Done SSB LV1 & 2 and am midway through short power build - 2 days to go on the first block. I used plan builder to develop the plan based around my A and B goals for this year.
My ‘A’ goal for this year is criterium racing so after SPB I’m hitting criterium speciality.
The complication is a 5 day very intense climbing-based cycling holiday in mid March (my ‘B’ event for sure but still pretty important).
Gran Canaria including the VoTT ! I did the same holiday last year without the VoTT so know what is in store and how my body responded.
Because I have a stressful job, a long weekday commute and know my body doesn’t recover that quickly (I don’t always get the sleep I’d ideally like but my nutrition is on point) I have modified my training plan to scale things back so I can continue to progress steadily whilst avoiding burning out.
I have substituted the third indoor interval ride of each week with a longer, steadier paced outdoor ride with (some) climbing - sort of a volume base ride but still with a TSS around 140 to 160 ish depending on the route.
I’ve done this ‘replacement’ as opposed to adding the weekend ride on top of the three prescribed TR interval workouts each week in the plan.
My logic for this is that I’ve previous personal experience from last year that steadily and slowly increasing my volume in this way has yielded good results for the type of riding the 4-day holiday will require. Last year I did no structured training at all and just rode without structure 2 or 3 times during the week for shorter distances, so I am expecting that the two structured TR intervals during the week will produce a greater improvement and set me up to cope with the B event in March whilst still being able to step into the Crit speciality plan afterwards and focus on my A goal.
I appreciate that trimming the intervals in favour of a volume ride may diminish the results from the SPB 8 week plan but am prepared to accept this given how I am juggling my priorities.
I fill in my ‘off’ days with very low intensity recovery rides (Dans / Lazy mountain).
Total miles per week seems to be around 140 / 150 for the last 4 weeks so about 30% up on my average mileage and time in the saddle on 2019
My question is, have I applied logic here that is reasonable or have I screwed things up badly?
I’ve found ERG mode structured training to be hard (much harder than I ever imagined) but as time has passed since starting out with TR on September last year I’ve become more accustomed to the approach and now find I can finish the vast majority of workouts, even though in some cases I need to trim the intensity a wee bit on later intervals if I’m fatigued. I find the limitation is always felt in my legs as opposed to my lungs, which I guess is normal …
My predominant fear is over training; I’m 47 and have experienced this in the past in other sports so am conscious of avoiding that pitfall given the off-bike stresses I have.
Any guidance from those of you who are in the ‘know’ much appreciated. I am open to suggestions on an alternative approach if the one I have adopted is viewed as sub optimal.
Currently around 3.5 W/Kg and have noticed when riding outdoors that the TR work has paid dividends in terms of sustainable power albeit it feels like I’ve lost top end power which I am hoping will come back when I hit the criterium speciality phase.
Many thanks
Dave
