So like many of you the off season (in Europe at least) for MultiSport, Time Trail and Road Racing seems to be approaching as fast as events are being cancelled.
With this in mind just looking for advice as to what to do now? Where should the training focus be, what should the plan be?
I don’t want to loose that top end fitness and in fact want to continue to build on what I have managed to achieve this year, but in reality should I be resigning myself to an off season base plan?
Long answer: That top end fitness is not ever going to stick around. Your body isn’t made to keep it forever, that’s why it’s described as a peak. You’ll definitely keep the gains you’ve made, but it’s ok to let the knife get dull.
When transitioning to “off-season” I always recommend starting with a re-evaluation of your goals for the following year, what do you want to achieve? Take those goals and use them to evaluate what your training should look like. If you have important events, use those to build your plan backwards to where you need to start.
More than likely you’ll go through at the very least a base then build phase. Depending on what and when your events are, you might hit a specialty phase, or you’ll roll back to base/build and then eventually hit your specialty; which is where you’ll get your “top end” back and where you’ll sharpen the knife again.
This is why most successful riders yearly performance charts look like a mountain range, as they’re constantly building then recovering. Here’s what my PMC looks like from 2018 until today:
@TheCyclissimo totally nailed it, and the only thing I would add is to consider taking time completely off the bike before starting up training again. They’ve mentioned on the podcast before how taking time completely off the bike leads to more concerted rest and ultimately better gains down the line since your body had more time to absorb and adapt. You’ll notice that the PMC Cyclissimo shared has extended time without any riding, for example.
It may not be for everybody, but it is something I think most people putting in 25+ weeks of structure per year should probably consider.
Yep - I am mentally on my last legs for this year …not physically - I’m still going really well in TT when it is not raining or blowing a gale! There is a difference - I road 15 - 20 hrs/week in lockdown - did a VO2/over under block and have raced 7 open and 6 club TT - 2 left - but now I am back at work (especially with the extra stress that an altered Covid regime has brought to my work place)…I need a break from coming home after work and do 75-90mins on the turbo. I usually do 20+ opens a year but this year has been so weird that I need a break - I can maintain 90% of my FTP on v little training so why would I want to start now for a race season that is 6 months away? That said there is plenty to be said for just going out riding your bike - visiting a cafe - group rides (which do nothing for TT training but are fun) and just chilling - that is what I will spend a month doing after the National circuit TT champs in 2 weeks (if they don’t get rained/ Covid 19 …off)
Hey @TheCyclissimo thanks for the comprehensive reply and makes allot of sense. It will actually be quite nice to back off a bit, reflect and plan for next year.
Appreciate your thoughts and the detailed response, will look at a base phase and perhaps as has been mentioned by @BCrossen take a step back for a week or so before cracking on with the base plan.
There is a difference - I road 15 - 20 hrs/week in lockdown - did a VO2/over under block and have raced 7 open and 6 club TT - 2 left - but now I am back at work (especially with the extra stress that an altered Covid regime has brought to my work place)…I need a break from coming home after work and do 75-90mins on the turbo. I usually do 20+ opens a year but this year has been so weird that I need a break - I can maintain 90% of my FTP on v little training so why would I want to start now for a race season that is 6 months away? That said there is plenty to be said for just going out riding your bike - visiting a cafe - group rides (which do nothing for TT training but are fun) and just chilling - that is what I will spend a month doing after the National circuit TT champs in 2 weeks (if they don’t get rained/ Covid 19 …off) 
