Last year was a complete failure for me regards fitness, so I’m trying to give this year some structure. 2 years ago I did the whole Base, Build , Speciality thing and it worked very well, but I over cooked the summer rides. Last year a combination of illness, work and an accident really knocked my enthusiasm and any sort of structured workout and after an initial Base/Build, it all got a bit messy and fell apart. Trying to do better this year.
TR’s Base, Build and Speciality come to 28 weeks. Typically starting in winter and (AFAIKS) giving you 6-8 weeks of peak fitness the summer.
So what next?
Focus on weaknesses, take a break, just get out and cycle, start plan x,y,z? Take it easy for X weeks and circle on Base until next year?
I get the look of the TSS ramps generally having a long shallow slope and short recovery, does the same thing apply generally over a year with two overall slopes and short recovery periods?
Yes I get that. But as I have no specific events, what’s the best way forward over the year? Surely it’s not a case of starting at the same place each year?
Why don’t you give yourself a specific target? How about a goal time on a particular climb, or perhaps an FTP figure. It’ll give much more reasoning to why you are training. You are taking this serious enough to join TR and invest time in a plan, you need to give yourself a reward for the effort put in.
I would say do base 1 & 2, then build and then assess where you are and either go into a speciality or one of the maintenance plans.
If you don’t have a target then it will be hard to keep focus, so set yourself a reasonable FTP target, but not a peak one, and then concentrate on maintaining that. A bit like being a dependable fast car rather than a supercar that needs fixed all the time!
If you aren’t training for a race then I guess you enjoy cycling on your own or with friends outdoors. work your maintenance workouts around that.
Yes, there is a general goal. FTP above 3w/kg (never managed that before). And as I’ve shifted 22lbs in the last few months, so a PB to two, on some local climbs is a target, as I’ve always struggled being 210-220 lbs. Getting back to Sunday rides in the summer with the faster club riders would also be nice.
First Part of the Year 28 weeks
Base 1&2, Build, Speciality
Take at least a week off
Second part of year 28 weeks (I take it this should be less stressful than the first part of the year)
Base 1&2, Build (step down in volume?)
Enthusiast Maintenance plan?
Take remaining time off
?
I can’t think of any reason why you would need to do the speciality plan at all.
In all seriousness, if you have no major goals then why plan out the whole of the year now?
Just do base 1&2 plus build, then assess and decide what your goals are from there. You may decide to target 3.5 w/kg or a grand fondo, or take up cyclocross in September!
you can have lots of bites, the general idea is to plan your training around the perfect peak for your main event, your ‘A’ race. so you work back 28 weeks from that and start your plan accordingly. with the understanding that your fitness will decline somewhat after the ‘A’ race. Even pro riders have peaks and troughs, and this is deliberate
You also have ‘B’ races which you incorporate into your plan and add some taper so you perform well, and ‘C’ races where you just swap instead of the usual workout and don’t change your plan.
You aren’t doing that, so have lots of flexibility in your plan to assess and change as appropriate.
99% of people start with SSB 1 & 2. so that’s an easy decision to make. use that as your focus for now?
I’m a novice, but I agree that it makes sense to skip the specialty plan. A typical recommendation for someone who’s A race is more than 28 weeks away is to add additional base, or base-build cycles (so they might do base-build-base-build-specialty, timing the specialty to peak for their A race). If you wanted to, you could just endlessly repeat base-build until you get bored or decide to pursue a more specific goal.