"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Critique My Training Plan (and other's plans)

Looking for a little guidance for my plan for next season.

Background: Second year of riding/training. FTP 235, 81.5kg (180lbs), 6 feet, racing collegiate and USAC.
My first real race (collegiate race) is February 7-8th, 14 weeks from tomorrow.

Stage 1: slow base and weight loss. ~15 hrs/wk, 4 weeks on, 1 easy at end, 2 weeks on, total 7 weeks.

Stage 2: raise FTP. ~15 hrs/wk 2 weeks of SST, 1 week easy. 4 weeks of 2 days SST w/ sprints, 2 2x20, 2 VO2, 1 off, then one week easy before first real race.

Stage 2 will have some races in it, and I'll just trade a VO2 day for a race day on those weeks.

Stage 3: Collegiate racing season, almost every weekend, both days. 2xSST during week, Monday off, Friday off, short VO2 Wednesday. Rest when necessary.

Stage 4: USAC season, races every other weekend usually. Graduating in between, so one week off to do all that mess and move from college. Race weeks same as collegiate, other weeks are 2xSST, 2 LSD to rebuild base, 1 VO2, 2 off.


Every stage has a 4 on/1 off weekly schedule, or rest as necessary.


Comments, concerns, questions?

Thanks guys, and feel free to post your own training plan to get some critiques.

You need to train harder and longer and race more

You need to train harder and longer and race more

Should I try winning too?

Should I try winning too?

Don't try too hard. Let it come naturally and have fun doing it. Or you'll piss yourself off and want to give up. (well that was me. not necessarily what you'd do)

My training plan:
Work to slowly increase FTP to 330 or better by March.
Include 2 V02 workouts a month through February
Lose 8 pounds to get to 155

Race season:
Recover more. Don't worry about hrs on the bike but hrs needed to recover better.
Race smarter (Don't jump at every little thing)
Don't be phunking pack fodder any more.

...
My first real race (collegiate race) is February 7-8th, 14 weeks from tomorrow.
...

14 weeks.

When you put it like that, it seems really damn soon. Even sooner if Orange County happens again this year.

14 weeks.

When you put it like that, it seems really damn soon. Even sooner if Orange County happens again this year.

Yeah, those were the possible races before the real first race.

And that first race weekend is a big one. I'll probably do two RR and two crits. I think we might have an ITT this year as well, not sure.

Unfortunately, our beloved crit course might not be available due to construction.

Heading into my first official race season this coming spring. Ghetto subscribing.


My current plan:

- More riding
- drop weight from 178 to 170 (by Jan) to 165 (by Feb)
- Join local club (in process)
- Buy power meter (guessing FTP to be between 275 and 300 based on stupid resistance curves from trainer...)
- Get FTP official numbers
- Better my FTP (I've noticed huge improvements already with the addition of structured interval training)
- get shamed in first race.

(guessing FTP to be between 275 and 300 based on stupid resistance curves from trainer...)


if even close...




- get shamed in first race.

won't happen.

Awesome, guys. By the time cross ends, Orange Co. & NC Sate races will be right around the corner. I guess this winter won't be so bad after all.

FB - Thanks for starting this thread, I was just thinking about starting the exact same thing during my walk this morning. I'll be chiming in with mine this evening.

if my memory is correct from the training status posts, you've been riding continually. given this, why dedicate a training cycle to "slow base"? you've already done this.

I would revise as follows:

Stage 1

Day 1 of ea. week -JRA w/12x10" big gear "power starts". Power starts are a neuromuscular exercise that you start from a trackstand in a 53x15 or bigger and start as hard as you can until you spin it out (should take 10 - 12")

Day 2 - mix a 2x20 at FTP or a pacing workout into your ride

Day 3/4 - SST

Day 5 - group ride - be active

Day 6 - group ride sitting in

Group rides will take care of your sprints

Day 7 - off

Stage 2

change the power start workout to something focusing on VO2Max intensities, like a 4x6', 5x5', 8x3' equal rest, look for 24 to 32' of "work"

other days same as stage 1

Stage 3

you're racing, but you still need to be building.

"work" day 1, when you're rested, do a tabata session, or multiple sets of 10x30" on/30" off
day 2 - ez ride
day 3 - AWC, 1' to 3' intervals
day 4 - ez

win races

dont forget to go to parties and talk to girls, you'll never again be presented with social opportunities so vast as when in college. ;)

Stage 4
ace finals, graduate, celebrate and dont worry about racing

when you get going again, go back to stage 2

take good notes about how you responded to each "stage" for planning the may and beyond of your season.

Looking for a little guidance for my plan for next season.

Background: Second year of riding/training. FTP 235, 81.5kg (180lbs), 6 feet, racing collegiate and USAC.
My first real race (collegiate race) is February 7-8th, 14 weeks from tomorrow.

Stage 1: slow base and weight loss. ~15 hrs/wk, 4 weeks on, 1 easy at end, 2 weeks on, total 7 weeks.

Stage 2: raise FTP. ~15 hrs/wk 2 weeks of SST, 1 week easy. 4 weeks of 2 days SST w/ sprints, 2 2x20, 2 VO2, 1 off, then one week easy before first real race.

Stage 2 will have some races in it, and I'll just trade a VO2 day for a race day on those weeks.

Stage 3: Collegiate racing season, almost every weekend, both days. 2xSST during week, Monday off, Friday off, short VO2 Wednesday. Rest when necessary.

Stage 4: USAC season, races every other weekend usually. Graduating in between, so one week off to do all that mess and move from college. Race weeks same as collegiate, other weeks are 2xSST, 2 LSD to rebuild base, 1 VO2, 2 off.


Every stage has a 4 on/1 off weekly schedule, or rest as necessary.


Comments, concerns, questions?

Thanks guys, and feel free to post your own training plan to get some critiques.

Move your VO2 workout to Tuesday.

if my memory is correct from the training status posts, you've been riding continually. given this, why dedicate a training cycle to "slow base"? you've already done this.

*snip*

Thanks for the advice. The only real reason I wanted to do the "slow base" was to lose weight. When I tried to do SST while losing weight, I had trouble recovering. I think I was burning too many carbs and not able to replace them all.

I wanted to do something where I could burn fat and lose weight.

Do you think I should just focus on getting just carbs/protein in order to recover, and try to lose weight while doing Stage 1/2? I might just not have been doing something right last time, or it could've been some other factor that was making me sluggish.

Move your VO2 workout to Tuesday.

Thanks, good call. Those weren't days of the week though, just the number of days I was gonna do it.

Good thread.

I'm a novice, started training hard in May. Did my first Cat 5 in September. I started participating in club racing in August.

I just started working with a coach last month. I have limited time to train hard, too much time in corporate America. He has me scheduled Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat, Sun. Tuesday and Thursday were scheduled off for me, as I have long work days.

A typical week would be:

M: 10 sets of forced reps -(start at 50 rpm in the 50x11 going slow and push down @ max power for 15 revolutions) - Similar to MDCatV's exercise above, Finish in Z2 1.5 hrs

T: Off - but I've been going mountain biking, light exercise, stretching

W: Tempo Ride, 2+ Hours. Zone 3

H: Off - Stretch a lot

F: Zone2 1.5-2 hours

Sa: 3 hr, group ride, 45mins Z3 minimum

Su: Free ride, 2hrs, "find some hills"

This pattern varies quite a lot week to week.

My first priority was to drop weight. From 180lbs in August, I'm now 164. My 5s power went from 900w to 1117w after the first month of a regimented program. I'd like to retest it soon, hoping for 1200-1300watts 5s power.

My FTP in August was 240, embarassing, I know. I wonder what it is now? How often do you guys retest?

I wanted to do something where I could burn fat and lose weight.


Don't ride slower because you want to lose weight. If you want to do that, count calories.

Seriously.

You have a powertap. You can keep track of how many calories you're burning every day as a base level and see how many additional you're doing.

Your body has more than enough calories to make up for a 500 calorie deficit.

No biggie.

You were probably doing too much. Also make sure you're not eating foods with too much sugar because that'll lead to the crash you experienced.

Baller, I'd do a mix of stage 1 and stage 2 between now and January 1st. Basically drop the slow riding from stage 1 and the vo2 from stage 2, and just focus on tempo and SST. 3 weeks on 1 week off would be pretty good. On the 'off' week I'd do everything the same as weeks 1-3 but cut the volume in half.

Monday: 2x20' @ 90-95% FTP + 1hr @ zone 2
Tuesday: 2hr @ 85% FTP
Wed: Off
Thurs: 2hr @ 85% FTP
Fri: Off
Sat: 3-4hr group ride
Sun: Off

I'm doing something very similar, but with a bit more volume.

Monday: 2x20' @ 90-95% FTP + 1hr @ zone 2
Tuesday: 2.5hr @ 85% FTP
Wed: Off
Thurs: 2x20' @ 90-95% FTP
Fri: 1.5hr @ 85% FTP
Sat: 5hr group ride
Sun: Off

Don't ride slower because you want to lose weight. If you want to do that, count calories.

I think you have to look at your off-bike diet, and make changes there if you really want to lose weight. I'm just learning this stuff but I gather I was eating too many simple sugars (french bread, pasta) and carbs, e.g. not all calories are equal.

Went from 165 to 150# this season by eating better, and also doing yoga a few times a week. Didn't see any core-type workouts in your plan FB, but you should think about them if you're not already. Both to shed pounds but more to make you stronger.

(I'll be Cat 4 in two more races, so take all this with a nice big grain of beginner salt)

ok, so who wants to coach me?

ok, so who wants to coach me?

I'll do it. I'm totally qualified. I'm a Cat 4 and I read a book once.

So here's my modified Stage 1, mostly taken from MDCatV (thanks) and adjusted to my school schedule.

M - 90 mins SST
T - off
W - JRA w/ power starts (about 90 minutes)
H - 2x20
F - 90 mins SST
S - group ride or MTB, around 3-4 hours with anaerobic stuff
Su - group ride or MTB, around 3-4 hours with anaerobic stuff

Core every day except Tuesday. I do crunches, planks, and bird dog (good for lower back).

Stretching every day except Tuesday (I want my palms flat by Spring).

Sound alright?

ok, so who wants to coach me?

stay N of the delaware mem. bridge.

that'll be $150, but theres a bf rebate for compliance.

So here's my modified Stage 1, mostly taken from MDCatV (thanks) and adjusted to my school schedule.

M - 90 mins SST
T - off
W - JRA w/ power starts (about 90 minutes)
H - 2x20
F - 90 mins SST
S - group ride or MTB, around 3-4 hours with anaerobic stuff
Su - group ride or MTB, around 3-4 hours with anaerobic stuff

Core every day except Tuesday. I do crunches, planks, and bird dog (good for lower back).

Stretching every day except Tuesday (I want my palms flat by Spring).

Sound alright?

looks good to me, remember to listen to your body and if you arent fresh enough for SST on Monday, dont hesitate to make it an ez or recovery day.

All said and done, I really like the 3 days on 1 day off approach that leo has been taking. It makes it easier to put yourself in a training hole and recover well after that. Plus, it gives you time to live life on every 4th day, which is real nice.

Here's my block 1 of base 1 plan: (Last week - Nov 16)

Weekly hours (last week): 11
Mon - 1 hr gym
Tues – 3 hrs z2 w/ a few breif anaerobic/LT efforts near the end of the ride
Wed – off
Thur – 2 hr tempo
Fri - 1 hr gym
Sat – Group ride usually 3-5 hrs
Sun - time to make weekly hourly goal in z2 or recovery pace as necessary

Hours increase linearly (1/week) until Nov16 when I will take a rest week before my next block.

Next base session sess gym down to 1/week with an inclusion of 2x20's (or other threshold workout) and on-the-bike strength drills. For the record I would like to be topping out (time wise) in early Feb. w a 17 hr week.

Here is mine
Phase 1
Ride
Phase 2
ride some more
Phase 3
Ride more

Eat what you want and have fun with it. You'll make a lot more with that degree than you will ever make in racing.

Don't try too hard. Let it come naturally and have fun doing it. Or you'll piss yourself off and want to give up. (well that was me. not necessarily what you'd do)

My training plan:
Work to slowly increase FTP to 330 or better by March.
Include 2 V02 workouts a month through February
Lose 8 pounds to get to 155

Race season:
Recover more. Don't worry about hrs on the bike but hrs needed to recover better.
Race smarter (Don't jump at every little thing)
Don't be phunking pack fodder any more.

Sub,
What % improvement over current FTP is this?
Is this improvement bigger/smaller/same than last year's FTP gains over the same time period?

Very curious as I seem to be in a similar spot.

As I forsee it, I'll be trying a few things differently this off season.

1. Not letting myself get really out of shape. I was doing 10' intervals @ 290w last december due to a completely lax Autumn. Right now, at the end of october, 2 hours @ 290 feels pretty easy. So a good start. I'll take a really easy week before I start the 2010 campaign for real, but right now, I'm training with a modicum of structure and goal orientation. I'm feeling like a break is in the forseeable future, though.

2. Race lighter this year: 4-5 kilos less.

3. Develop a deeper endurance Base by doing more rides in the 3000-4000 kj range to help with long race prepardness and also weight loss. I'd like to be doing 10000 kj weeks with little trouble. This means more Z2 than I'm used to.

Priorities will be:

A. Have fun, boyeeee!!

1. Keep weight down.
2. Stay familiar with FTP work. I'd love to boost FTP up around 400w for my first peak. A lofty goal, but I think I can do it.
3. Do 6 rides/month over 3000 kjs.
4. Average 45-52 hours and 40,000-50,000 kjs a month during Jan/feb/march.
5. Work my Sprint more this spring by going preme-crazy at early season training crits.

My training plan - starting with CTL of ~85-90 right now:
After this week's transition.
(3 weeks 15-16 hrs per week total)
Mon - 1x90 SST, total 2 hrs
Tues - Commute only
Wed - 1x90 SST, total 2 hrs
Thurs - Recovery spin
Fri & Sat 3.5-4 hrs, Long rides

(3 weeks 16-17 hrs)
Mon - 1x90-120 SST
Tues - Commute only
Wed - 3 hrs, VO2 intervals, 10 min rest
Thu - Recovery spin
Fri - 4 hrs, to include 1x60 SST
Sat - 4 hrs

(1 week, relatively easy - same as above, except drop the second SST session, reduce # of VO2)

Mini-camp, 5 days x 4-5 hrs per day "bury myself" riding.
That basically puts me at Christmas, taking 4 days off the bike completely, need to let CTL drop a bit at this point to keep from passing my breaking point.

1 week "groove setting" week after Christmas.

January:
Mon .. you guessed it 1x120 SST
Tue .. Commute
Wednesday - 3 hrs, 5-6xVO2
Thurs .. Recovery
Fri .. 4 hrs
Sat .. Hard group ride, plus ride to/from - total 4 1/2 hrs

Wash/Rinse/Repeat until February.

PS.. with any luck I'll be racing formula one tracks again in Japan by mid summer. woot

Going to try to ride 3-4 times during the week, hopefully about 60-80 minutes either on the road or intervals on the trainer. I will try to fit in a 45 minute run once a week, and then hopefully get out for 1-2 longer (>60) mile rides on the weekends. Goals are to loose weight and build a good base for next season.

I've set a plan through early March, though I always end up making changes. Forced rest weeks, beautiful weather, crap weather, etc all make me move stuff around.
I have November planned out for each day, Dec/Jan/Feb all have hourly goals for various blocks, and some notes as to what kind of workouts I should be doing. I go over each month at the beginning of that month, and each week at the beginning of the week, filling in some more details of the plan each time.

I've lost a bunch of endurance in the last month, though absolute power isn't too bad. FTP is sitting around 290 (4.63w/kg). Anyway, I need to work back into big hours over the next two weeks or so so I don't injure myself. That means I have a bunch of big days with plenty of rest afterwards, since I can't recover from big days very quickly right now. I think that will force my body to adapt to enduarance training faster than starting with low hours and working up. I'm going straight into long days, just increasing recovery time. Of course, this is only possible because I have years of base, so even when I'm out of shape I can still go put in 4+ hrs without killing myself.

So the next two weeks look like this:
Sunday: group ride, 3 hrs
Monday: off/easy ride. Spun on the rollers for 40 minutes tonight
Tuesday: 4 hrs with a training partner
Wednesday: easy, might spin for an hour
Thursday: 4.5 hrs, same training partner
Friday: 1.5 hrs cross bike or mtb, depends on trail conditions
Saturday: 4 hrs, climbing. I have a death route planned for later in the year, but that will be 5.5 hrs or so, so this weekend will be a shortened version
Sunday: 3 hr group ride, reset.

Friday ends up being a rest day really, so I only ever have two longer days in a row. Plenty of rest, still about 15 hrs for the week. I don't think, at this point, I can do more than two back-to-back 3+ hr days. In a month it won't be a problem at all.

After the first two weeks, it will look more like this:
Monday: easy
Tuesday: 4 hrs
Wednesday: 1.5 hrs, 2x30 min SST
Thursday: 4-5 hrs climbing day
Friday: 2 hrs, easy pace
Saturday: 4-6 hrs
Sunday: 3 hr group ride + 1 hr SST
reset.

That's generally what my life will look like through to the end of January. Although I don't work in a true weekly block schedule (sometimes Monday will be another ride, tuesday off, shift everything by a day), so things end up shifting over time. By the middle of December, my off day could be on Thursday, who knows. Plus I'll do a training camp in January that will be in the 30-35 hr range for the week. And the wednesday ride will get longer and longer.

By the middle of December, I'll be able to put in 20-25 hr weeks with some solid intervals (longer SST-type, 2x20's, some shorter stuff) but for the next two weeks at least I'll be limiting myself to Z2 efforts. I'm not working on building threshold power yet, only endurance so that later I can work on both at the same time. 5 hrs with 4 of them in SST range, anyone? That's the goal.

Comments/critique welcome. Some things work for me and not for others, but if you see any glaring idiocies in there let me know.

Plus I'll do a training camp in January that will be in the 30-35 hr range for the week. And the wednesday ride will get longer and longer.

By the middle of December, I'll be able to put in 20-25 hr weeks with some solid intervals (longer SST-type, 2x20's, some shorter stuff) but for the next two weeks at least I'll be limiting myself to Z2 efforts. I'm not working on building threshold power yet, only endurance so that later I can work on both at the same time. 5 hrs with 4 of them in SST range, anyone? That's the goal.
.

Ze: this is what i'll be doing too, though as a cat3, my time goals are shorter. I'm figuring on getting familiar with 3-4 hour rides @ tempo pace, then adding in intervals. My April peak is a series of 2.5-3 hour RR's with hills. I'll be planning on having loads of endurance and the familiarity with doing hard efforts after 3000kjs have already been spent.

Seems like you're looking for the same confidence/fitness.

Good luck, BTW on that PRO card.

-L

damn zecanon... Your schedule looks epic.

Comments/critique welcome.


What do you do for a living?

What do you do for a living?

I'm a student. Lot's of time.

You should specify.

You're a senior taking intro classes. Thus lots of time.

Student does not automatically equal lots of free time.

Ha, yes. I'm a senior done with my major finishing up "core curriculum" bullshlt so I can graduate.

However, last year even with five 400 level classes and a part time job I still had oodles of time once I figured out how to organize everything.

That was true last year for me, second semester.

I overbooked the class thing first semester. So it goes.

Makes sense about your current occupation.

I wish I had taken up cycling as an undergrad. It's a lot harder to find enough training time with a home, pregnant wife, and a 60 hr week job.

Definitely miss being an undergrad! I had so much free time too...

decided to bump this back up since I started intensity yesterday. Here's what I'm considering for a while.

M- off
T- 5x8' with 3 minutes between.
W- 2 hours tempo
H- 2 minute VO2 hill repeats
F- Pacing interval (STUCI)
S- group ride
Su- MTB 3 hours

decided to bump this back up since I started intensity yesterday. Here's what I'm considering for a while.

M- off
T- 5x8' with 3 minutes between.
W- 2 hours tempo
H- 2 minute VO2 hill repeats
F- Pacing interval (STUCI)
S- group ride
Su- MTB 3 hours

Huh. I'd switch t/h around just because I like to be fresh when I go vomit. And I'd probably make Friday a zone 2 kind of day, especially if Sa is a hard kind of group ride.

decided to bump this back up since I started intensity yesterday. Here's what I'm considering for a while.

M- off
T- 5x8' with 3 minutes between.
W- 2 hours tempo
H- 2 minute VO2 hill repeats
F- Pacing interval (STUCI)
S- group ride
Su- MTB 3 hours

that's alot of intensity, I dont think that i could recover properly with that schedule to continue it beyond a week and I'm pretty sure I'd get popped on the first hill of that group ride.

also, what's the point of doing a 2 minute hill at VO2? do 'em HARD, like you would expect in a race.

that's alot of intensity, I dont think that i could recover properly with that schedule to continue it beyond a week and I'm pretty sure I'd get popped on the first hill of that group ride.

also, what's the point of doing a 2 minute hill at VO2? do 'em HARD, like you would expect in a race. I guess it would be somewhere between anearobic and VO2. They'll be hard. And I'll ease off on Friday and make it couple hours of endurance instead.


Huh. I'd switch t/h around just because I like to be fresh when I go vomit. And I'd probably make Friday a zone 2 kind of day, especially if Sa is a hard kind of group ride.

Good idea. I'll do that.

that's alot of intensity, I dont think that i could recover properly with that schedule to continue it beyond a week and I'm pretty sure I'd get popped on the first hill of that group ride.

also, what's the point of doing a 2 minute hill at VO2? do 'em HARD, like you would expect in a race.

Yeah, that's why I suggested the zone 2 day on Friday.. I guess the question of "how hard are your mtb rides" needs to be thrown out there too, for me, mtb'ing is all zone 1 because I'm constantly running into trees and stuff...

FWIW I'm more of a 3:1 macro (weeks on/off) and micro (days on/off), and for older riders 2:1 has been working.

The other thing I like to do is progression, i.e. 10/14/18/6 hrs/week vs. just on/off.

The subtext here is that I'm really more of a stage racer than anything else, so I'm looking for an all around skill set and the kind of fitness that allows for a quick recovery. If I was going to be doing a lot of one specific type of racing I'd change that up and plan to when track NAts starts getting closer.

I'm in the middle of my own little weight loss program right now, on top of building back from illness and a break. I'm am somewhat crabby at times.