Winter Training

[TSCfree]

Well my first year training has gone better than expected and I'm able to keep up with faster guys from the cycling club which bodes well for next years racing.

However I'm at a loss as to which direction to take with off season training. I'm carrying a couple of ankle ligament niggles and probably need to rest for a week of so, but should I continue with my current plan which has been successful so far or follow the cycle mags preference for long base building rides over the winter.

Should I keep the intensity, back off or just throw in the odd interval session every now and then?

Was kind of looking forward to cake/coffee eating rides out....So what have others got planned for over the winter?

[Birdthom]

I've yet to form a plan. I just carried on as normal last year, and found that I started the season in much better shape than most when March/April came around. It was pretty grim working hard all through the winter though. No turbo training at all, just out virtually every day in all weathers. I don't really want to do that again.

This year I'm planning on taking it steadier on my outdoor rides (i.e. base mile rides as you suggest), but mixing it in with some harder turbo sessions. I've also just managed to luck out on a free membership at an extremely good gym near here which has a bank of Wattbikes, so I'll be making good use of that.

I'm going to try to keep the intensity up as best as I can with a view to being in decent shape right from the start next year.

[TheFungle]

TSCfree said:

Well my first year training has gone better than expected and I'm able to keep up with faster guys from the cycling club which bodes well for next years racing.

However I'm at a loss as to which direction to take with off season training. I'm carrying a couple of ankle ligament niggles and probably need to rest for a week of so, but should I continue with my current plan which has been successful so far or follow the cycle mags preference for long base building rides over the winter.

Should I keep the intensity, back off or just throw in the odd interval session every now and then?

Was kind of looking forward to cake/coffee eating rides out....So what have others got planned for over the winter?

I'm looking foward to an autumn of enjoying riding and taking in the sights & sounds, guards are going on the bike once it comes back from the spray bay and I'll be good for all conditions

Going to start interval type training in Jan ready for the good weather in spring, nothing worse IMO than getting to the nice weather and realising your fitness it behind where it should be!

Of course one downside of starting early is that you may peak quite early on in the year, I reached that point in early July and I haven't really improved since then although of course there has to come a point with all of us where our natural ability is reached.

[S10GTA]

A lot of guys that I raced with normally give the bike up for a month from mid Oct.

[Birdthom]

S10GTA said:

A lot of guys that I raced with normally give the bike up for a month from mid Oct.

I wondered about that, but I figured it only works if you can guarantee that you will have enough time to commit to getting back into shape in January/February. As a 38 year old desk jockey with a time-consuming job and three young kids I reckon I might be better off trying to keep at it, on the basis that if I let it go I might never get it back!

[Grandfondo]

October is a rest month for me with maybe some social cycles if we get some sunny days!

November will start spinning with club and turbo trainer!

[Jimbo.]

TSCfree said:

Was kind of looking forward to cake/coffee eating rides out....

Then do it. Life's too short

If you plough on, you run the risk of burnout. Felt the onset of that in early September, so have barely looked at the bikes since. In their place came many, many coffees, lots of cake, a few more beers and plenty of lazy Saturdays. Despite the loss of form and the increase in weight, I feel a LOT better for it. Recent bike rides are something I've enjoyed, rather than endured.

[red355]

I've found that October & November can be one of the nicest months to ride out in the country ..... plenty of time for sweating on a turbo when the winter kicks in

if you fancy a few hard rides check out hillclimb or cyclo-cross events

[Rolls]

red355 said:

I've found that October & November can be one of the nicest months to ride out in the country ..... plenty of time for sweating on a turbo when the winter kicks in

if you fancy a few hard rides check out hillclimb or cyclo-cross events

Sept was kind of a month off for me... (2 and a half weeks of no riding due to wedding + honeymoon!)
Felt horrid going for the first longer ride once back, but evidently it did me good - lots of pb's that i'll have to now try to better!

[DMN]

I always used to take November and December off from riding. Still do a couple o 1 to 2 mile runs a week, but thats it.

This year I want to try and hit the trails all year round.

[okgo]

If you want to take a month off, be aware of the reasons for doing it, for nearly everyone that isn't a full blown pro, taking a long period off the bike is a waste of time and won't forward you and instead you'll lose a huge chunk of fitness that takes time to get back - but of course if that isn't why you're doing it and you just want a break, then not an issue.

Personally I am not having any off time really, I will be changing what I do, however; which will be lots of sweetspot training trying to push FTP up, lots of longer tempo rides of 4 hours or so with maybe a couple of harder efforts for 20 mins or so within again to promote growth of FTP, all of this will result in me doing more volume, but there will still be a good chunk of intensity aimed at pushing FTP up. Come late jan, feb I will begin to do some harder shorter intervals to sharpen up a bit, short term stuff is very quickly trained so doesn't need a whole winter of attention from what I've seen, then I'll start late feb doing 20-40's on the turbo etc to mimick race situations before actually starting racing again, all being well, with a few more watts and less KG in my locker

[ewenm]

For people below decent competition level, taking a bit of time off is more likely to have mental benefits (motivation, commitment, new goals) than physical benefits (recovery) as the training load probably isn't so high that they need an end-of-season break.

okgo is describing classic periodisation in his training plan which works well in many endurance sports. The base phase usually happens in late autumn/winter because it is easier to do lots of base miles with some tempo work in bad weather than it is to do high quality efforts (unless you have an indoor track/velodrome nearby). Winter is usually a time of upping the volume but worrying less about the quality. Also if you have a good group, the camaraderie of surviving some epic winter training can be great!

[Birdthom]

okgo said:

less KG in my locker

What do you weigh, out of interest? You must consume some fair old calories if you are still carrying excess timber with the amount of training you seem to do.

[anonymous-user]

Winter Training Rules.

1: If its not raining, its not training

[okgo]

About 78-79kg as we speak. I drink and eat too much, yes, I've tried to curve it recently, but I'd think not a lot of drinking 8 pints and going and smashing 5 burgers in macdonalds (which is around 2500cals) so I have tried to stop doing that, and stop drinking beer.

Ewen - yes. Though I am not going to be wasting my time riding around building base miles, I think that is flawed for someone who does lots of miles all the time regardless, so I will try to do as much quality work as I can now I don't need to worry about being fresh for races etc, put the body under some stress, its the only way it improves after-all, not riding around at half of my threshold for hours on end...

Agree on break being good mentally, depends on your attitude I guess, I don't feel like I need a mental break, so I won't personally.

[rhinochopig]

ewenm said:

For people below decent competition level, taking a bit of time off is more likely to have mental benefits (motivation, commitment, new goals) than physical benefits (recovery) as the training load probably isn't so high that they need an end-of-season break.

okgo is describing classic periodisation in his training plan which works well in many endurance sports. The base phase usually happens in late autumn/winter because it is easier to do lots of base miles with some tempo work in bad weather than it is to do high quality efforts (unless you have an indoor track/velodrome nearby). Winter is usually a time of upping the volume but worrying less about the quality. Also if you have a good group, the camaraderie of surviving some epic winter training can be great!

I'd agree with most of that. It mirrors - almost - the typical elite rowing programme. However, I'd disagree with the quality bit. Winter is the perfect time to hone technique AND bash out the miles and with cycling time spent on honing rider technique is very important. It's no good climbing like a rat up a drain pipe because of all the turbo work over the winter if you lose any advantage on the down because your bike handling skills are rusty and your confidence isn't there.

[ewenm]

okgo said:

About 78-79kg as we speak. I drink and eat too much, yes, I've tried to curve it recently, but I'd think not a lot of drinking 8 pints and going and smashing 5 burgers in macdonalds (which is around 2500cals) so I have tried to stop doing that, and stop drinking beer.

Ewen - yes. Though I am not going to be wasting my time riding around building base miles, I think that is flawed for someone who does lots of miles all the time regardless, so I will try to do as much quality work as I can now I don't need to worry about being fresh for races etc, put the body under some stress, its the only way it improves after-all, not riding around at half of my threshold for hours on end...

Agree on break being good mentally, depends on your attitude I guess, I don't feel like I need a mental break, so I won't personally.

I agree that riding (or running) at or around threshold is key to the winter miles. For me, there's significant gains to be made putting that level of stress on the body rather than the more intense intervals/recovery cycles of spring/summer. A typical winter week for me will focus much more on tempo and threshold efforts than on speedwork and short, sharp reps. Building and enhancing the aerobic base is what I mean by base miles. Slower than that is recovery mileage which has its place of course but isn't the focus of my winter training.

[ewenm]

rhinochopig said:

I'd agree with most of that. It mirrors - almost - the typical elite rowing programme. However, I'd disagree with the quality bit. Winter is the perfect time to hone technique AND bash out the miles and with cycling time spent on honing rider technique is very important. It's no good climbing like a rat up a drain pipe because of all the turbo work over the winter if you lose any advantage on the down because your bike handling skills are rusty and your confidence isn't there.

Hence why I'd advocate getting out there an riding (or running) as much as possible rather than using the turbo (or treadmill). The technical skills will be maintained by training in tough conditions (snow/ice may be a challenge to far of course!) - tricky descents on wet roads for example. By "quality" I meant the high-intensity, short, sharp efforts, with mid to long recovery, that concentrate on anaerobic performance way above the aerobic threshold. Technique is different IMO and as you say, should be maintained/improved continually if possible.

[Birdthom]

okgo said:

About 78-79kg as we speak. I drink and eat too much, yes, I've tried to curve it recently, but I'd think not a lot of drinking 8 pints and going and smashing 5 burgers in macdonalds (which is around 2500cals) so I have tried to stop doing that, and stop drinking beer.

Sounds like you could knock 8 or 9 kg off very easily and quickly (assuming you aren't 7 foot tall). You'd be crazy not to do that given how hard you work at all this.

[okgo]

Nah, I don't think so, I would think there is a few kg for sure, certainly not that much unless some serious muscle atrophy takes place, but that is very hard to promote. But certainly will be making the effort this winter.