. If you feel like taking the entire month off, then you're going to lose a lot of the gains you made this year. I would try to get a 2 hour mountain bike ride in once a week, being sure to keep it enjoyable. The idea is that you don't want to spend Oct/Nov/Dec struggling to get back to where you are now.

Also might want to consider some core workouts. But I would hardly call that a glaring omission.

 

[Spunout]

Cheers for input (others please feel free to add!!)

Spunout - what sort of workouts do you define the build phase by? - are you saying I should spend those 8 weeks on the shorter VO2-max intervals, or on the longer reps?

shorter V02 Max intervals yes. Increase the intensity, reduce the hours from your peak in base.

If your goal event is a TT, then V02Max mixed with FT work will do. One day of AC intervals. If you plan to race mass start events in your peak period, ditch the FT work for one more day of AC or a training race.

It all depends on your goals, and what you are willing to give up in order to peak for the goal event.

 

[9.8mps2]

Seems to me if you will be doing pure endurance at one specific output level, OK , leave weights alone .How often does that happen - no accelerations ,hills, or high intensity power levels ?
You develope core muscles with weights or resistance excercise.
Without weights you will have the upper body of cyclists of old - pitiful.
Chicks dig some upper body mass.
It's something different and handy to do in the Winter months.
Chuck Norris says you should lift...

 

[dm69]

It doesn't look like your aiming high enough. You have a few months there where you are just killing time riding your bike for the sake of it. The next few months are a good time to add a few guns to your arsenal. Gym work, Swimming, Buy a powermeter, do some velodrome racing. I understand It will be very cold in the northern hemisphere in december but you should be doing something more productive.

 

[joemw]

Your goals are great, but I'd bet against you when it comes to achieving them based on your current plan.

The big thing I see is all this turbo stuff. Those things are the devil and will suck you dry like that rowing coaches sister!

The key issue here is how much time do you have available to ride per day (specific time for each day of the week, not average time per day based on a 7 day total), and how much have you ridden in this past season? Do you have a powermeter? If not, can you afford one? If not, do you have any children you can sell or exchange for one?

 

[GettingFaster]

Thanks guys

SolarEnergy: I'm 24, and yes the first race I'm targetting is a time trial - 40K. I was a lightweight rower for about 4 years and got as far as the lower rungs of the international ladder before I gave it up.

norm - I hear what you're saying, in fact it's only the 9th September and I'm already feeling I've taken too long off! - suspect I'll end up doing the same for the rest of September as for Oct/Nov/Dec.

Spunout - OK that's good to know, so you think I should spend an extra month on the short reps, should I shift the threshold work back to December as well then?

dm69 - your comments kind of get to the nub of my anxiety - that I'm going to be the worse off for not working harder up until christmas. But what's the best thing to do? If I work too hard too soon then aren't I in danger of peaking too early? I'm not worried about the cold (it'll be colder in Jan/Feb!!) and I'm not afraid of working hard, I just don't want to be knackered by March.

joe - turbo is the only option during the week for me during winter unfortunately, it'll be dark both before and after work. I could put more time in if I thought it would be productive, what would you suggest doing with longer sessions though? I don't have a powermeter (had a Polar one but I decided it was **** and sold it) although my turbo does measure power (not particularly accurately I'm sure, but fairly repeatably it seems.)

 

[SolarEnergy]

SolarEnergy: I'm 24, and yes the first race I'm targetting is a time trial - 40K. I was a lightweight rower for about 4 years and got as far as the lower rungs of the international ladder before I gave it up.

All right then
As a 24yo former international level rower
- you're probably fairly "trainable".
- you say that you'd like a first "peak" to occur early may.
- you want to start building quality and intensity early january.
- we don't know when you'd like a second "peak" to occur.
- you want to race each weekend by early may.

Fair assumption would be that your racing season will start early may. I already see a problem with your plan to start doing short intervals (you probably mean L5-6 type of work) early april. Because you may want to allow 10-14 days to prepare for this first peak (early may).

Assuming that you split april in 2 : two weeks for training real hard to prepare for two week long taper (roughly), that would leave you only jan-feb-mar as a specific preparation season. It's a bit short I find. But you can still do something nice in this time frame given that you start working on ALL interval types at that moment. I would not wait 'til april.

You might stick to your plan to only focus on L4 prior to your 40k TT. You would still do well probably (it's only your second season after all. No major plateau should occur). But if you plan to race every weekend after that, developping L5-6, while maintaining L4 + racing all the time... I donno. Sounds like a busy schedule to me. That depends I don't know you very much.

It's only your second cycling season, you already came close to 22min over 10miles (which is very promising). You may experiment a good season despite the fact that you loose 3 months spreading your time over swimming, rowing, running and such. But do so only if you really like doing those activities. Do it for the love of it. Because I doubt that it will be productive for cycling per se.

As for the idea of racing every weekend, some may find it a bit too much. But really, it's hard to juge without knowing if you actually need a second peak. You may only peak once in may, then have a fun but "even" racing season during which you try to learn as much as you can.

But if there is indeed an other important race, say in august, then you have to be careful that you keep CTL high enough and keep good control over ATL. You do that by not resting too much approaching every one of these races, and not resting too much after.

 

[dm69]

LOL. Your goal should be to become a stronger rider and race as much as possible. When you have ridden for 10 years competitively then worry about peaking. Taking time off to "rest" so you can "peak" is uneccesary. If you train and race rediculously hard (as much as possible) 400-600km's a week with adequate rest, do some weights and lots of intensity then by May you will have improved out of sight. Just train and race as much as you can at this stage.

Pro riders didn't learn to ride that fast by worrying about peaking or resting. They trained there arses off and raced as much as possible.

If infact you do have some easy time over the next few months don't expect much improvement, infact you will probably be slower than you are now. At least you will be well rested .

You had a powermeter and got rid of it because you thought "it was ****"...who is giving you advice? You need to seriously adjust your mindset if you want to improve. Hopefully you will understand me and take notice.

Dont want to sound harsh but what your trying to say is you want to be really fit and improve out of sight but you dont want to train? Not going to happen unless you have access to illicit drugs and even they aren't going to do much compared to hard training.

 

[normZurawski]

You had a powermeter and got rid of it because you thought "it was ****"...who is giving you advice? You need to seriously adjust your mindset if you want to improve. Hopefully you will understand me and take notice.

The Polar model he mentions doesn't get very good reviews. Most people tend to feel the same way he does.

 

[ric_stern/RST]

LOL. Your goal should be to become a stronger rider and race as much as possible. When you have ridden for 10 years competitively then worry about peaking. Taking time off to "rest" so you can "peak" is uneccesary. If you train and race rediculously hard (as much as possible) 400-600km's a week with adequate rest, do some weights and lots of intensity then by May you will have improved out of sight. Just train and race as much as you can at this stage.

Pro riders didn't learn to ride that fast by worrying about peaking or resting. They trained there arses off and raced as much as possible.

If infact you do have some easy time over the next few months don't expect much improvement, infact you will probably be slower than you are now. At least you will be well rested .

You had a powermeter and got rid of it because you thought "it was ****"...who is giving you advice? You need to seriously adjust your mindset if you want to improve. Hopefully you will understand me and take notice.

Dont want to sound harsh but what your trying to say is you want to be really fit and improve out of sight but you dont want to train? Not going to happen unless you have access to illicit drugs and even they aren't going to do much compared to hard training.

out of curiousity, who are you replying to? i believe it always helps to quote the person you're responding to, so that there is no ambiguity.

ric

 

[GettingFaster]

LOL. Your goal should be to become a stronger rider and race as much as possible. When you have ridden for 10 years competitively then worry about peaking. Taking time off to "rest" so you can "peak" is uneccesary. If you train and race rediculously hard (as much as possible) 400-600km's a week with adequate rest, do some weights and lots of intensity then by May you will have improved out of sight. Just train and race as much as you can at this stage.

Pro riders didn't learn to ride that fast by worrying about peaking or resting. They trained there arses off and raced as much as possible.

If infact you do have some easy time over the next few months don't expect much improvement, infact you will probably be slower than you are now. At least you will be well rested .

You had a powermeter and got rid of it because you thought "it was ****"...who is giving you advice? You need to seriously adjust your mindset if you want to improve. Hopefully you will understand me and take notice.

Dont want to sound harsh but what your trying to say is you want to be really fit and improve out of sight but you dont want to train? Not going to happen unless you have access to illicit drugs and even they aren't going to do much compared to hard training.

Thanks for the advice. Have to admit I find the Just F***ing Train theory very attractive, and I can assure you I don't 'not want to train.' I'm just wary as most of the science tends to support some sort of periodisation. Also I've gone down this route in other sports (20 sessions a week, usually finishing up Sunday evening unable to walk up the stairs) and I found the gains tended to flatten out quite quickly.

So would you advocate just training the same way (as hard as possible, volume & intensity) all year round?

Solar Energy:

thanks for all your comments. If I could just come back to what you say about the cross-training not being much use - what would you suggest I do instead? Assuming I don't want to start specific preparation for May racing in October, then what should I do on the bike before I get going on the hard training?