Creating a training plan

When it comes to training there’s plenty of information out there that can help you meet your goals and win races. There are handfuls of training plans; guidebooks and good folks to talk to that can also help you reach your best potential. Over the years I’ve dabbled in all of the above and found a lot of very interesting workouts, methods and testes that have helped get me to a faster, leaner and stronger state. And yet, every season I come across another new and interesting study or workout technique that I could add to the collection. Everything from 30 min. high intensity complete workouts, to 4 and 5-hour low intensity efforts. Then the question comes up… What should I be doing? When planning out your season and looking forward a few months, here are a few good tips to decide what’s best for you when training for a specific event or a number of events. Recently I was going a bit of research about High Intensity Training for athletes to see if there were any specific workouts suggested by coaches or other athletes, which were similar to some of the efforts I have always kept in my toolbox of go-to training methods. I found a few that weren’t too far off some of my “favorites” and stumbled across a few more that may be worth a try. While doing a bit of research, I was browsing over the season lineup of event’s I’m planning to attend. There seems to be a great mix of racing on the calendar this season. One hour, high intensity weekly races, two-three hour, mountain bike races which for the most part (thanks to the awesome field of top pros in Utah) is two-three hours of very high intensity racing. And a few five + hour endurance events that tend to encompass just about every aspect of training you could plan for. The best place to start when training for any event is your base. By now, most of you probably have decent amount of base miles, which may include some of those 4 and 5-hour low intensity rides. Maybe they’re a combination of 40 min. to 1.5 hour indoor miles on the rollers. Either way, there are plenty of ways to establish a good base of fitness that you can build on with some quick intensity later in the year. If you have access to a road bike, base miles are most easily done with skinny tires. There tends to be a bit more consistency on the road vs the mountain and during the early months there’s still a lot of snow on all the really good trails. Sometimes, for the sake of getting out for hours on end… because that’s what we love to do right? We’ll put in “base” miles throughout the season. To me this is very important. You can’t simply put it all in over the winter and spring months and consider it good. Your body needs variety in training and unless you’re some type of human/robot, your brain could use it too.  That’s when the mountain bike tends to be the better choice. Access to miles and miles of high alpine trails with a few good buddies can be the best “training” for just about anyone. Plus, a four + hour ride on the mountain bike is probably a bit more demanding than most four + hour rides on the road. The purpose for the base training is simple. Time on the bike. If you’ve been taking some time off or just need to work on some specific for an event in the future, it’s always good to begin with some nice, easy miles that progressively get longer, to reclaim the fitness and the muscle memory. After you’ve established a comfortable base, it’s time to ramp up the efforts ever so slightly. Then as the season moves forward you can add more efforts and higher intensity to the mix. The key is to remind your train your body to be ready for what’s to come. You can’t cram for the exam then expect to remember all the little details later on. Try to structure your efforts to the best of your ability and keep them consistent. Consistency is key to any training plan regardless of what sort of effort is lined up. Even when I’m strapped for time and can only get out on my lunch break a few times a week and possibly on the weekend, if I keep things consistent, my results will pay off much better in the end. Take a look at you're the time’s you’re able to get out. If you can, try to get out at the same time on each day and incorporate a bit of variety on each ride. Maybe you’re schedule is a Mon. Wed. Fri. and if you get the lawn mowed you could throw Sat. or Sun. in the mix. Try some hill repeats on Monday, some threshold work on Wednesday, some more hill repeats on Friday then a longer version of Wednesday’s ride on Saturday or Sunday. Change up the routes of course for a bit of variety. If you can, it’s always good to try and ride at or near the time of day your event will take place. It can help your body prepare it’s self for the ride or race and give you a good idea of temperature, lighting, and how your body generally feels at that time of day. The most important aspect to add to your training plan is rest. It’s much better to be under-trained than over-trained. You don’t need to recover from being undertrained, just need to ride more. Sleep is also crucial. I struggle with this more and more throughout the season. I have a tendency to stay up too late and when the alarm clock sounds, I’m nowhere near ready to roll out of bed. Combining lack of sleep, training and racing, has never been an equation of success for me and I don’t recommend it to anyone else. Taking into consideration your weekly allotted time to pedal. If you only have a few days each week or an hour each day to ride, you don’t need to leave the house and pin it the entire time. It’s always good to spend some active recovery time on the bike and just ride for the joy of riding. Remember to keep the joy in it and don’t hesitate to take some time off the bike if you’re feeling the stresses of life and trying to keep those freshly shaven legs nice and tan.