My biggest race for 2020 is Leadville next August, but I am also planning to do the Austin Rattler race late March (60 mile MTB race). I’ll also do a bit of road and gravel racing throughout the year, but nothing to train around or taper for.
The timing actually works pretty well if I start a full training cycle first of October (next week), 3 months of SS base, 2 months sustained power build, 1 month specialty, taper and race in late March.
I was thinking I’d take an easy week or 2 after the Ratter and then jump back into SSB, sustained build, and specialty again. Rest/Taper first couple weeks of August and then race Leadville.
I am not planning to follow the TR plans exactly, but use a hybrid approach where I take the High volume TR workouts on Tues/Wed/Thurs, but continue my long Saturday rides outdoors. Sunday can be rest or something outside, but typically not a hard ride. With the big ride on Saturday and TR on Tue,Wed, Thurs, I should be in line with high volume TSS targets each week.
The whole plan lines up really well on paper, but I’m questioning the idea of 10 months of structured training without any significant break. My training approach in the past has been just riding a bunch of volume with a heavy emphasis on tempo work as my base and then a couple months of threshold and V02 work before big events. I always enjoy the tempo work, but I’m usually getting a bit mentally cooked after a couple months of Vo2 and Threshold work. So, I’m concerned about the mental side of structured training for that long and I’m also a bit intimidated by the SSB work compared to the tempo stuff I’ve done in the past for base.
My level of motivation is pretty high going into 2020 and I really want to get to “next level” for a good result at Leadville. That said, I’ve never tried to build fitness for 10+ months and I’m concerned it might not be a smart approach. Any thoughts/guidance from anyone who has tried a similar approach over an extended period?