Re: Keeping the focus in the off season
Isn't that the truth? Prepping for Masters CX World's will be using up my normal "off season", and I'm not sure what to do about it.
Probably take the first 2 weeks of February off the bike before the 24 Hours in Old Pueblo and do some running, backcountry skiiing, and climbing. After Old Pueblo, I'll take the next month to do more running, skiiing, and climbing, and will also ride the MTB fixed gear a bunch before the first NUE race in mid-March. Then take a month or two and get back to basics for the summer/fall stuff.
Guess I'll see how that works out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tom Officer
You still have to take a break somewhere! I see a lot of guys try to do a full road season, be competitive for the cross season and then segue right into another road season. It shows in their performance, they just don't quite have the same punch.
I'm finishing up 6 weeks of prep/balance this weekend, everything from weights, core work, mtn biking, hiking, fixed gear riding and a little road riding. Now I'm eager to begin the long, slow build up of base training. If you take the time to do a long base period, it'll reap dividends with longer race peak periods and much better recovery from race and hard training efforts. One of the things about base training is it really improves the slow twitch fibers and mitochondria that are so important to aerobic fitness. Without a big base, you lose that aerobic, endurance fitness quickly when you race and that's what happens to those guys that try to do cross and road seasons back to back.
Re: Keeping the focus in the off season
Quote:
Originally Posted by
suhacycles
Makes sense, as we are by nature aerobic creatures not anaerobic. Makes me wonder though, how to get the best volume and base for a given time. If I only had 6 hrs a week to ride, would I be better off doing 3, 2 hr rides a week or 6, 1 hr ones? Anyone comes across a study?
If there is one I haven't heard about it. Coaching someone with limited time as you describe is one of the tougher things to do IMO. I find it's a real trial and error process to figure out what works best. Sometimes short, more intense rides with near daily consistency works best, other folks seem to do better with fewer but longer rides. My sense it is a very individualized physiological response that is going on and probably has more to do with athletic background and genetics than anything else. In any case, I usually add more intensity to the training mix from a proportionate standpoint than I would otherwise.
Re: Keeping the focus in the off season
How about doing one 3 hour ride with shorter rides for the remainder. Doing a one hour aerobic ride (75% of max HR for example) doesn't do a whole lot because it takes most of use 15 minutes just to get warmed up. Now it's 45 minutes and you need a small cool down on the back end. Doesn't make for much time "in zone". The mixture of the 3 hour ride coupled with a sweet spot (tempo/Zone 4) ride and perhaps a Zone 3 ride with some 15 seond jumps mixed in.
All that is worth the cost of the advice:-)
