When a rider decides to try a new discipline different from the one they already excel in, the mind tends to get in the way.<\/p>\n
We tell ourselves our bodies are the problem. But really, a huge percentage of getting over the hump of starting a new style of racing is mental. You can train yourself to be the type of athlete you want to be. It just takes a shift in focus both on \u2014 and off \u2014 the bike.<\/p>\n
In episode 50 of the Ask a Cycling Coach<\/em><\/a>, we answered a question submitted by a rider named David. His full question was this:<\/p>\n I’ve always been a very strong crit rider in that I could hang with the pack and contest the final sprint. In recent years, I’ve migrated to Half IRONMAN triathlon. Despite what I view as a healthy improvement in FTP from 177 to 218 after several years off from the bike, I still find my body is still geared to high wattage sprints for short durations. I’m using the Half-Distance Triathlon Low Volume plan<\/strong>. It is working great, but was curious what, if anything, can I do to shed the “old” cyclist who was successful in sprints versus a pure long duration, high FTP rider.<\/em><\/p>\n Summary of David\u2019s question:<\/strong> He\u2019s a former crit rider. After some time off the bike, he\u2019s training for a Half IRONMAN. He wants to know if there\u2019s anything he can do to become a strong, long-duration rider despite feeling like his body is suited for sprinting.<\/p>\n Yes, there\u2019s a chance David has a genetic predisposition toward being one type of rider. That\u2019s a tough thing to get away from. But, that doesn\u2019t mean he can\u2019t become the type of athlete he wants to be. It takes proper training, which he\u2019s already gotten right by being on the Half-Distance Triathlon plan<\/a>. It also takes looking hard at not only physical limiters, but mental ones as well.<\/p>\n It\u2019s easy to blame our bodies when hard work gets in the way of achieving our goals. It\u2019s not so easy to put the blame on our own mental limitations. We\u2019ll get more into that in a minute. But first, let\u2019s first talk about how to address physical limiters.<\/p>\n A limiter is anything that keeps you from riding at the full potential of your athletic ability. In David\u2019s case, his limiter is steady-state power. So, that\u2019s what he has to focus on. Currently he\u2019s on a low-volume plan which places more emphasis on higher intensity, shorter duration workouts.<\/p>\n If he wants to change his training to address his limiter, he has two options: Tweak his current low volume Half-Distance Triathlon training plan, or change to a higher volume plan that incorporates longer steady-state efforts, i.e. more of what he needs to breakdown his physical limiter.<\/p>\n Family and work-related travel are the reasons David is on a low-volume plan. Since his time available to train is constrained, a step up to a mid-volume plan might not make sense for him. Instead, to start increasing his capacity for steady-state work, he can modify his current plan. There are a few options here:<\/p>\n Since David is currently in his specialized training phase, the composition of the Half-Distance triathlon Specialty plan addresses exactly what he needs to work on. So, that already puts him in a good spot to start improving his limiter, which is his muscular endurance, i.e. Threshold workout capabilities. That said, if he wants to address his limiter even further, he has the option to pluck a slightly tougher version of his Tuesday bike workout (say a 60-minute workout) from a higher volume Half-Distance triathlon plan (like a 90-minute workout). He could keep up with this practice of swapping shorter workouts for longer ones until he finds he\u2019s able to maintain a mid-volume plan. It\u2019s all about baby steps.<\/p>\n If David wasn\u2019t in his specialized training phase and already doing workouts that address his limiter, he could go from swapping his low-volume plan workouts with mid-volume plan workouts to replacing his bike workouts with others that better address his limiter. This could mean fully swapping out VO2 max workouts for Threshold workouts since he’s already fairly strong at the shorter, harder stuff. It\u2019s easy to do this in TrainerRoad. You can find appropriate replacement workouts on the left-hand side of the TrainerRoad workouts page<\/a>. Use the power zone<\/a> filter to sort through workouts and find a suitable replacement to address your limiter.<\/p>\n If David\u2019s race schedule allows, he could completely divert from his specialty plan and return to something like the Sustained Power Build plan. This would allow him to do maintenance run and swim workouts while he improves his sustainable power on the bike.<\/p>\n When you\u2019re making adjustments to your plan, don\u2019t automatically assume you need to ramp up your training stress to increase your fitness. That\u2019s not always the best (or most realistic) solution for every rider. Instead, focus on getting more of the right kind of stress \u2014 the kind of stress that addresses your limiter \u2014 into your training.<\/p>\n Why is that so many riders, like David, think there\u2019s more they could be doing when they\u2019re already doing everything right? Like so much of cycling, it\u2019s mental \u2014 even when you\u2019re sticking to a properly structured training plan.<\/p>\n In the book Faster<\/em> by Michael Hutchinson<\/a>, he references a comment made by Dan Hunt, the Former Performance Director of British Cycling and TEAM SKY. He said: \u201cIdeally, what we want is a rider like a robot.\u201d He made that comment leading up to the London Olympics. If Hunt\u2019s riders could keep their minds from giving in to the pressures and distractions of the Olympic Velodrome, everything would be easy. Do it like robots \u2014 that\u2019s the ideal, but it\u2019s sure as heck not realistic. Cyclists aren\u2019t robots. Hunt, of course, knew this.<\/p>\n Whether you\u2019re a rider training in a familiar discipline or you\u2019re branching out into something new, mental battles are inevitable. They\u2019re part of every sport, especially cycling. Sometimes there isn\u2019t just one reason why you\u2019re not meeting your performance expectations, but the way you\u2019re approaching your training.<\/p>\n For those of you who are in a situation similar to David\u2019s, here\u2019s some advice from our cycling experts<\/a> on how to transition from one cycling discipline to another:<\/p>\n Too many riders have identity issues. They latch onto the type of rider they once were. Don\u2019t do this. It\u2019s best to approach your foray into a new discipline as an athlete \u2014 not as a former crit rider, mountain biker or triathlete. You\u2019re an athlete. What athletes know best is that gains don\u2019t happen overnight. Cycling success takes commitment, time and whole lot of hard work. But you knew that already.<\/p>\n Compared to bike racing, triathlon competitions are grouped by age. For someone like David, this means he could be going up against former or soon-to-be professional triathletes when he races. There\u2019s a lot of psychology at play when you see your numbers compared to those of such high-level competitors. So, ignore them. In triathlon, there’s no real basis for proper comparison anyway, unless you researched every one of your AG competitors \u2014 but who has time for that?<\/p>\n David’s question and other cyclists’ questions were answered on episode 50 of the Ask a Cycling Coach<\/em><\/a> podcast. Listen to the episode’s full recording below.<\/p>\nA: Don\u2019t blame genetics first<\/h2>\n
How to Address a Physical Limiter<\/h3>\n
Option 1<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Option 2<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Option 3<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Takeaway<\/strong><\/h4>\n
How to Address a Mental Limiter<\/h3>\n
Forget what you\u2019re already good at.<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Don\u2019t compare yourself to the competition.<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Listen to Experts Discuss This Training Topic and More on the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast<\/h2>\n