"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - back to back race weekends, help with training plan

I have back to back races, both similar setups as far as terrain and distance, but having never had 2 races that closely not sure how to train for it. I have been building my training plan for the year, and just hit a road block there.

I usually taper for that week before a race, but I dont know what I should do to hold the taper across the second week.

any advice for my first real racing season would be helpful

thanks!

Brad

I'm sure what would change. Do the first race (is it an omnium???) make sure your nutrition and water intake is good for the week, do a recovery ride on Monday, some intervals on Tuesday, endurance ride Wednesday, recovery ride Thursday, rest Friday, race Saturday/Sunday
Rest, recovery and nutrition are very important.

Are these your A races? If not, don't worry too much about it. It is the norm to race every week during the race season and many times more than once in a week(or weekend). People usually won't taper or deviate at all from their normal training regime for a race unless it's a race of great importance to them(A race).

Joe Friel's book 'The Cyclist Training Bible' is a good resource for building an atp. I don't follow it to the letter but it definitely gave me a much greater understanding of how to build a plan, not to mention a good base of knowledge regarding training and especially periodization. 'Training and Racing with a Power Meter' is another pretty much must have if you're... ...well, training and racing with power.

I'm sure what would change. Do the first race (is it an omnium???) make sure your nutrition and water intake is good for the week, do a recovery ride on Monday, some intervals on Tuesday, endurance ride Wednesday, recovery ride Thursday, rest Friday, race Saturday/Sunday
Rest, recovery and nutrition are very important.

Or much more to the point, this^^

I'm sure what would change. Do the first race (is it an omnium???) make sure your nutrition and water intake is good for the week, do a recovery ride on Monday, some intervals on Tuesday, endurance ride Wednesday, recovery ride Thursday, rest Friday, race Saturday/Sunday
Rest, recovery and nutrition are very important.

This. Also, I would say that if you're struggling or just tired on one of those days, don't be afraid to cut it short or bail out altogether.

I'm sure what would change. Do the first race (is it an omnium???) make sure your nutrition and water intake is good for the week, do a recovery ride on Monday, some intervals on Tuesday, endurance ride Wednesday, recovery ride Thursday, rest Friday, race Saturday/Sunday
Rest, recovery and nutrition are very important.

Def. good advice.
We'll be racing every weekend from the end of Jan through the end of Apr and you definitely need to follow a structure like this. FL has an insanely long season.

For the most part, I race every weekend from April to October, and often twice in one weekend. My weekly training is generally broken down something like this: T/R = train, M/W= active recovery, Sat = train or race, Sun = endurance ride or race, Fri = off the bike recovery. If my weekend race is not an "A-race", then I train through, following the above schedule.

If I have an A-race on sat, I skip the thursday training session, and take that day off the bike. Then do a "pre-race ride", ie a few race pace "openers" on friday. If I have an A-race on sunday, I will either ride easy thurs, or do a 1/2 interval session, take fri off as usual, and do a pre-race ride on sat.

As everyone above said, watch your nutrition and recovery plan, as that can be as important as your training plan - especially if you have back-back races on a weekend! Eat right after a race, feet up, sleep well, avoid alcohol, etc.

If you race on back to back days you might die.

If you race on back to back days you might die.

correct.

although it may be the death of you, any normal training program should prepare you to race on back to back days/weekends/etc.

If you race on back to back days you might die.

The same is true for reading Bf threads. Let's be careful out there. Lot's of good advice above, I think the key is determining how important these races are. If they are B/C races, just treat the races as hard training days in your plan. If they are A races, get recovered. You can still have intensity during the week, but a little less duration and overall volume. You are not going to build any significant fitness during that week.

If you have good fitness built and are trying to do well in your races vs just screwing around, it would be good to do Mon active recovery, Tuesday either off or endurace ride (depending in if your legs are still trashed or not), Wednesday intervals, Thurs active recovery of maybe 1.5-2 hrs, Friday openers, Sat/Sun race.

You might use more intensity during the week if you are using races to train for an A race or not racing for results.

Racing 2 weekends in a row ?! That's crazy talk.


If you race on back to back days you might die.
Double crazy talk

I guess those of us that race twice in the same day should already be dead.

I was going through my race clip collection a couple weeks ago. I realized I did a lot of races over a short period of time in 2009:

May 24: Hartford Crit
June 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gwWhfZgsGo
June 7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu7dYAjylTg
June 13: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4S-lpiqb34
June 17: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSRsauBHAQA

If you look at a pro's calender (like the pros that do the Classics), they typically race Sat, Sun, Wed. Or, if you look at the Tour de France, daily.

If you're willing to push limits on fitness/fatigue you can get really fit by stressing your body. In 2009 I would normally race Sunday (crit, approx 1.5 hours riding), do a 2-2.5 hour group ride on Monday (hard), race Tues (crit, approx 2 hours riding), and race Wed (track, approx 3 hours riding). I'd rest Thu, Fri, do an easy ride Sat, repeat. I got very fit doing this.

In the past I'd do a similar schedule, doing races on Tues, Sat, Sun and group rides on Mon, Wed.

Give it a shot. Watch out for overuse or poor-adjustment injuries (usually the latter). Even after a 30+ hour week nothing hurts in an injury/sharp/painful way, I'm just sore.

good luck,
cdr

Racing 2 weekends in a row ?! That's crazy talk.


Double crazy talk

I guess those of us that race twice in the same day should already be dead.


If you race twice in a day you might die.

I raced 3 times in 2 days once. It wasnt pretty, but I lived to complain about it.

Since I typically do four-five races a week I'm usually interested in something like "how to peak for a Sunday morning race the third week in June when I've already had 30 odd races under my belt". The idea of races on back to back weekends being 'close' to one another is a bit hard to wrap my head around.

Dope

you people are all gonna die.

I raced 3 times in 2 days once. It wasnt pretty, but I lived to complain about it.


I did that last season, and that 3rd race was my one win of the season! I showed up thinking I didn't have much in the tank, which led me to sit in, conserve, and observe. Then I somehow got myself in good position out of the final corner, and just went for it.

Thanks for the advice and the humor guys! i LOVE this place.

what i got from this...HTFU! lol.

Thanks guys

Dope

http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2010/0921/oly_g_papp_600.jpg

If you race on back to back days you might die.

Gila was death times 5

If you race twice in a day you might die.

I used to do three in a day. My reign is the afterworld has been epic. Talk about crushing souls. No really. I actually get to crush souls.

http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2010/0921/oly_g_papp_600.jpg

Lowest life form on the planet.

Lowest life form on the planet.


Agreed. I thought the caption to the picture "Dope" was quite appropriate.

Papp is a drug peddling stoolie.

Back on topic, to the OP, I would focus most on nutrition and rest between the races. Massage, stay off your feet, etc.

Agreed. I thought the caption to the picture "Dope" was quite appropriate.

Papp is a drug peddling stoolie.

Back on topic, to the OP, I would focus most on nutrition and rest between the races. Massage, stay off your feet, etc.
For a week ?