Winter Training Block

This is the first serious winter training block. Sufferfest training videos are hard at any time but a concerted effort to do 11 workouts on a daily basis is not an easy option.
It will boost CTL but will leave a large negative TSB - so end result , you will be fitter but knackered.

Easier week

The training target for the month of January is a 10 point increase in TSS.
At the moment just having an easier few days before the Tour of Sufferlandria.

 Above is the predicted CTL (blue line) for January.

Tunstall Wheelers Training Ride

Post by Tunstall Wheelers - Racing Section.

Reason to be careful

The simple fact is winter riding is risky.
Sometimes too much so when it can impact a training plan.

 The best advice I can give is just be so much more viigilant. 
Black ice was the culprit. I thought it was a flat back tyre until I hit the tarmac hard. Nearly a week later and it is only just starting to heal and I consider my self with getting away with it as I could have chipped the bone very easily.
An injury like that would really have put all that training into the skip.
Luckily I have been able to maintain a training load.

Tunstall Wheelers Post

Post by Tunstall Wheelers - Racing Section.

How I Turbo

Picking the correct profile to turbo train to is actually quite hard.
No one wants to spend precious training time with wasted efforts.
This profile ticks all the boxes as far as I am concerned and I will talk you through the session as best as I can.

 The session is split into 5 blocks of 'work' divided by 'rest' or 'recovery' periods.

The first interval is the warm up phase. This is critical to get right as it will decide if you will carry on successfully to the end. 
Ensure the bike is in the small ring and a very easy gear to start with. Concentrate on easy pedalling but with a cadence over 90.
There are 5 steps with the final one at threshold level. Try to do this with the small ring. I use a standard 39. You may struggle if you have a compact 34 ot end up with the chain very crossed although that is not really going to harm the bike. After turbo training season is over you will be replacing the chain anyways as it willl have stretched with all the use you have given it making it unsuitable for road riding! Hopefully you have loosened up the legs muscles and prepared them
Phase 2 and you should be thinking of still keeping to the inner ring.
The opportunity here is to think about using a higher cadence 0f 100, 110+ if possible. Gear selection will dictate this range. A steady start but the extra efforts will be reflected in heart rate response.

Use those recoveries wisely i.e. shift up the block to your easist gear and just unload the legs whilst keeping the cadence up.
Phase 3 will take above threshold. Not for long but by the finish your heart rate response will be very noticeable. If not then you may have that threshold line in the wrong place.
As soon as it is finished ... unload , unload. I can't emphasise that enough. Racing is about recovering as much as actual balls out work.

Phase 4 is a 10 minute stint with 5 minutes of classic underovers to finish with. These will also find chinks in your armoury.
Phase 5 is also a classic of pyramid. The final thrash is as hard you want it.
Your heart rate should be going to its limit as close to max out as it will ever do in indoor training without the added surge of andrenaline.
Close down with some minutes of spinning out to recover.

January Target

To repeat 2013 CTL build of 15 in a month.

From 68 to 73
 

Tunstall Wheelers Racing on Facebook

Post by Tunstall Wheelers - Racing Section.

Winter Training Block

A summary of the last 2 months spent on the turbo trainer:

 









Comparision to same period last year

Training Comparisions - Cadence

Time to compare last year's winter training to date.
It has felt like struggle this time around to maintain the regime.
A key element of winter training is not actually to get 'fitter' in a sense but to develop cellular adaptations that will encourage getting fitter especially race fitter during early 2014.
These adaptations include the key element of cadence. Getting the legs to move quickly but not under stress loading leads to mitochondrial function improvements.
I did think that my average cadence was suffering this year but the comparisions tables show that it is holding up.

 
The lines from 2012 and this year are closely matched. 

December Training

Pressure of work means very restricted time to train.
A solution is to allow just 30 minutes of 'training' time per day.
Keeping intensity high but with reduced volume in an aim to maintain fitness.
A typical workout should contain a target of 20 minutes 'effort'.

November Summary

Off season training at its hardest in the sense of motivation or will to train even at much lower intensity.

 Training every day may not be to everbody's taste and possibly it isn't actually to mine either but it is do this or balloon into a balloon shaped object very quickly.
This time of the year I am not a racing cyclist, just someone on a bike trying hard not to go hard - actually thats the easy bit.