Training plan "planner", thoughts on 2010
 

I've been dinking around with WKO, and it has way too many options for what I want. Basically I want something to detail out my cross workout plan (below) and so I can compare what I've planned versus what I've done.

Am I missing something with WKO that makes it easy to use or is there another site that would work for me? I was BOP (back of pack) fodder in the Cat 4's last year, hoping to stomp a few more people this season. I've been "racing" triathlon's this summer, so my bike specific muscles are so-so, but fitness is better than it's been in a long time.

Feel free to comment on my plan as well

Monday: rest/active recovery/core
Tuesday: 45 mins w/intervals (Tabatas most likely)
Wednesday: 30 minutes skills/weights/core
Thursday: 45 mins w/ intervals (2x20's)
Friday: 30 min run
Saturday: 60-120 minute "endurance" ride (Zone 2/3)
Sunday: Race/race sim

I'll gradually increase WO/ride times as my legs wake up, but probably following the <10% weekly increase that I've learned about in Tri. I have a Spinerval DVD that is pretty intense (No Slackers, one of the one's from the 1990's) that seems pretty good too.

I hope to get a coach/training camp for 2011, but this year is focused on learning more (I only did 4 races in 2009) and getting in some solid races. Hopefully enough to graduate to Cat3's at some point in 2011.

This all being said, I am a father of two young boys, and husband to a marathon runner (she has her own training needs), so I can't dig in 15 hours a week, but I don't know why you would need that for 30 minute races. :)

Back when I bothered keeping track, this worked well:
http://noelperlas.com/wp-content/upl..._planner08.jpg
But I can say from experience that the legs don't care whether or not you keep track of the miles.

The day before a race I ride down to the local park, do a few dismounts/remounts/figure-8s/etc, do a few "leg-openers", make sure the bike is running right, then go home. IMO there's no sense in doing anything more, bike-wise. Take care of chores, have some "quality family time", etc, so you can race with a clear mind on Sunday.

The day after a race OTOH is a great day to punish yourself. Then Thursday you can get another good day of quality without compromising your race day. I would make one of the quality days cross-specific, for example put together a circuit that takes about five minutes and has one nasty run-up, and do 5-8 HARD repeats with 4 minute rests.

Agreed. This is less about keeping track of miles and more for me to see if I can stick to a plan and give myself some sort of piece of mind come race day. It's an awful feeling knowing that you could have done something more but sat on the couch instead. I say this from experience.

I definitely see some truth in this. That seems to be a great pre-race Saturday ritual, and a +1 for getting some family time in before I soak up 6 hours with a CX race/travel.

This seems counter to other things I've read, in that Monday (or Sunday) is the day to just spin your legs out and recover. I trust in Flargle, as you've given me and others plenty of solid advice, but the analyst in me has to question conflicting advice. Thanks for reading my post in any case!

Jack Daniels (the world-famous running coach, not the Tennessee whiskey) recommends three quality days per week, and stacking two of them consecutively on a race week.
http://bit.ly/dsCTee

Now, he doesn't specifically recommend a hard workout the day after a race. But I think after a cross race, especially 30 minutes, it's not a bad idea. People double up weekends with two races all the time, of course.

Daniels also says at least two easy days before a race, and I agree with that too. So the other pattern is to stack quality days on Tue/Wed or on Wed/Thu.