DECEMBER 

PLANNING AND STARTING!

Hopefully you should all have had a steady November and are rested, both physically and mentally. December is roughly the time your structured training should begin, although the actual date will depend on when you want to be fit for.

Training from hereon in becomes what we called 'Periodised'. This means basically that it broken down into a series of blocks. Rather than targeting a specific race (this is actually very difficult to get right and you often reach your peak either too early or too late) we will aim to target a 4 to 6 week period where you want to be in top form. This is easier to get right and alleviates the hit and miss problems of having a single aim. What you need to do now is to look at the Calendar and pick a races or a number of races in consecutive weeks that you want to be ready for. As an example, last year I used the National 10 & 25 TT Championships (22 May and 4 Jun). I therefore aimed to be in top form for the period 15 May - 15 June. As it happened I got it spot on and as well as gaining high finishes in these events, I was able to carry my form through to the 50 Champs 2 weeks further on. In between I also won an open 50 (by 4 mins), turning out a personal best performance into the bargain.

So, for the periodisation we will use a BASE period of 12 weeks (further broken down into BASE 1, BASE 2 and BASE 3), a BUILD period of 8 weeks, (BUILD 1 and 2, there will be racing involved in this period), a PEAK period of 2 weeks to fine tune and finally the RACE period of 4 - 6 weeks. After that we will have a RECOVERY & MAINTENANCE period before returning to BUILD 2 and getting ready for another race period. Clear!!!!!!

As and example next years Fire Service 10 and 25 Champs are being held on 24/25 June. If we say we therefore want to start our race period on 10 June, and then work back, we get a start date for BASE 1 of 7 Jan. Of course this is just an example, you may want to be ready in May so you would work back accordingly. If your date does end up as being January, then fine. All you need to do is continue to do as you were for November until the start date. Chucking in a few extra miles will do you no harm as long as you don't up the tempo. It is a cycling myth that if you think you can hold your existing race form through the winter you will be able to improve even more the following year. I tried it once and ending up having an enforced layoff of 3 months I made myself that ill. Remember, don't do a Mr Power,

KEEP THE INTENSITY LOW...!

 

DECEMBERS TRAINING

BASE 1

The base period is the time to establish the basic needs of endurance, strength and speed. This is the longest period of the season and is the most important as without this foundation you will not have the ability to build top end speed and power and hold it for the race period. Too many people make the mistake of cutting this period too short and then wonder why they are struggling come July.

You must decide on the maximum number of weekly hours that you can put aside for training and then work out your BASE 1 allocation as follows: (note that you will build up to your max hours over a three week period and then halve it for recovery)

Max weekly hours :12
 Week 1: 8 hours
 Week 2: 10 hours
 Week 3: 12 Hours
 Week 4; 6 hours

Don't underestimate the mental advantage of knowing you have an easy week every 4th week. DO NOT be tempted to do more in this week even if you feel fresh!

When you are ready to start BASE 1 there are some specific workouts to follow and your week should look something like this:

MON: Recovery ride of 60 - 90 mins on road or turbo (probably 60 if this is indoors!) As before ensure you are spinning a light gear @ 90 - 110 rpm. If you are on the road this mean using 39 x 21 and 23 a lot. On the turbo you may need something slightly bigger but use the lightest resistance setting. This is the one ride I will use a HRM for, to ensure my heart rate does not exceed 65% of max. This is crucial as any more than that and it becomes another training session.

TUE: Turbo 60 mins - SPIN UPS
After a 10 minute warm up, select a gear of 39 x 16 or 17 and alight resistance and gradually bring your cadence up to maximum over 1 minute. At the 1 minute mark hold max for 15 secs then recover for 3:45. Maximum cadence in this case is then most you can hold without your arse bouncing in the saddle. Keep the form strict and upper body still. Your cadence should be somewhere between 120 - 140 rpm. Repeat this 7 more times (8 reps in total) and finish with a 10 minute cool down.

WED: 2 hours on the road on rolling terrain (avoid the hills if possible for the time being). Keep effort fairly steady, you should still be able to hold a conversation. Try and spin on flat and downhill and remain seated on all uphill sections to build muscle strength.

THU: 60 - 90 recovery as Monday.

FRI: 90 - 150 mins on road as Wednesday.

SAT: Do whatever you want for one day (except go hard!!) This can be a group ride, recovery, a day off or another sport. Personally I find if I have a complete day off I have heavy legs the next day, so my day off would be 20 - 30 mins light spin on the Turbo.

SUN: 2 - 3 hours on road. This is a specific session and must be followed exactly. This one was given to me by the late Zac Carr and it enabled me to develop a 'Cadence Envelope' as he put it, wider than most other riders. I am now equally happy riding a 54 x 14 into a gale at 60 rpm or blasting downhill in 54 x 11 at 100+rpm.
This session is broken down into three segments. (30 - 60 -30 for 2 hours or 45 - 90 - 45 for 3 hours). For the first part stay in 39 x 23 or 21 and do not let your cadence come down below 100 if you can help it. For this reason I would definitely choose a rolling and not a hilly route, at the end of 30 or 45 mins do a flat out sprint of 15 secs in 53 x 15. Then select a gear in the range 53 x 15 - 12 and ride these gears for the longest portion. You should only roll through the gear and feel the stroke all the way round. Keep your cadence low and effort steady (conversation pace again). If you start to work too hard lower the cadence - it doesn't matter. Zac developed this further by riding up to 6 hour stints in 53 x 11!! Mr Power has tried this session but reckon his heart rate was going through the roof. If you are trying to push 700 Watts it will do, but that is not the idea of the session. There will be plenty of time for that in the coming weeks. At the end of this complete another sprint and then go back to the original small gear and spin like mad for the last portion. This last bit is always the hardest, trying to adapt from 50 rpm to 100+

When you have to increase your hours do so by adding to the 2 steady road rides, not the specific sessions. Don't forget to cut volume by half in the 4th week even if you still feel fresh. Remember: CONSISTENCY IS THE KEY.

Next time we will move onto BASE 2 and 3. Until then, happy riding.

Any queries: you can email me at eddiehumphreys@fireservicecycling.co.uk

NOTE: FIRESERVICECYCLING recommends that you consult a Doctor before undertaking any training regime, The advice given here is for the serious rider wanting to race and improve performance, If you use any of the information provided in this article, 'on your own head be it' and you also accept not to hold 'FireServiceCycling' responsible for any injuries or mishaps, That's just FATE!!!