So you started training — maybe you have a training plan or you even invested in a coach who makes up grueling workouts for you. But having a plan or a coach isn’t a guarantee your plan will automatically work and you’ll win on race day.
SIGNS YOUR PLAN ISN’T WORKING
Before you get to race day, a few signs that indicate your plan may need tweaking include:
- You get sick often
- You can’t finish the workouts
- Your tests don’t improve
- Your skills don’t improve
- You skip workouts and lose consistency
- You are overly nervous on the start line or timid on obstacles on the course
COMMON TRAINING MISTAKES
If you fell short of your goals, or you are struggling with overtraining or illness, it is likely you have done one of the following:
- Tried to ride hard most days thinking you can make up for lost time or replace endurance days with moderate training.
- Avoid things you aren’t good at that will be ‘tested’ on race day. It takes a lot of focus and a strong desire to be ready for race day to push yourself to work on these areas each week.
- Not training on similar terrain to the race. Many athletes want to get better at climbing, but they avoid climbs in training. Similarly, riders struggle on technical features but never get coaching to progress their skills.
- Training on recovery or off days.
- Not keeping a training log of how each workout went to help you reflect and adjust on your training.
HOW TO TWEAK YOUR PLAN
If you don’t achieve the results you were hoping for, then these aspects of good training will help you refine your training to improve for next time. Books such as Tudor Bompa’s “Periodization” and Joe Friel’s “The Cyclist’s Training Bible“ are good books to increase your training knowledge.
In most successful plans, and in the training of successful athletes, you see many of the following qualities:
- 1–2 weekly rest or off days
- 1–2 weekly sessions that are intense, require focus and push an element of your fitness or prepare you for ‘defining moments’ in the race (i.e., the race start, going hard on climbs)
- 2+ weekly endurance sessions where the intensity is controlled and you ride steady
- Periodic testing to gauge progress — power tests, time up a hill or other forms of testing that provide an objective progress report. This helps you gain confidence and adjust your training if you are not progressing as planned.
RE-BUILDING YOUR PLAN
When rebuilding a plan after struggling with past plans, start with 30 minutes of training 3 times a week and focus on what matters. So think: If you only had 3 workouts that are 30-minutes long each week, what would you do?
- A mountain biker may do 3–6 x 2 minutes off road climbs one day, ride off-road hard for 20–30 minutes to develop the critical first-lap effort the second day and then work on technical skills on tough terrain on the third day.
- A road rider might choose to do 2–3 x 10-minute threshold intervals one day and 20 minutes alternating 30 seconds on/30 seconds off the other day and a hard weekend group ride to improve their ability to ride in a group and their speed-skill.
Whatever your goal and abilities, the ‘3 x 30 minute question’ should highlight what the ‘defining moments’ are in your event and, hopefully, help minimize your doubt and maximize your confidence on race day. Once you have your 2–3 key workouts placed in your week, put 2 rest days in ahead of those hard days to ensure you are motivated and recovered. The remaining days will be ridden steady at 65–75% of max heart rate, avoiding sprinting and breathing hard. With this mix of intensity and frequent focus on the things that matter, your success is much more likely!
