The last few weeks have been a bit of quiet time for me when it comes to my training regime, after 8 months of solid training for a variety of events this year. With all of my A priority events behind me I have been able to relax the diet, enjoy a few bottles of red and let my body recover from the rigours of full on training.
Actually it was not my body that felt tired. Physically I have been training hard both in terms of the volume of training but also event specific intensity. It was more my mind that had become fatigued - I could feel the enthusiasm for training dwindling, and the early morning training rides became mid morning rides to lunch with the kids - what's not to like?
For many of you, your main A priority events for the year are behind you. Whilst the UK Sportive calendar now seems endless there has to be a time in every athlete's year when training has to moderate so that bodies and minds have time to recover and rejuvenate. For those of you who have downloaded our Sportive Late Season & Recovery Programme you will notice how the programme keeps fitness topped up for the first 4-8 week segment, for any late season events, but then reduces both volume and intensity for the last 4 week segment.
Below you will see my fitness chart for the season and you will notice how I have let my fitness (blue line) bleed away after the peak just before La Marmotte at the start of July, and have just been maintaining fitness ever since. A small build period has just started in preparation for a late season trip to the Alps at the end of September but then it will be down the task of detraining.
Unless you have any target events for the Autumn use this time of year to wind down, and focus on some aspects of your cycling that are not fitness related.
Training for La Marmotte involved a lot of event specific training, which meant hills! I was going out each week to do hill repeats up Porlock Toll Road and various other hills that were in some way alpine in nature. What I noticed when I arrived in France for the summer was that my self selected cadence had dropped significantly. This is exactly the type of non fitness related training that you can focus on during your detraining period. For the past few weeks I have been working on increasing my cadence back to around 95 on the flat having been grinding away at 70 for much of my training period on the hills of Exmoor. You can also use this time of year to improve your cornering technique before the leaves start to fall and the roads get wet and slippery.
Above all, make the most of the weather and go out and enjoy riding for the pure fun of turning the pedals. Discover some new routes, go on some more club rides, but make sure that you wean yourself off those threshold and VO2Max intervals. If you want to feel fresh for next season you need to take a break so that you are 100% committed when you start back again and can reach new performance heights.
Over the summer I have been researching and developing some new ideas for Propello training programmes for the 2015/16 season. In October we will be launching the second of our Fast Improvement Programmes following the success of the 6-Week Sportive Training Programme this summer (nearly 200 downloads from our website!). The Propello 8 Week Winter Endurance Builder will be available to download from October 5th.
I know that many of you really don't like the indoor turbo work, so all of the new programmes have been designed to fit in with a road ride or ridden indoors as a dedicated workout - I want to give you the option depending on your preferences and the weather. The Winter Endurance Builder will develop your endurance capabilities and improve speed skills and strength. It is a perfect start to the season regardless of your discipline, be it endurance rider, TTer, track racer or mountain biker.
Thank you all for your support in the 2015 season. I am really motivated by the number of people that Propello has helped this season and I am grateful for your continued support.
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