MARCH
BUILD 1
Hopefully,
by now, those of you have been following the structured
programme over the winter should be feeling stronger, fitter
and raring to go. At least, that's the theory. Realistically
though, with all the training you may feel a little bit
jaded. This is pretty normal but I generally find this goes
as the transition to quality rather than quantity takes
place. What you will most certainly have is a bombproof base
on which to build power and speed and one that with careful
maintenance will keep you going for a full season.
This next phase is known as
BUILD 1 and as such it gives you a transition into racing
mode as really you should use one race per week as part of
your training. These are not target races so you should in
no way put pressure on yourself to perform. By reminding
yourself that it is part of the bigger picture you often, as
I found myself last year, put in abetter performance than
you expected.
The other thing about the start
of the racing season is that everybody takes to it in a
different way. By that I mean that some people can produce
results from the word go, whilst other may not see the
benefit of their hard winters graft until after half a dozen
races. If you are in the second category, do not get
despondent - if you have been doing the training you will
definitely get faster. This usually also coincides with the
weather getting a bit warmer. Some people, no matter how
fit, cannot get the effort out at colder temperatures.
Use the races to practise your
pre race preparation, i.e. your nutrition and warm up as
well as your mental preparation. I cannot stress the
importance of this to you. Getting this right has a massive
effect on how you perform. My warm up involves both the
physical and mental side of things and I use music as a
'trigger' to get me in the zone. Once in this zone I know I
can push my body and squeeze everything out. I may not
possess a brilliant power to weight ratio but, importantly,
I am able to maintain an effort of around 93 - 98% of my max
heart rate. I know loads of riders who should be able to out
perform me as their power to weight is considerably better,
but because they don't get themselves into a zone, they are
unable to sustain such a high output.
I warm up for a minimum of 30 minutes, anything less and you
will under perform. I have experimented loads of times on my
power based turbo and my sustainable output is always higher
after doing 30 mins or more warm up. For me if I'm doing a
10 I will do 40 mins and for a 25 I will do 30 mins. This
does not include my ride to the start, so I park as close to
the start as I can. Also, I always do the warm up on my
turbo so it is exactly the same every time, no ifs or buts.
A road warm up will not give you the same quality. As I warm
up I listen to a specific play list on my iPod which has
trigger tunes that my body recognises instantly, because I
practise my routine before all interval training as well,
this puts me 'in the zone'. Even if I don't feel great
beforehand, this routine has me ready to race. Anyway, this
is what I do:
15 mins using very light resistance with a high cadence (100
- 115rpm) starting in 39x 19 then changing at 5 and 10 mins
to the 17 then 16 respectively.
15 mins still on light resistance changing up at 5 min
intervals as above using 54 x 17, 16 & 15. I just roll this
gear without too much force, concentrating on getting a
good, smooth pedal stroke.
1 min in 54 x 12 still in light resistance, in race
position, keeping the revs well up (110+)
3 mins in small very easy, then 2 x 15 sec sprints in 54 x
12 (same resistance) aiming for a very high cadence (130 -
140). 2 mins in between sprints.
Complete the 40 mins by spinning very easily in a small
gear, no effort.
For the 30 minute warm up I do just 10 minutes in each of
the initial stages. You will notice that I do all of this
using a very, very light resistance. This never takes my
heart rate up above top of level 2, even on the efforts.
Some people may feel they need to have to do flat out
intervals to get themselves ready, but again I have
experimented both ways and perform better using this method.
I get to the start warmed up but not knackered.
MARCH TRAINING
BUILD 1
Anyway
to this months training, remember we use the races for
training purposes only they are not target races. A typical
week could look something like this.
MON: (Presuming you have raced or done a long ride Sunday).
Recovery of 60 - 90 minutes on turbo or road as previously
detailed.
TUE: Cruise Intervals on the turbo as detailed in last
months training. Then you did 5, 6 , 8 then 4 minute
intervals in preceding weeks. This time do 6, 8, 10 then 5 -
sorry, this I'm afraid its a necessity! Remember do not
start the intervals so hard that you cannot keep the pace
up. If you don't have power to monitor this you can still do
it with speed. Heart rate is far too unreliable to monitor
as your rate will continue to go up as you fatigue but the
power will go down. See my tips last months as regards
pacing strategy.
WED: Aerobic road ride of around 2 hours - stick some hills
in now. Keep it steady on the flat but hit the hills a
little harder. Keep the cadence above 70 if possible, relax,
stay seated and hopefully you will climb faster. Use all
your gears - that's what you have them for.
THU: Sprint intervals on the road as last month. Do the same
amount but this time we are looking at power so do them on a
slight uphill using a bigger gear, say 53x15 or 14. Stand up
to start and get the power going, one seated concentrate on
getting the maximum force out.
FRI: Recovery as above.
SAT: Either aerobic ride (no more than 2 hours if racing
Sunday) or race.
SUN: Race or if racing on Saturday do a longer, steadier
ride today (3 - 4 hours if possible. Again, no need to avoid
the hills now.
That's it for now - remember, cut the volume by half in the
fourth week - otherwise you will definitely over train now
that you are racing. Catch you next month when we will be
working on top end speed (oh what fun).
Please do not hesitate to contact me with any queries and,
above all - be SMART, be SAFE.
Eddie
Back next month
with BUILD 2
Any queries: you can email me at
eddiehumphreys@fireservicecycling.co.uk
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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!!! |
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