Training wrap-up, some observations
So what has the last 4 months of programmed training netted me??
Being self trained I needed to learn more about how to structure training and have some extra tools to measure results. I wanted to take some guess work out of the scenario, but didn’t want to be confined and tied to a coach whom schedules my rides for me. I find that I need to enjoy what I am doing, and a regimented plan was something I did not want at this stage, although there are coaches around whom will fit in with your personal lifestyle.
TrainingPeaks software has been helpful to me to manage the balance between fatigue, fitness and form. It has also graphically shown how much effort, intensity and duration I’ve put in week after week. this is great to accurately dial in increasing work as you get further into the program, but also to ensure your rest week is easy enough to bank the gains and allow proper recovery.
The second part of training I needed to research was exactly what type of riding I needed to do to address the requirements of Tour? Two things I wanted to gain more of were climbing ability and endurance increase. So I figured there was not alot of point doing top-end power bilats or sprint work, but focus on FTP efforts and long rides in the saddle, whilst ensuring I take recovery days in between to bank the efforts properly. From personal experience with MTB training I know I am susceptible to fatigue and wanted to ensure I do not fall into the dreaded valley of fatigue due to too much training stress and not enough rest.
Over the 4 months I lost 6 kgs and my climb times on longer climbs have reduced accordingly – Cootha I now regularly climb in under 10mins, where it was something of a goal a few months back, Nebo I am now climbing in under 50mins which is a 10% improvement, and just this weekend I completed the Mt Mee and back from Samford loop with an av spd of 30.5kmh which for a solo ride, pushing the wind by myself is quite pleasing, and a good indicator was my return leg on the flat section was faster than my outbound one at 33.5kmh av
Interestingly I dont think my FTP has increased over this time, I still generate around 280w for 20mins and my PB is 298w back in December. Therefore my climbing is better due to weight loss I feel. The endurance is certainly better though – a 3 hr ride I can generate 220w av so it has improved quite a bit. So whilst I am a bit disappointed my power doesn’t seem to have improved – I have still addressed my two goals of better endurance and faster climbing. More power would have been nice for those times where you find yourself on the front of a peloton and need the sustained high power to push the wind, you don’t need to be a lightweight to do that – but simply good ability to push high watts for extended periods.
So now is taper time – the time to roll back the training load gradually to get your ‘form’ to increase and leverage on the fitness built in the last months/weeks. There are now no more gains to be had in belting out long hard rides as by the time you recover and your body adapts – you are already on tour.
By the same token I don’t want to allow my legs to ‘go to sleep’ muscles and cardio system need stimulation to keep things tuned.
Therefore I plan to keep the intensity up, but peg back the duration. Hill repeats of 5-10mins are still on the cards, with shorter rest intervals. but only ride 60-120mins at a time, alternating short and long sessions. Some quick light spin sessions thrown in for recovery also. Hope to get out on the MTB a bit more too – I miss the dirt trails and the sensation of a technical ride and getting it right, getting some air under the wheels and generally having a fun ol’ time
A good time to now go out and target some goals I set on segments in Strava (a ride website detailing accomplishments over sections of a route) a while back and see if I can now meet them. All goals were set as time which were well under my ability at the time. I have accomplished 3 of them and have 3 left. The only one I dont think I’ll mange to meet is the FTP goal of being able to generate 300w for 20mins (as explained above)
So this week whilst being ‘shorter’ wont be any ‘easier’ and I hope to cross off some goals along the way and feel fit for Tour.
Time will tell if it has all worked or not…………………………….
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