Compressed training plans?
03-04-10, 09:22 AM
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Compressed training plans?
I tried posting this in the training forum but got no response.
My wife is due to have our first baby in a couple of weeks and I know my avaliable training time is going to drastically drop, perhaps to as little as lunchtime rides at work and decent 2 or maybe 3 hour rides or so on the weekends unless I race that weekend. I have looked at Chris Carmichael's "the time crunched cyclist" and his stuff makes a lot of sense but I would like to know if anyone knows of any other programs, or books on compressed training schedules that are out there? I am not exactly expecting stellar results from training this year, but want to get as much as I can out of what time I have.
Any feedback on Carmichael's stuff would help as well.
Thanks
My wife is due to have our first baby in a couple of weeks and I know my avaliable training time is going to drastically drop, perhaps to as little as lunchtime rides at work and decent 2 or maybe 3 hour rides or so on the weekends unless I race that weekend. I have looked at Chris Carmichael's "the time crunched cyclist" and his stuff makes a lot of sense but I would like to know if anyone knows of any other programs, or books on compressed training schedules that are out there? I am not exactly expecting stellar results from training this year, but want to get as much as I can out of what time I have.
Any feedback on Carmichael's stuff would help as well.
Thanks
03-04-10, 09:29 AM
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i have a team mate using that program. he's killing things right now. he'll hit the early season rockin'.
remains to be seen how he holds up in july, but he's a good strong and smart racer who will figure that stuff out.
if you read the fine print in the carmichael book though, I believe it advises taking anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks off after a "peak" to recover from the stresses of training and racing without an aerobic foundation or "base".
having been where you are about to be, I would say it's a good option for you that I wish would have been around 3 years ago. also, it's taken about 3 years for me to again find a training volume that works for mine, my wife's and my daughters schedule without upsetting the balance in our home too much. so, you've been warned!
congratulations and good health to everyone in advance.
remains to be seen how he holds up in july, but he's a good strong and smart racer who will figure that stuff out.
if you read the fine print in the carmichael book though, I believe it advises taking anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks off after a "peak" to recover from the stresses of training and racing without an aerobic foundation or "base".
having been where you are about to be, I would say it's a good option for you that I wish would have been around 3 years ago. also, it's taken about 3 years for me to again find a training volume that works for mine, my wife's and my daughters schedule without upsetting the balance in our home too much. so, you've been warned!
congratulations and good health to everyone in advance.
03-04-10, 09:45 AM
#3
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3 one hour weekday rides, and 2 2-3 hour rides on the weekends is plenty of training time for the length of most events in the U.S.
That's 7-9 hours of training. you just have to make the most out of the one hour rides so that there's a lot of quality work in them.
You can do 2 days of intervals during the week (varying the type based on where your at in your training) and then one competitive group ride or race ( or long ride with some intervals) and one endurance ride on the weekends.
That's enough training to be competitive, with the possible exception of some longer P,1,2 road races.
That's 7-9 hours of training. you just have to make the most out of the one hour rides so that there's a lot of quality work in them.
You can do 2 days of intervals during the week (varying the type based on where your at in your training) and then one competitive group ride or race ( or long ride with some intervals) and one endurance ride on the weekends.
That's enough training to be competitive, with the possible exception of some longer P,1,2 road races.
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You could hit a tree and die.
OR YOU COULD STAY HOME AND FALL OFF THE COUCH AND DIE.
Last edited by merlinextraligh; 03-04-10 at 09:48 AM.
03-04-10, 11:31 AM
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I would say that 5 hours/week can be enough to stress the system, and allow for plenty of family time provided you have the right mix of workouts.
03-04-10, 12:04 PM
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03-04-10, 12:15 PM
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Thanks for the advice. I am sort of lucky that i live in a place with wide bike lanes on most roads and things so training at odd hours like after dark or really early in the morning should not be a problem.
One good thing is that I live right at 20 miles from work, and can leave my vehicle at work overnight, so a cycle of riding home from work, then back the next morning, leaving the bike at work and driving home and back the next day, all of this during the week affords me a 20 mile ride per day during work days, plus what I can squeeze in at lunch will help. Cool thing about the bike commute is that with traffic (SF Bay Area), it is only a little quicker to drive versus ride to work (hour versus 45 minutes or so).
I think to be competitive this year I am going to really have to approach training very focused and carefully, not my past style at all which was more just an alternating cycle of "ride as hard as I can one day, ride easy the next, hard the next, and so on"
One good thing is that I live right at 20 miles from work, and can leave my vehicle at work overnight, so a cycle of riding home from work, then back the next morning, leaving the bike at work and driving home and back the next day, all of this during the week affords me a 20 mile ride per day during work days, plus what I can squeeze in at lunch will help. Cool thing about the bike commute is that with traffic (SF Bay Area), it is only a little quicker to drive versus ride to work (hour versus 45 minutes or so).
I think to be competitive this year I am going to really have to approach training very focused and carefully, not my past style at all which was more just an alternating cycle of "ride as hard as I can one day, ride easy the next, hard the next, and so on"
03-04-10, 01:54 PM
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I've done the same deal with commuting one way. That way you can use the car to bring clothes and lock up the bike in. Worked prett well for me, and with traffic, it added about 15 minutes to my commtuing time.
__________________
You could fall off a cliff and die.
You could get lost and die.
You could hit a tree and die.
OR YOU COULD STAY HOME AND FALL OFF THE COUCH AND DIE.
You could fall off a cliff and die.
You could get lost and die.
You could hit a tree and die.
OR YOU COULD STAY HOME AND FALL OFF THE COUCH AND DIE.
03-04-10, 02:13 PM
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I'm a CTS'er as well. Or I should say I will be. I'm still hanging in "maintenance mode" right now since my first race isn't until 5/1. Don't want to peak too early. 
03-04-10, 02:23 PM
#9
King of the Plukers
I'm sure you've already considered this, but maybe commute both ways. That's ten hrs/week. Drive a day every week or two to bring in clothes, nutrition, protein shake fixins, etc.
Last edited by Spreggy; 03-04-10 at 02:30 PM.
03-04-10, 02:32 PM
#10
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My normal training used to be 3-5 hours a week, including a race. 2-3 days 1 hour/day, an hour for a race. Cat 3, reasonably competitive in "easier" races throughout the year (flatter, no road races or stage races, some P123 "motorpacing"). It's fun, keeps the racing going, and doesn't require a lot.
Now a normal week is about 7-10 hours (heavy volume). It'll go to 3-4-5 again during Bethel since I am too exhausted to ride until Wed or Thu night each week. I try and do more than an hour at Bethel but it's hard.
A lot of training for me is 8+ hours a week. Like all my free energy went into cycling.
I think commuting on the bike will be key. When I rode to work 2x a week (round trip so 4 hours of commuting during the week) I went from blah to winning races.
Thing is your family will be around a long time and, with kids, your family progresses relentlessly. First smile, first focused gaze, first words, first step, all that.
Your cycling can stop and resume and no one will miss it. There are a lot of Cat 2 Masters who had kids, took 10 years off, and are now winning National jerseys, races, and Bethels as Masters racers. If you're not a pro you can take a break from cycling. If you're like me and really need to cycle, you'll be happy with whatever you can squeeze in. For a few years, while my mom was sick, I rode once every week to three weeks. I managed to get some really good placings in races during that time. I also gained 30-40 pounds but that wasn't important to me. I rode when I absolutely felt the need to ride, and otherwise I didn't.
No kids but lots of nieces and nephews and friends' kids as well as much younger siblings that I helped raise,
cdr
Now a normal week is about 7-10 hours (heavy volume). It'll go to 3-4-5 again during Bethel since I am too exhausted to ride until Wed or Thu night each week. I try and do more than an hour at Bethel but it's hard.
A lot of training for me is 8+ hours a week. Like all my free energy went into cycling.
I think commuting on the bike will be key. When I rode to work 2x a week (round trip so 4 hours of commuting during the week) I went from blah to winning races.
Thing is your family will be around a long time and, with kids, your family progresses relentlessly. First smile, first focused gaze, first words, first step, all that.
Your cycling can stop and resume and no one will miss it. There are a lot of Cat 2 Masters who had kids, took 10 years off, and are now winning National jerseys, races, and Bethels as Masters racers. If you're not a pro you can take a break from cycling. If you're like me and really need to cycle, you'll be happy with whatever you can squeeze in. For a few years, while my mom was sick, I rode once every week to three weeks. I managed to get some really good placings in races during that time. I also gained 30-40 pounds but that wasn't important to me. I rode when I absolutely felt the need to ride, and otherwise I didn't.
No kids but lots of nieces and nephews and friends' kids as well as much younger siblings that I helped raise,
cdr
03-04-10, 02:46 PM
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03-04-10, 02:56 PM
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03-04-10, 03:03 PM
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My normal training used to be 3-5 hours a week, including a race. 2-3 days 1 hour/day, an hour for a race. Cat 3, reasonably competitive in "easier" races throughout the year (flatter, no road races or stage races, some P123 "motorpacing"). It's fun, keeps the racing going, and doesn't require a lot.
Now a normal week is about 7-10 hours (heavy volume). It'll go to 3-4-5 again during Bethel since I am too exhausted to ride until Wed or Thu night each week. I try and do more than an hour at Bethel but it's hard.
A lot of training for me is 8+ hours a week. Like all my free energy went into cycling.
I think commuting on the bike will be key. When I rode to work 2x a week (round trip so 4 hours of commuting during the week) I went from blah to winning races.
Thing is your family will be around a long time and, with kids, your family progresses relentlessly. First smile, first focused gaze, first words, first step, all that.
Your cycling can stop and resume and no one will miss it. There are a lot of Cat 2 Masters who had kids, took 10 years off, and are now winning National jerseys, races, and Bethels as Masters racers. If you're not a pro you can take a break from cycling. If you're like me and really need to cycle, you'll be happy with whatever you can squeeze in. For a few years, while my mom was sick, I rode once every week to three weeks. I managed to get some really good placings in races during that time. I also gained 30-40 pounds but that wasn't important to me. I rode when I absolutely felt the need to ride, and otherwise I didn't.
No kids but lots of nieces and nephews and friends' kids as well as much younger siblings that I helped raise,
cdr
Now a normal week is about 7-10 hours (heavy volume). It'll go to 3-4-5 again during Bethel since I am too exhausted to ride until Wed or Thu night each week. I try and do more than an hour at Bethel but it's hard.
A lot of training for me is 8+ hours a week. Like all my free energy went into cycling.
I think commuting on the bike will be key. When I rode to work 2x a week (round trip so 4 hours of commuting during the week) I went from blah to winning races.
Thing is your family will be around a long time and, with kids, your family progresses relentlessly. First smile, first focused gaze, first words, first step, all that.
Your cycling can stop and resume and no one will miss it. There are a lot of Cat 2 Masters who had kids, took 10 years off, and are now winning National jerseys, races, and Bethels as Masters racers. If you're not a pro you can take a break from cycling. If you're like me and really need to cycle, you'll be happy with whatever you can squeeze in. For a few years, while my mom was sick, I rode once every week to three weeks. I managed to get some really good placings in races during that time. I also gained 30-40 pounds but that wasn't important to me. I rode when I absolutely felt the need to ride, and otherwise I didn't.
No kids but lots of nieces and nephews and friends' kids as well as much younger siblings that I helped raise,
cdr
03-04-10, 03:49 PM
#14
Making a kilometer blurry
I've been competitive this season on ~5 hours/week. Not dominant in the 3s like I was at 7-8/wk, but still a factor, and I think I'll be winning again.
I pretty much keep a normal looking training plan in place, but dispense with any work in endurance and recovery zones. Everything is tempo or higher depending on where I am in my training cycle.
I pretty much keep a normal looking training plan in place, but dispense with any work in endurance and recovery zones. Everything is tempo or higher depending on where I am in my training cycle.
03-04-10, 04:02 PM
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carbon is too light
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One of WR's 40+ teammates is doing the TCC plan right now and is getting really strong. He podium'd in the 40+ open last weekend via break away. Hard to argue with results like that...
03-04-10, 05:19 PM
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I'm on week 4 of the TCC program. I had my doubts at first, but I'm really beginning to feel strong. I don't have a powermeter so I've been basing all the interval levels on HR, which presents issues. I still wear my HRM but I've begun to pace myself based on perceived effort. What's weird ( and a good weird ) is that there's hardly any tempo riding in the program, but when I do ride at tempo, my speed is a good 2.5 mph faster than before I started.
Saturday will be my first time on the local group ride since I've started TCCP, so I'll be interested to see if I'm as strong as I feel.
Saturday will be my first time on the local group ride since I've started TCCP, so I'll be interested to see if I'm as strong as I feel.
03-04-10, 05:20 PM
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Oh, and congrats!
03-04-10, 06:52 PM
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03-04-10, 06:59 PM
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if you can be successful racing on that little volume, rock it. i know that i wouldnt be able to sustain an acceptable level of race fitness from march to september with that little training. tried it last year, not on purpose, but that's how it worked out. I never really found much pop, and i fell off fitness wise in late july, hard, and started getting dropped inexplicably in august.
03-08-10, 05:56 PM
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I'm doing the TCC plan as well. I had a weird Dec/Jan and was able to put in an abnormally high number of hours but now I'm only putting in about 6-7 hours a week. So far it has worked OK, I've done pretty well in my first two races.
03-08-10, 11:04 PM
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Thanks for the advice.
ObGyn said Friday they want to do a C-Section this coming Friday, so it looks like lunchtime rides and the trainer in the garage for the foreseeable future.
ObGyn said Friday they want to do a C-Section this coming Friday, so it looks like lunchtime rides and the trainer in the garage for the foreseeable future.
03-09-10, 06:10 AM
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Thanks for the advice. I am sort of lucky that i live in a place with wide bike lanes on most roads and things so training at odd hours like after dark or really early in the morning should not be a problem.
One good thing is that I live right at 20 miles from work, and can leave my vehicle at work overnight, so a cycle of riding home from work, then back the next morning, leaving the bike at work and driving home and back the next day, all of this during the week affords me a 20 mile ride per day during work days, plus what I can squeeze in at lunch will help. Cool thing about the bike commute is that with traffic (SF Bay Area), it is only a little quicker to drive versus ride to work (hour versus 45 minutes or so).
I think to be competitive this year I am going to really have to approach training very focused and carefully, not my past style at all which was more just an alternating cycle of "ride as hard as I can one day, ride easy the next, hard the next, and so on"
One good thing is that I live right at 20 miles from work, and can leave my vehicle at work overnight, so a cycle of riding home from work, then back the next morning, leaving the bike at work and driving home and back the next day, all of this during the week affords me a 20 mile ride per day during work days, plus what I can squeeze in at lunch will help. Cool thing about the bike commute is that with traffic (SF Bay Area), it is only a little quicker to drive versus ride to work (hour versus 45 minutes or so).
I think to be competitive this year I am going to really have to approach training very focused and carefully, not my past style at all which was more just an alternating cycle of "ride as hard as I can one day, ride easy the next, hard the next, and so on"
