"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - Adapting Hunter-Coggan "Bob Rider" plan for multiple TT peaks

Background info:

-- second year TT-only racer
-- races are 10k-20k TTs mostly flat, select few with rolling terrain
-- training with power since January
-- training approx 6 hrs/week
-- looking to peak for each of my TTs (10 races max for the season)

I'm doing the 16 week "Bob Rider" sample training plan in the Hunter/Coggan book. Though Bob and I have different goals, Bob is peaking for a 20k TT and the plan is aimed at threshold improvement.

I'm finishing week 11 now and I've had some nice FTP gains. My question: first race was last week and legs didn't feel as snappy as I would have liked. I realize the Bob Rider plan is designed for one peak at end of 16 weeks but I wondered if anyone has suggestions re: adapting the plan (or scrapping the plan completely and choosing a la carte from the sample workouts in the appendix) for multiple peaks.

I consider all my races "A" races because I race only every 2-3 weeks. By the time the season is over I will have raced only 10 times max.

Advice appreciated.

Thanks

Don't know the particulars of the plan, it's possible you need to reduce a day or two of work prior to your TT's. How much training time is spent on the TT bike BTW?

Don't know the particulars of the plan, it's possible you need to reduce a day or two of work prior to your TT's. How much training time is spent on the TT bike BTW?

Screenshot of plan attached, apologies for phone cam. Now that season is underway I'm on the TT bike exclusively except for longer weekend rides > 2 hrs

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g218/steelkilt/0401011125.jpg

Don't know the particulars of the plan, it's possible you need to reduce a day or two of work prior to your TT's. How much training time is spent on the TT bike BTW?

Screenshot of plan attached, apologies for phone cam. Now that season is underway I'm on the TT bike exclusively except for longer weekend rides > 2 hrs. In the image below Sunday of week 10 was my first race. Next race is Saturday of Week 13 and I don't like the way Week 13 is stacking up in terms of rest for the race. I'm supposed to rest Week 12 but I'm thinking of staying active for week 12 and resting more Week 13.

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g218/steelkilt/0401011125.jpg

I'm also following the "Bob Rider" plan. And likewise, most of my races are either TT's or hill climbs. However, I'll be starting week 7 on Monday. Fortuitously, most of my races follow my periodization rest week. My first TT is April 16, the end of week 8. My next race is two weeks later, after week 10. However, it's a short HC; my legs will likely be tired, but I'll use the race as a race-based ftp test. The next race for me is June 11. This is the end of the "Bob Rider" 16 week plan for me.

I'm using the "Bob Rider" plan since my profile, ftp, and goals closely match this fictional character. Also, the schedule fits my racing schedule almost perfectly, at least through June 11. After June 11 I'm on my own for the rest of the racing season. I don't see this as a problem. During these 16 weeks I'm learning what works and what doesn't work. Going forward, I should be able to create my own training plan.

Perhaps, you too, after 11 weeks on the plan, can venture forth on your own. Maybe you can't make every race and "A" race, so that you're not yo-yoing between hard/easy weeks. Just food for thought.

thanks wacomme, good point on A versus B races. Key issue is that my 16 wk plan was originally based on a May 7 race that ended up getting cancelled. Then when my schedule started coming together I realized I had important races in April that I wanted to peak for. It may be a good idea for me to start customizing the plan a bit.

thanks wacomme, good point on A versus B races. Key issue is that my 16 wk plan was originally based on a May 7 race that ended up getting cancelled. Then when my schedule started coming together I realized I had important races in April that I wanted to peak for. It may be a good idea for me to start customizing the plan a bit.

I'm new to planning too - thus using the "Bob Rider" plan. I'm sticking to the "plan" to see how I progress, but along the way I'm becoming more aware of how my body reacts to certain workouts. It's all a learning experience, but I'm hoping I can create a training plan after June 11 that will continue to show improvement. However, the overall goal is relatively simple - to increase ftp.

As a rule of thumb I like to schedule as follows:

rest day
opener
race

I shift scheduling accordingly to try to maintain the fatigue curve. For shorter events that are steady state a big taper isn't as crucial as just knocking off the ATL induced fatigue. When you run out to 40k the big taper helps me more, but still tapering before your big event isn't going to hurt.

I don't know a lot of racers who respond well jumping into a TT after a full day off, so the day before I like to spin the legs a bit and throw in at least three short simulated efforts at the power level you'll be riding at in the TT. It's a good time to visualize the course and get your head into the game.

For a lot of folks the more cumulative fatigue they have, the longer they need to warm up. Seems a bit counter intuitive but that's been my experience.

While threshold improvement is never a bad thing, the TT distances you're doing should be ridden at wattages over FTP, and I'd want to see a fair amount of work at 10/20 minutes >FTP. Depending on your makeup you can do a lot of FTP work and not improve the 10/20 number as much as if you concentrate on those specific distances. I base those time frames on what I'd be turning at those distances BTW, you might want to extend those out a bit.

As a rule of thumb I like to schedule as follows:

rest day
opener
race

I shift scheduling accordingly to try to maintain the fatigue curve. For shorter events that are steady state a big taper isn't as crucial as just knocking off the ATL induced fatigue. When you run out to 40k the big taper helps me more, but still tapering before your big event isn't going to hurt.

I don't know a lot of racers who respond well jumping into a TT after a full day off, so the day before I like to spin the legs a bit and throw in at least three short simulated efforts at the power level you'll be riding at in the TT. It's a good time to visualize the course and get your head into the game.

For a lot of folks the more cumulative fatigue they have, the longer they need to warm up. Seems a bit counter intuitive but that's been my experience.

While threshold improvement is never a bad thing, the TT distances you're doing should be ridden at wattages over FTP, and I'd want to see a fair amount of work at 10/20 minutes >FTP. Depending on your makeup you can do a lot of FTP work and not improve the 10/20 number as much as if you concentrate on those specific distances. I base those time frames on what I'd be turning at those distances BTW, you might want to extend those out a bit.

Thanks, this makes sense. Most of my > FTP work seems focused on intervals short than the 10/20s. I'd like to add intervals that look more like my actual races. What kind of warmups are you doing for 10-20k TT races? For my last 10k I warmed up for approx 50 minutes (15 easy, 3x1 @ 100+ rpm, short RI, 5 mins @ FTP, 15 easy). Wondering if I really need such a long warmup?? I guess this depends, as you say, on cumulative fatigue going into the race.