So i’ve had my last road race of the year. I haven’t got any triathlons planned, I don’t do Cross and my only MTB is an old 26" and i hate mud anyway.
So what do i do now? I’ve been digging deep for 8 months, countless hours on the trainer and riding around hard, almost always “training” rather than just enjoying riding. I’m at 4.3W/Kg and well into the 45-50AG so i’m happy i’ve got this far, but what do people do now? Can i stop training and relax a bit for a few months, and then start it all again with SSB in the winter?
What’s the usual protocol for the end of season so you don’t get fat or worse: slow?
This is the time of year to get fat and slow. Go do something else
Maybe that means long rides with your buddies. Maybe it means golf. Maybe it means catching up on some housework.
Let yourself detrain. You will get your fitness back quickly when you start training again but letting your mind and body focus on something else will help you be stronger next year
You can indeed, though gains might start to drop rapidly after a few months. According to my copy of “Faster Road Racing”:
These more relaxed periods typically last from three to six weeks, but you may want to schedule a longer period over the winter. … During your recovery period your running should be free of the discipline that is required when you are in training.
I’m taking a month to do all the stuff I couldn’t do while I was training for my A race, like centuries, bike packing, and KoM hunting!
Gonna take some time off in October and probably not even touch the bike. Spend some time tuning up my ski setup and putting on some winter weight so I’m not so dang cold all the time!
I found at the end of last season I felt guilty if I wasn’t on the bike either riding outside, training, or doing zwift racing, but my heart really wasn’t in it. As a result I burned myself out and didn’t get back on the bike for 2 months which was probably a whole lot worse than if I had just given myself some weeks off earlier.
I’m kind of in your boat, just a few weeks ahead. I took two weeks off already and then basically took a rest week after that. My CTL has dropped quite a bit, and I’m so happy it did.
I also had been working hard since January to knock out multiple 200 miles races over the summer. The moment I was done with the third race I was felt like a piece of charcoal.
It felt weird the first few days. i wanted to get back on the bike and ride, but I knew it was better to just put the bike away for a week. After I got the first week out of the way, I decided against riding for another few days because it just felt good to do other stuff.
I relaxed and then got some stuff I had been meaning to do around the house and gave my girlfriend some much needed extra attention.
I paid attention to my body over the 10 days I took off and I noticed that for about the first week I was still sleeping like I had been training hard. After my sleep was normal for someone who isn’t training, I knew that I had dug myself into a hole that required nothing less than a break.
For the rest of the year I might do a little cyclocross, although I’m just plain bad at that.
I’m going to find ways to cross train. I want to keep ‘training’ but I can’t keep the volume up.
My other goal is going to be to lose a little body fat.
Good luck. I think if you take a little time off you’ll get the clarity to figure out what to do.
I took five days off to get my storage shed in order after my A-race. That’s about it. But I have bigger goals and I’m too restless to just let go and do nothing. Maybe I’ll learn the hard way but I still enjoy being on the bike and especially being outside which I’m not very much anymore due to family obligations.
Look for a few random (cycling or otherwise) activities/events you can use you fitness on, leave structured training for a bit and plan your next season…Base training for Ironman Lanzarote 2020 starts end of November
