Originally Posted by mike868y

Thanks! I followed Friel's week guidelines and that has me starting "base" in early November and I can imagine getting pretty burnt out starting that early.

Originally Posted by ijgoodwin

So, I've basically taken this entire year off due to a combination of injuries, moving, and first child being born. I've ridden a grand total of 50 hours so far this year, but I'm finally feeling like I can breathe a little bit and can actually put in some more time getting ready for next year and beyond, but I don't have a ton of hours to train each week (maybe around 8-10).

I'm trying to figure out the best way to build a solid base during the rest of this year before I work toward more intense specialized training next spring. I work best on a structured plan, so 'ride lots' doesn't really do it for me.

I remember an old thread where Waterrockets posted his basic training plan that consisted of 4 weeks of easy/endurance riding every day, followed by 4 weeks based on SST, and then 4 weeks of specificity training with sprints, intervals, hills, etc.

I was thinking about just repeating the first two phases of this a few times until I need to start specificity next spring, as long as I was progressing on each of the phases each iteration? I do still have a decent grasp on what my weak-ass FTP is, so for example, the first 4 weeks I could shoot for 180 watts on my rides, then jump up to 220 watts for the next 4 weeks of SST. Then I would go back to endurance, but come back shooting for 190 watts, followed by 4 weeks of SST at 230 watts, and so on.

Does this seem beneficial, or am I better off doing something else? I don't really see the point in busting out a bunch of intervals or hills when I'm not going to be racing for 8 months. I think I'd be much better off working on a bigger base for myself...