How/where/who to help develop the next training plan?

bigpikle

Last Sept saw my return to cycling, and since January I've ridden 2000 miles, increased my speeds significantly, learned to climb hills effectively and completed a number of sportives. This Sunday is my 'A' event and I complete my first century ride.

My training to date has included simply lots of riding, gradually increasing endurance rides, rides targeting specific heart rate zones, searching out hills to ride and fun/hard sessions on my singlespeed. The results have been good as I had such a low cycling fitness base that my endurance and power have increased substantially. Now my thoughts are turning to creating a more structured training plan to help me achieve my goals for the next year - Raid Pyrenean, some TT's, faster sportive times etc.

I'm looking for suggestions about how/where/who to help me create a more structured plan? With so many options and different ideas talked about here and elsewhere it seems a little overwhelming. Where does everyone get the information they use to design their regimes - coaches, books, websites? I'm looking for a step beyond the typical magazine sportive plans etc and would like to understand how best to use my time. I'm lucky that I probably have more training time per week than most people so would really like to know how to make BEST use of that time over the next 12 months.

I like to understand WHY certain activities are built into plans and the theory behind the structure rather than just a simple list of different activities etc and have experience of building plans for triathlon and running in the past, so am looking to build on this to really improve in the future.

Thanks in advance for suggestions.

hopper1

Well done, mate, on making such a good come back...
I used to be a runner, too, and I could easily lay down an effective training plan for running.
But I couldn't get the same principles to work with cycling, and I didn't want to 'waste' my training time.
So, I opted for a coach to help me make the most of the time that I have available.
The results have been very encouraging... Best money I ever spent, that was bike related, but not directly on the bike!

Anonymous

I'd get a coach, I've come on in leaps and bounds in the 10 weeks I've had one!!

bigpikle

I had a feeling that might come up as a common suggestion... I guess it opens up another barrage of questions about how, who, how much etc.

I havent searched here yet but just how do you go about selecting a coach and coaching plan?

Anonymous

I have Adrian Timmis at www.cadencesport.co.uk, he's done wonders for me mentally and physically. But there are loads of good ones out there.

I've heard very good things about Ruth Eyles too, I've met her and she's very nice indeed, but I think she may have a full roster. http://www.rutheyles.co.uk/

She may be able to recommend someone if that's the case...

Splottboy

I "was" helping a rider off here, and didn't charge anything.
One frustrating thing was, rider didn't follow provided programme.
Results were ok, but nothing outstanding.

You have to be committed and prepared to sacrifice certain aspects of your "NORMAL" life, as dedication is required to achieve specific goals.

If not, just ride...Do a few easier/recover rides per week, and more intense sessions to raise your levels of exercise tolerance. Stretching for 10 - 20 mins after ride or even stretching on easy days for 45min or so will help.

Do a 3 week training plan, increasing slightly each week, then taper back in the 4th week.
Core exercise help immensely with mid body area strength/endurance/mobility.

Target rides/races around 2 months away, and try to enjoy it overall !!!

hopper1

I'll certainly vouch for Ruth... I'm really impressed with my progress, through her.
But, she is busy...

bigpikle

I looked at Ruth and Adrian's websites recently and have followed your progress with interest Alex. I fully believe in the power of coaching with the right coach, and have used it in other areas of my professional life in the past.

I do think Splottboy has nailed 1 big issue for me though and thats whether I could follow a programme strictly enough to make it worth paying for? I know what I'm like, and I'm not one for too much structure and discipline as I thrive on the moment and variety of life. I can go out and ride to set HR zones and do intervals etc but I also love to just ride and in particular to ride with friends where possible. I've tried following plans in the past for racing triathlons and half marathons etc and while I followed the principles and general approach very well, I do not get excited about looking at a day by day plan for my cycling stuck on the fridge door...

I need a loose plan I suspect - something that has clear phases, suggestions for workouts that should be incorporated each week, detailed guides on what types of sessions/intervals to do at what phase etc. I have no problem pushing myself hard enough during a session but just need some flexibility in the plan. I'm also happy to create it myself once I can build some more cycling specific training knowledge. I've got a reasonable knowledge of basic training principles and spent some years successfully developing my triathlon and running abilities, but its the specific knowledge of cycling activities that I dont have.

Are there good books that would help me fill in the blanks? I have a few tri books by Friel and others that I'll revisit but any other 'must read' cycling specific reference books or sites?

Bronzie

Friel's "Cyclists Training Bible" is OK for road racing, but probably a bit of overkill for sportives. He also advocates gym-based strength work off-season which some swear by and others say provides no cycling benefit at all.

It will however teach you how to put a structured plan together which incorporates progressive overload which is pretty fundamental.

Anonymous

I have no idea if it's any good but this book may be worth a go...

http://www.sportstest.co.uk/Successful_Sportives.htm

bigpikle

appreciate the input guys 8)

thanks Alex - I have that one and have followed the principles broadly this year with good results. It has a bit of a gap though, categorising riders as 'novices' with no real experience and then jumps to 'experienced' riders with 3-6 years solid cycling/racing experience behind them. Strangely doesnt bridge the gap for what must surely be the biggest category of riders looking to improve? Has some good stuff in it though 50% of the book deals with real introductory stuff despite trying to appeal to 'experienced' and 'elite' athletes with detailed training advice....:?

I'll grab the Friel book for additional background, although I dont think racing is my real end game here. Part of that is probably because I dont see myself as fast enough, although recent improvements might mean I'm not the slouch I saw myself as 6 months ago

Bronzie

Given the right training, pretty much anyone can become fit enough to race. Not everyone is able to win races, but that's another matter.

bigpikle

maybe thats the attitude I need to adopt? Need to spend the autumn/winter building base endurance and continue getting stronger. Who knows, maybe a season spent preparing to ride the Raid P will get me in shape to race reasonably...

dennisn

I would suggest that you contact Alex Simmons(a regular contributor to this forum).
I follow his posts and he seems very knowledgeable(even though I sometimes disagree, but that's just me). He would seem to be the place to start as he's right "here", so to speak. I do believe that he is from down under, but in this day and age of the Internet
that's not so far after all.

Alex_Simmons/RST

dennisn wrote:

I would suggest that you contact Alex Simmons(a regular contributor to this forum).
I follow his posts and he seems very knowledgeable(even though I sometimes disagree, but that's just me). He would seem to be the place to start as he's right "here", so to speak. I do believe that he is from down under, but in this day and age of the Internet
that's not so far after all.

I would suggest we agree on a lot more than we don't.

Some tips:
- consistency with training is paramount
- progressive overload (this is the bit many get wrong)
- good diet and sleep/recovery
- have an overall goal or goals, and also for each day and week that is designed to contribute to the overall objective (not all goals each day are physical development ones, some are for skills, or fun, or motivation etc)

SteveR_100Milers

+1 for coaching too. Forget having a one track solution, a good coach will design a programme around the time you have available so long as your goals are realistic with the time you have to train. Once you start it though, you do have to find the dedication to follow it as closely as you can.
Unless you are naturally gifted as an all rounder, most of us will concentrate on one discipline - TTing, or RRing or sportives. Within TTing you might even target short or long distance TTs as your target events so it can get very specific. If you can get that bit right, you might be very surprised by what you can achieve in quite a short time. Price wise, shop around. My programme only cost me £60 for 3 months, and that includes one to one support and emails etc, plus bi weekly phone calls. You can find out who coaches from the BC website, google search or probably best of all word of mouth. You might find some of your club members already have a coach who has some spaces.

hopper1

Joining a club is the easiest step toward coaching, as most clubs will have at least one BC acreditted coach.

Bigpikle wrote:

I know what I'm like, and I'm not one for too much structure and discipline as I thrive on the moment and variety of life. I can go out and ride to set HR zones and do intervals etc but I also love to just ride and in particular to ride with friends where possible. I've tried following plans in the past for racing triathlons and half marathons etc and while I followed the principles and general approach very well, I do not get excited about looking at a day by day plan for my cycling stuck on the fridge door...

The best laid plans, even from coaches, have to remain flexable...
But, IMHO, discipline is the one thing that will set you apart from others, if you want to 'win' a race...
Riding with friends is great, but it's not necessarily effective! I like my Sunday morning club rides, but they're so varied in pace, they're no good for me, so Sunday mornings are now spent riding solo...

Bronzie

Bigpikle wrote:

Are there good books that would help me fill in the blanks?

Although it's written as a guide for training with power, I reckon this document is probably more useful than Friel's book and includes some background science if you are interested in that aspect:
http://www.freewebs.com/velodynamics2/rcgtp1.pdf

A very good read and even if you haven't got access to a power meter, it covers the basics of putting a training plan together,

bigpikle

thanks Bronzie

DubaiNeil

I've just started the Time Crunched Cyclist Training plan based on the book by Chris Carmichael, who has been Lance Armstrongs coach http://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-crunched-Cyclist-Fast-Powerful-Hours/dp/1934030473/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277969602&sr=8-1

It has background information on the science of training, pre and post session nutrition advice, the training plans themselves and "permitted" modifications to the plan. There is additional "real world" case references that give some additional food for thought.

Quite complex to translate initially, but seems to be well thought out. I have mapped out my 10 week plan in a spreadsheet, and constructed each of the sessions in my Garmin as advanced workouts, so "automated" from that point forward - but then again, I am a saddo techno-geek...

I know there have been some other threads on this plan here, so there may be others further down the path than me.

This will obviously not be customised to your individual requirements, nor provide the motivation to go out training when & if you don't fancy it!

There also appears to be a chapter missing in my version of the book as there is nothing relating to EPO, blood doping or giving the UCI a bung....

Neil

Not Another Hill

Bronzie wrote:

Friel's "Cyclists Training Bible" is OK for road racing, but probably a bit of overkill for sportives. He also advocates gym-based strength work off-season which some swear by and others say provides no cycling benefit at all.

It will however teach you how to put a structured plan together which incorporates progressive overload which is pretty fundamental.

I've used this book for a structured training plan since January and it has brought my cycling up massively. This is my third year of riding but my first year racing. I've found that I can just about hold with the main bunch (Cat 3/4) but I am nowhere near the points. I've just turned 43 and the 2 years of riding up to this was with my local club. i was only doing steady club rides, sportives, a faster Thursday training ride plus bits of unstructured riding between.

I'll use it again next season and put the weights work over the winter and early season as well.

You do have to be disciplined and stick to the programme to get full training benefits.

bigpikle

just tucking into a borrowed copy now, so will see where to go next. He does suggest the first year should be 'just riding' so I'll take the next few months to continue what I've been doing and look to start a plan in the autumn/winter.

Looking forward to it...