Once in a lifetime chance to train full-time. What would do?

[fabiosav]

With some good luck I have six months off (to about mid April) with effectively unlimited time to train during the day. Usually I would be taking it a bit easy, and working on “base building” (a much questioned concept, I know…) and have a rest period. What would you do differently if you were currently an 8/10 hour a week on-the-bike rider? One fear is burning out before my season actually starts here in the New York... I would rather the time off had started in April, ending in the fall, but not a bad situation nevertheless… How much should I ramp the hours? Add power? What would YOU do with six months of no work?

 

[BlueJersey]

Say you race in NYC??? I don't know maybe I shouldn't say anything. What if you could get stronger? Does that mean I would have a harder time winning during the next season??? You don't happen to be a cat4??? Anyway, I don't think you can really just jump in to training 5 hours a day for 4 months. Your calories requirement would be double or triple than now. Is not easy to ride that much for that long period even with lower intensity. More riding. You need more energy. You have to change your diet also. Obviously, the lenght of these training session has to match the type of races you do. If your longest RR is no more than 3 hours, Housatonic comes to mind, what the use of riding 5 hours a day at some low intensity.

With some good luck I have six months off (to about mid April) with effectively unlimited time to train during the day. Usually I would be taking it a bit easy, and working on “base building” (a much questioned concept, I know…) and have a rest period. What would you do differently if you were currently an 8/10 hour a week on-the-bike rider? One fear is burning out before my season actually starts here in the New York... I would rather the time off had started in April, ending in the fall, but not a bad situation nevertheless… How much should I ramp the hours? Add power? What would YOU do with six months of no work?

 

[dm69]

With some good luck I have six months off (to about mid April) with effectively unlimited time to train during the day. Usually I would be taking it a bit easy, and working on “base building” (a much questioned concept, I know…) and have a rest period. What would you do differently if you were currently an 8/10 hour a week on-the-bike rider? One fear is burning out before my season actually starts here in the New York... I would rather the time off had started in April, ending in the fall, but not a bad situation nevertheless… How much should I ramp the hours? Add power? What would YOU do with six months of no work?

Dont believe the "base building" believers who think cruising around easy for hours and hours actually gets you anywhere.

Base to me is an entirely different concept...

1.) GET A COACH!!! let him or her know you have unlimited time on your hands, tell them you want to improve as much as possible in the next 6 months.

2.) GET A POWERMETER!!!

3.)Don't be scared to do a lot of intensity work, if your longest races are 3-4 hours then try to ride 4 hours a day. Incorporate intensity sessions into the LSD rides dont just seperate LSD with intensity.

4.) RECOVERY!!! If you are riding for 4 hours 6 days a week then give yourself a day off the bike. 4 hours 6 days a week is a lot of km's (720km's a week) so dont be scared to spend money on "recovery" supplements.

Go to a doctor get some blood tests done, find out if you are defficient in anything. Riding 720 a week is going to stress your body so its better you find out NOW! have a look at LEGAL supplements to improve your performance over the next 6 months try TRIBULUS, CREATINE, CAFFEINE, SODIUM PHOSPHATE, GLYCEROL, PROTEIN...this is the best time to find what works for you.

Maybe hit the gym to keep things interesting and prevent muscle breakdown

Set yourself a goal weight to get down to.

Be commited and enjoy yourself...

you are a very lucky person

 

[fabiosav]

Thanks for the thoughts. Power meter on bike now, and yes, lame Cat 4! Races are all under 2 hours...

 

[otb4evr]

With some good luck I have six months off (to about mid April) with effectively unlimited time to train during the day. Usually I would be taking it a bit easy, and working on “base building” (a much questioned concept, I know…) and have a rest period. What would you do differently if you were currently an 8/10 hour a week on-the-bike rider? One fear is burning out before my season actually starts here in the New York... I would rather the time off had started in April, ending in the fall, but not a bad situation nevertheless… How much should I ramp the hours? Add power? What would YOU do with six months of no work?

I would work toward building up to 2 daily sessions of ~ 2 1/2 hours each of SST. I would do this 3 times a week with 3 - 4 hour, single rides on the weekend.

I would then bring in some Threshold work in Jan, and targeted VO2Max and AWC work starting in the Feb. time range. I would probably do these for the first workout of the day and keep the SST for the 2nd workout...

Ditto on getting a 3rd party that will look at your files/workouts/fatigue and evaluate them...

Regardless...

Good Luck and let us know how you do...

Jim

 

[ric_stern/RST]

With some good luck I have six months off (to about mid April) with effectively unlimited time to train during the day. Usually I would be taking it a bit easy, and working on “base building” (a much questioned concept, I know…) and have a rest period. What would you do differently if you were currently an 8/10 hour a week on-the-bike rider? One fear is burning out before my season actually starts here in the New York... I would rather the time off had started in April, ending in the fall, but not a bad situation nevertheless… How much should I ramp the hours? Add power? What would YOU do with six months of no work?

If you're unsure what to do, and it sounds like you are, then i'd suggest getting a coach who can structure training in a way that is suitable for you, your goals, and the time available.

I wouldn't necessarily be thinking about suddenly jumping up to say 24 hrs a week, or whatever. i'm guessing you've previously been doing ~10 hr/weeks and such a jump is likely to get you fatigued fairly quickly.

Given that your races aren't that long, but you *probably* want to move up at least one category, your training needs to be geared to your 4th cat goals and your 3rd cat (and higher?) goals.

The worst thing you can do (from a performance perspective) is mess up these next 6 months with something like just riding around.

ric