When/how to peak?
Sam Kennedy
Posts: 32
I'm returning to cycling after two years away from it, so I've set myself a couple of A priority races (club TT on 22nd July, club hill climb some time in october) and B priority races(sportive ride at the end of this month and my club RR first week in August).
I began training mid-april, right now I've done a touch over 700 miles, and I've done 9-10 hours per week for the last couple weeks. My priority right now is simply to increase my endurance, so my week has been split with mon/tue/wed being short easy days (~20 miles in zone 1/mid zone 2), and thu/fri/sat being longer rides (30 - 50 miles, zone 2 with some z3/4 on hills). However recently I introduced a tempo ride on thursdays (30-45 minutes, increasing by 15 minutes each week, plus 20 minutes warm up and cool down).
I originally planned to build a twelve week base, steadily increasing the miles and introducing more tempo work, however this means I will finish my base period on the 11th of july, only giving me 11 days to peak for the club TT on the 22nd. From what I understand, the training which has the most impact on your target event is the 3-4 weeks prior, so the four weeks leading up to the event could be more specific.
My question is how should I go about adjusting my training? Should I just stick with the plan and go for it on race day? Keep the volume and add more threshold work? Cut the volume and add more intensity above threshold?
Any thoughts/ideas/input on my current training or how to peak for my club TT would be much appreciated
I began training mid-april, right now I've done a touch over 700 miles, and I've done 9-10 hours per week for the last couple weeks. My priority right now is simply to increase my endurance, so my week has been split with mon/tue/wed being short easy days (~20 miles in zone 1/mid zone 2), and thu/fri/sat being longer rides (30 - 50 miles, zone 2 with some z3/4 on hills). However recently I introduced a tempo ride on thursdays (30-45 minutes, increasing by 15 minutes each week, plus 20 minutes warm up and cool down).
I originally planned to build a twelve week base, steadily increasing the miles and introducing more tempo work, however this means I will finish my base period on the 11th of july, only giving me 11 days to peak for the club TT on the 22nd. From what I understand, the training which has the most impact on your target event is the 3-4 weeks prior, so the four weeks leading up to the event could be more specific.
My question is how should I go about adjusting my training? Should I just stick with the plan and go for it on race day? Keep the volume and add more threshold work? Cut the volume and add more intensity above threshold?
Any thoughts/ideas/input on my current training or how to peak for my club TT would be much appreciated
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Comments
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How did you arrive at your current plan?
Periodisation is about making your workouts more race-like as you get nearer to your targets. It will depend on how your previous and current training affects you but basically that means more intensity with a reduction in volume to accommodate recovery.0 -
I used Joe Friel's Training Bible to get my current plan, however it assumed I would have time for an 8 week build leading up to my first event, which I don't have the luxury of due to my late start in the season.0
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If thats your first road race this year in August, good luck on that one.
Training is training but imo very little to do with racing.0 -
What about if you cut down your base period to 8 weeks? you could compensate for this by upping your weekly hours during this period, dont skip your recovery though and start your build 4 weeks early, this will give you a 6 week build.
Your aiming for a few tt's and a club race, not a seasons long worth of race fitness.0
