My training for February was decent. I didn't get in as many hours as I wanted, but I was doing some hard workouts and I think the long hours we're hampering my recovery. I averaged between 10 and 13.5 hours this week. This week (my recovery week), I'm planning on getting about 5 1/2 hours on the bike, then I'm skiing both days this weekend, so I'm counting each day as an hour.
Here's the preview of March. Intense training and racing means I'm cutting back the hours. I have 12-13.5 in the plan, but really I expect 10-13 hours for the build weeks. On my intense days, I'm trying to get an hour of hard riding in. On the easy days, I'm pretty much just commuting to work and back -- easy riding. The way I see it, the season is upon us, so no point in trying to build up a base by riding a lot at low intensity. That was reserved for Dec, Jan, Feb. Now, it's time to build some speed and recovery for the weekend racing.
As you can probably tell, my last few posts have been a little pessimistic. It's a product of having some consecutive bad workouts (stressed, tired, unmotivated) and the end of a 3 week build period. I try to build from 12-15 hours a week.
So, this week is my rest week and I've decided to totally chill out on the training regimen and recharge the batteries. Yelena and I are going skiing both days this weekend and spending the night in Aspen on Saturday night. That will be nice. Tele-skiing is a bit like hitting the gym. There's not a whole lot of aerobic, but after even a short run the legs are on fire. Of course, it probably wouldn't hurt as much if I didn't get so low in the turns, but hey thats the fun of it!
My riding this week will/has consisted of going to work and back which is about 45min round trip. I was feeling really good on the way home, so I did a short indoor workout on the bike and it felt good. I also switched off from watching cycling videos to watching world superbike videos. You can get the same type of workout experience (watching speed, competition events) without having to deal with constantly being bombarded by cycling (which I self-inflict every day surfing the internet.). So, yeah, take this week off, recharge, then fire up the engine for some march madness.
Training for cycling requires constant devotion and consistency in training to reap results. Unlike most skill sports, you can't take an extended time off from cycling and retain your level of competition or fitness. The athletes that play tennis, soccer, baseball, basketball, etc. can all take time off and come back at the exact same level. Skill development rarely diminishes. I used to play tennis competitively. I haven't played in months or even years, but I could pick up a racket this afternoon and compete at a fairly high level still.
With cycling, it's quite the opposite. There really isn't much skill required in cycling. There is tactical sense, knowledge, and experience, but in terms of skills, there really is only a little to learn. If I took off a year of cycling, then hopped back on, I would pretty much have to start over. Therein lies the problem.
I give up a lot of things to compete at this level. I'm not at the top, and never will be, but I'm at a sustainable effort. I put in around 10-15 hours a week, every week. This is the only way I know of to maintain fitness and improve. Unfortunately, I also have a job. This means, I work 40 hours a week, then try to fit in a 2 hour workout when I get home. It's extremely demanding psychologically and physically. I also plan my whole year around the racing season, leaving little if any time for all the other things I enjoy so much like camping, backpacking, travel, climbing, etc. Every year I think "this is my last year", then at the end of the year, I convince myself that I can improve a little more, so I dedicate myself again for the following year.
We'll see what happens from here. I miss all the backpacking, hiking, and travel trips I used to take, so we'll see.
This is the start of my rest week for this period. I had a decent last few weeks of training, but just can't fit it the volume I was hoping for. Last week was supposed to be upwards of 16hrs, but I only managed to get in around 13. This week, I'll probably hit about 7 hours along with skiing on Saturday and Sunday in Vail and Aspen. I had a lot of trouble hitting my intensity workout goals for last week, but my 80min tempo ride went really well on Saturday, so I'm not too stressed. March is just around the corner which means the high intensity training will start up in earnest to prep for Depot and Gila.
I fell off the horse the last couple weeks in terms of my eating habits. Hopefully, I'll turn it around this week. I'm still hovering around 180lbs., so no improvement on that front. I got in a good workout this morning with two 15 minute efforts at 369 watts that I was able to do. I'm improving on that front and the first practice race is about 4 weeks away. The first real race 7 weeks away, then it's off to the races every weekend after that.
