Basic Training 3

Bob’s Training Plan Continued…

Last week we started to plan out Bob’s training plan.  We have an idea how many hours that Bob can put into his training and we put it into a chart last week, which looked like this –

So we can see that in Bob’s first week of base 1, Bob has scheduled 12 hours.  Most of this time will be taken up by his commute but he also plans to do a longer ride on the weekend and still maintain 2 days off from cycling per week.  The other thing to bear in mind when planning out your training is that you should try not to go more than 3 days without any cycling, as you will start to de-train.  Last thing you want to do is undo your hard work.

Bob has tried to keep his training sessions nicely spread out.  He has 3 harder rides during the week, with easier recovery rides in between and 2 days off.

50% of your rides should be in Zone 2 and the other 50% in  Zone 1.  Just like Bob try to do at least one

Zone 1 Rides

These should be as much about recovery as they are about time on the bike.  Be disciplined, don’t be tempted to jump on everybody’s wheel, not even if it’s a grandma with a basket on the front.  Set you own pace, if its hilly go easy.  It really helps if you have nice low gearing on your bike, especially if you live somewhere hilly.

Zone 2 Rides

Zone 2 is where your real endurance work is done.  But you’ll find your heart rate will soon go up if you don’t remain disciplined especially on the hills.

Days Off

Obviously for anybody with other commitments such as family or work its hard to have a proper day off, but at least try to eat well and rest your legs as much as you can.

If you want to have a day off mid-week, try an alternative way into work.  Bob has opted to take the train on Wednesdays.

Climbing

If you do live somewhere hilly and its hard to find routes which let your legs take it easier, then make sure your gearing is lower.  By all means have a wider ratio cassette fitted on your bike or consider a bike with a triple so you can spin easily.  Also when climbing, try to remain seated.

Sleep

Sleep is an important part of your training.  Getting a slightly earlier night will help you recover.

Week 2

With the second week, the basic idea is to up the training ours slightly.  In the case of Bob it’s another hour, so Bob decides to do another early morning on Monday to get an extra hours riding in.

Week 3 Recovery Week

When training your body needs time to recover.  The first 2 week should stress your body beyond what it is used to which should make it adapt to this new training load, however you need an easier week for these adaptions to take place and so you are rested before going into the next phase, Base 2.

Week 3 should be 50% of the hours you did in Week 2.  Bob will be catching the train home on an evening to save his legs.

By now you should have a pretty good idea about how to schedule your first 3 weeks of training. Next week we’ll take a look at Base 2. If you have any questions, just comment.