Long Season - What next?

I am planning on finishing my specialty for the first round of my Cross season to coincide with the first round (my A race) at the start of September. There are 16 rounds all worth the same amount of points. The season goes from September to end of January with races almost every weekend.

I have read the FAQ and forums post but in the FAQ’s it does say not to follow a maintenance plan for more than 8 weeks. The season is longer than that. I realise that it would be impossible to keep on top form for 5 months.

Would the best plan be to return do the build then the specialty again but low volume. That would still only take me mid-season. Do I do that for a 3rd time or go back to the base stage at the start and begin the season again? whilst replacing one of the workouts for my weekend race?

A different approach is to make the Specialty phase start at the first race of the season. The guys have recommended that before, and you would still follow the Rebuild plan after that.

Effectively pushes the plan back 8 weeks. Or you should alter that shift a bit to get better timing later in the season as needed.

2 Likes

Agree with Chad above, also this has been discussed before:

2 Likes

I have checked out the other threads and not sure that it will suit me aiming to start the specialty stage for the first race. Its a lot of fatigue to be building up at the same time as racing and I really want to have a good start to the season. The races are gridded and the average for the last 4 races are used to give you your grid position.

My plan is to finish the specialty stage in time for the first race then return to Sweet Spot base and using the 2 midweek rides, dropping the hard weekend ride for the race…possibly adding a short punchy effort for saturday (race on Sunday). Then to follow my previous build and specialty all low volume midweek rides.

I hope this will be enough intensity without burning out.

1 Like

Well, that’s not recommended and I agree with @mcneese.chad above (TrainerRoad Approved), but I guess you’re set on your plan. Good luck and I hope it works out.

You’re not going to be sharp for the full 4 months. I would go into the second half of your build as the series starts, then extend your peak to survive to the end. You’ll crush the second half if you don’t blow up before then.

I completely agree, there is no way I can keep the peak fitness for the entire season and see the benefit of building for a peak later in the year.

The reason for wanting to use the first race of the series as my “A” race was to get the full benefits of the specialty phase and the taper without the added stress of racing.

I plan on letting more form drop and go back to build to allow the body to recover but use the weekend race to keep me sharp (ish). It may not work…there is always the following year to try something different