This is a longish post: I am going to do a bike race 4 weeks from Sunday and I don't know how to taper for it. I'm hoping to get some help.
Background: I'm 38 yrs old and pretty much a novice bike racer (but experienced athlete). My current workout schedule is I train 3 days per week (I do multiple sports so I cycle 3 days and do other stuff 3 days, with one day off). My training varies depending on available time and what I think I need to work on, but a typical week for me right now is:
Wed 3x20 (at around 10w below FTP)
Fri 2x40 (at around 15w below FTP)
Sun Group ride (my hardest/fastest/longest ride of the week)
I do a lot of long hill training (i.e., slow pace) so this amounts to about 120 miles per week or so. FTP is about 295w right now. The race is a 1hr hill climb.
How should I taper? Here is my current plan:
Second to last week: 2x20's each day (3 days) instead of above.
Last week: Something like 1x30 or 2x20 on W, then 1x20 on F (race is Sunday)
Is that too much taper?...too little? Should I change to shorter intervals during the taper? (For those who are interested there's a worksheet here: http://www.stanford.edu/~lanierb/PMC.xls with my CTL/ATL/TSS scores for this plan.)
Thanks for any help you can offer!
Background: I'm 38 yrs old and pretty much a novice bike racer (but experienced athlete). My current workout schedule is I train 3 days per week (I do multiple sports so I cycle 3 days and do other stuff 3 days, with one day off). My training varies depending on available time and what I think I need to work on, but a typical week for me right now is:
Wed 3x20 (at around 10w below FTP)
Fri 2x40 (at around 15w below FTP)
Sun Group ride (my hardest/fastest/longest ride of the week)
I do a lot of long hill training (i.e., slow pace) so this amounts to about 120 miles per week or so. FTP is about 295w right now. The race is a 1hr hill climb.
How should I taper? Here is my current plan:
Second to last week: 2x20's each day (3 days) instead of above.
Last week: Something like 1x30 or 2x20 on W, then 1x20 on F (race is Sunday)
Is that too much taper?...too little? Should I change to shorter intervals during the taper? (For those who are interested there's a worksheet here: http://www.stanford.edu/~lanierb/PMC.xls with my CTL/ATL/TSS scores for this plan.)
Thanks for any help you can offer!