^^ Some familiar thoughts/ideas there guys. Good luck JS on your back recovery and plans for the next few months.
After a week in the US on work with no way to even get to the hotel gym, then some jetlag, my CTL had tanked to 56 before I went away 12 days ago. 2 days driving 800 miles with the family added to my pain and when I finally jumped on the bike 10 days ago it was like I hadnt ridden for a year. First ride I was woefully off my PBs on all the climbs around here and I was rather worried I'd really dropped a chunk of fitness. I did what I could and after a couple of rides my legs had come back nicely though - just had to ease off a little and listen to what was going on. Since then I've ridden almost every day and gradually built my CTL back up to 67 after today and I hope to get almost back to 70 by the time we head home on Saturday. I would normally have had today off the bike after the hardest ride yet yesterday doing glorious climb after climb, but I decided on a flat 40 mile easy ride along the banks of the Dordogne to push myself a little harder, as I decided a few days ago I want to hit the 1000km mark on this months Strava challenge. That wouldnt normally be a big volume for me but all the short hard TT work and the week away makes this a fairly big month for me now!
I've also been looking back at the last 12 months and made a few interesting observations:
1. no significant FTP development this year
2. good improvements in 2+ hr power levels though
3. CTL never made it above 75 and I spent a lot of time around +/- 70, compared to lots of time >80 and regularly getting close to or hitting 100 in previous years when FTP increased steadily
4. lots of time spent at tempo & SST but less at threshold than previous years
I suspect I can see some cause and effect in there so its got me thinking about where to go now. Re-reading the Hunter Allen Next Level blog has me thinking I could do with a couple of months pushing myself a little harder. I've tended to have an 'isopower workout' mentality and focused each workout on 1 area at a time but I'm going to change that for the remainder of the year and look to schedule more long rides with SST/threshold intervals within them and really work on getting my volume up while maintaining the current level of intensity. I've set a goal of getting my CTL to 90 before winter really starts and I'm forced indoors for most of the workouts. Its been good to take the pressure off the last few weeks and recover mentally, and now I'm ready for pushing hard for a couple of months longer while the weather holds. Work is fairly busy for the rest of the year which gives me regular 2 day recovery periods every week, so I'm comfortable getting some big blocks of work done and recovering while away at work. I wont have too much structure but will simply look to mix it up a little and make sure I get more volume in than I have been so far. Hopefully this will effectively increase my fitness 'base' ready for some good indoor FTP development.
Speaking of which, I'm really interested in the plans on TrainerRoad for this winter - anyone tried them before?
< Sorry - long rambling post but been away too long! >
After a week in the US on work with no way to even get to the hotel gym, then some jetlag, my CTL had tanked to 56 before I went away 12 days ago. 2 days driving 800 miles with the family added to my pain and when I finally jumped on the bike 10 days ago it was like I hadnt ridden for a year. First ride I was woefully off my PBs on all the climbs around here and I was rather worried I'd really dropped a chunk of fitness. I did what I could and after a couple of rides my legs had come back nicely though - just had to ease off a little and listen to what was going on. Since then I've ridden almost every day and gradually built my CTL back up to 67 after today and I hope to get almost back to 70 by the time we head home on Saturday. I would normally have had today off the bike after the hardest ride yet yesterday doing glorious climb after climb, but I decided on a flat 40 mile easy ride along the banks of the Dordogne to push myself a little harder, as I decided a few days ago I want to hit the 1000km mark on this months Strava challenge. That wouldnt normally be a big volume for me but all the short hard TT work and the week away makes this a fairly big month for me now!
I've also been looking back at the last 12 months and made a few interesting observations:
1. no significant FTP development this year
2. good improvements in 2+ hr power levels though
3. CTL never made it above 75 and I spent a lot of time around +/- 70, compared to lots of time >80 and regularly getting close to or hitting 100 in previous years when FTP increased steadily
4. lots of time spent at tempo & SST but less at threshold than previous years
I suspect I can see some cause and effect in there so its got me thinking about where to go now. Re-reading the Hunter Allen Next Level blog has me thinking I could do with a couple of months pushing myself a little harder. I've tended to have an 'isopower workout' mentality and focused each workout on 1 area at a time but I'm going to change that for the remainder of the year and look to schedule more long rides with SST/threshold intervals within them and really work on getting my volume up while maintaining the current level of intensity. I've set a goal of getting my CTL to 90 before winter really starts and I'm forced indoors for most of the workouts. Its been good to take the pressure off the last few weeks and recover mentally, and now I'm ready for pushing hard for a couple of months longer while the weather holds. Work is fairly busy for the rest of the year which gives me regular 2 day recovery periods every week, so I'm comfortable getting some big blocks of work done and recovering while away at work. I wont have too much structure but will simply look to mix it up a little and make sure I get more volume in than I have been so far. Hopefully this will effectively increase my fitness 'base' ready for some good indoor FTP development.
Speaking of which, I'm really interested in the plans on TrainerRoad for this winter - anyone tried them before?
< Sorry - long rambling post but been away too long! >