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Need help 4 month training plan to race by May.

Old 01-11-17, 02:46 PM
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Need help 4 month training plan to race by May.

Hello! I need a little advice on how I should schedule my training over the next 3 1/2 months.
My opening race is April 23rd and I'd like to be in "good" shape at that point.

My former FTP is 248W but after an 8 month break (my bike was stolen and I lost motivation) I've started cycling again. After a week of cycling regularly to get my basic fitness back, I calculated my FTP at 198W.
(20min intervals x2 test). I'm not obsessed with numbers but I have been using power and heart rate for the past 3 years now.

I live in New England so long road rides are not an option for me. The snow doesn't clear up here until mid-late March. "90 minutes on the trainer at Zone 3" is awfully boring, even with a movie. It's also a literal pain in the ass, so I guess I need some variation.

I participate in hilly road races, 50 to 80 miles long, and Crits that are maybe 30 minutes long with sprints during the race. Gotta win those bonus sprints. : )!!

What trainings should I do and how should I break up my training between endurance, speed, power, cadence, hills, sprints, etc.

Thank you
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Old 01-12-17, 06:09 AM
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You need intervals...

-30sec full gas, 30easy, X5, recover and repeat.
-variations of 1-5 minute intervals at levels above your ftp, but below full gas, with easy spinning in between.

In my garage trainer, I can get myself totally wiped out, almost throwing up doing that first one:
-4 minute warm up
-30on,30off sprint.
-3 min. Easy spin
-30on,30off again
-3min. Cool down.

This is not the only thing you can do, just an example of a good workout that's not boring, and doesn't take long, and gets results.

90 minutes in zone 3 is not going to get you ready for a crit.
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Old 01-12-17, 07:47 AM
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Originally Posted by 12strings
You need intervals...

-30sec full gas, 30easy, X5, recover and repeat.
-variations of 1-5 minute intervals at levels above your ftp, but below full gas, with easy spinning in between.

In my garage trainer, I can get myself totally wiped out, almost throwing up doing that first one:
-4 minute warm up
-30on,30off sprint.
-3 min. Easy spin
-30on,30off again
-3min. Cool down.

This is not the only thing you can do, just an example of a good workout that's not boring, and doesn't take long, and gets results.

90 minutes in zone 3 is not going to get you ready for a crit.
Thanks, I'll try this one. There are so many interval workouts I can find online -- its hard to know which ones will work for me -- I guess the best way is just to try them all. Any time on the bike is good, in theory.
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Old 01-12-17, 09:57 AM
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Hi neighbor! First of all, I can totally relate, I got really busy for half of november and then sick the other half, and just in one month my FTP went from 265 (like legitimately holding that wattage on my trainer over an hour) to 230. over Dec I mostly just rode to increase volume, working my way up to 2hrs (all on the trainer).

I'm not really on a plan at the moment, I actually didn't race at all last year and am trying not to commit to anything yet this season while I take care of some other stuff. But I did have success in the summer/fall of regaining fitness I had lost last winter by doing races on zwift. It's a good excuse to just go out and ride hard for 60-90mins, I don't pay attention to catching up or beating anyone, I just find it more motivational to do the activity around other people who are also riding hard. Like I said, in late October I had done an event where I averaged threshold for the duration, so I definitely gained a good ability ride hard for a long time. Not that I'd do well in a race without working on vo2 type stuff, but I was in pretty darn good shape and I attribute that to zwift. Just wish I still had that FTP now, I'd be in good shape to start improving in other areas!
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Old 01-12-17, 10:04 AM
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Originally Posted by Panza
Thanks, I'll try this one. There are so many interval workouts I can find online -- its hard to know which ones will work for me -- I guess the best way is just to try them all. Any time on the bike is good, in theory.

I'll admit, I don't have a long-term training plan, but as far as individual workouts, I try to go find the "GCN training" videos on YouTube, set up my phone on my bike in the garage, and do the 20 or 30-minute ones.

For actual race prep, you'll want to think about things like building up for a few months, then tapering your training starting at about 2 weeks before the race, so you have some refreshed legs.

If you are looking at specific training plans, here's some good guide-lines:
-If the plan does not include intervals, but only long medium fast rides, it won't be as effective.
-If the plan does not include recovery periods, and a taper before the event, you will likely over-work yourself.
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Old 01-12-17, 11:42 AM
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Originally Posted by hubcyclist
Hi neighbor! First of all, I can totally relate, I got really busy for half of november and then sick the other half, and just in one month my FTP went from 265 (like legitimately holding that wattage on my trainer over an hour) to 230. over Dec I mostly just rode to increase volume, working my way up to 2hrs (all on the trainer).

I'm not really on a plan at the moment, I actually didn't race at all last year and am trying not to commit to anything yet this season while I take care of some other stuff. But I did have success in the summer/fall of regaining fitness I had lost last winter by doing races on zwift. It's a good excuse to just go out and ride hard for 60-90mins, I don't pay attention to catching up or beating anyone, I just find it more motivational to do the activity around other people who are also riding hard. Like I said, in late October I had done an event where I averaged threshold for the duration, so I definitely gained a good ability ride hard for a long time. Not that I'd do well in a race without working on vo2 type stuff, but I was in pretty darn good shape and I attribute that to zwift. Just wish I still had that FTP now, I'd be in good shape to start improving in other areas!
I got out of work at 4 yesterday and got home at 4:30. I got out the door and started pedaling and it was already dark and I was forced to finish my ride in the dark. At least we have hills though. : )

The weather today and yesterday has been warmer but the lack of sunlight is daunting when you have potholes and woods along your right and angry cars on your left.

Do I need to purchase anything special to start using Zwift?
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Old 01-12-17, 11:53 AM
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just a usb stick like this to get your power meter data https://www.amazon.com/Anself-Compat...rds=ant%2B+usb

if your power meter does bluetooth and you have a new iOS device, you can also run zwift on that (the iOS version doesnt do ANT+)

I haven't ridden outside since September
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Old 01-12-17, 11:58 AM
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Originally Posted by 12strings
I'll admit, I don't have a long-term training plan, but as far as individual workouts, I try to go find the "GCN training" videos on YouTube, set up my phone on my bike in the garage, and do the 20 or 30-minute ones.

For actual race prep, you'll want to think about things like building up for a few months, then tapering your training starting at about 2 weeks before the race, so you have some refreshed legs.

If you are looking at specific training plans, here's some good guide-lines:
-If the plan does not include intervals, but only long medium fast rides, it won't be as effective.
-If the plan does not include recovery periods, and a taper before the event, you will likely over-work yourself.
question, should all of my work outs be intervals on the trainer? Are intervals just superior to sustained efforts for training?
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Old 01-12-17, 12:00 PM
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Originally Posted by hubcyclist
just a usb stick like this to get your power meter data https://www.amazon.com/Anself-Compat...rds=ant%2B+usb

if your power meter does bluetooth and you have a new iOS device, you can also run zwift on that (the iOS version doesnt do ANT+)

I haven't ridden outside since September
OH. So I connect this to my computer, then my computer reads my ANT+ data, and then I can connect my laptop to my television and just Zwift away? (I assume I'll need a membership). This makes a lot of sense now!
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Old 01-12-17, 02:07 PM
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Originally Posted by Panza
question, should all of my work outs be intervals on the trainer? Are intervals just superior to sustained efforts for training?
Intervals are superior for training the types of efforts you will need for a Criterium race, AND are superior WHEN TRAINING TIME IS SEVERELY LIMITED.

BUT, you should not be doing max-exertion intervals everyday. You will definitely over train and burn out that way. Intervals like that should be Maybe 2, or at most 3 times a week, with easier, longer riding in between.

I'm going to use a running example, but the principle is the same:

*Let's say you are a slow runner, you want to really improve your 5k (3.1 miles) running time. There are 2 ways to do this, Run farther, or run faster, and both work pretty well:
1. Run WAY farther than 3 miles (maybe 7, 10, 15+ miles), often, at a comfortable pace. If you were to do this, and reach the point where you could run 15 miles easily, there is no doubt that you would then be able to run 3.1 miles at a much faster pace without exhausting yourself.
2. Alternativly, you could decide that you don't have time to run for hours at a time, in fact you have only 15-20 minutes a day to work out, so you decide to do sprinting intervals 3x a week: maybe something like: Jog slow 4 miniutes, Sprint 15 seconds, Jog slow 30 seconds, repeat 5-8 times, then jog a bit to cool down, and be done in 15-20 minutes. Your 5k time would also likely dramatically improve. I know this because I have cross-fit friends who NEVER RUN...and yet, because they do cross-fit (short, hard effort of exercise), they go out and run faster 5k's than they ever have before.

CAVEAT: Doing some of both is obviously best. I am in good shape, can run a 5k, and have a soccer playing physique, but there is No doubt the Olympic 5k champion could BOTH out-sprint me easily, and beat me in a 10 mile race. He has trained both long and hard.


Anecdote #2 - (back to biking) I generally Do 20 minute (total workout...hard efforts are less than 5 minutes total) bike intervals 2x a week, plus maybe one other 8-15 mile ride. I have a friend who does nothing like that on the intensity side, but rides 30 miles 5x a week, and often rides 50-100 miles on weekends.
***When we go out for a 20-25 mile fast group ride, we are right about equal. I do it with 1.5-hours on the bike/week. He does it with 8-12 hours on the bike/week.
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Old 01-12-17, 11:17 PM
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TrainingPeaks has relatively inexpensive training plans for sale. IIRC there are several 12 week plans. I don't recall a 16 week plan.
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Old 01-12-17, 11:28 PM
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2x20' sweet spot (90-ish% of ftp) is my bread and butter for lifting FTP in the early season.
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Old 01-13-17, 11:05 AM
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While April 23rd is my first race of the season, it's not my A-race. Those are typically in late July and early August when I plan to peak.

My I moved up my training start date from March to January.
My season starting power increased from 179W to 198W since 2015.
I typically peak around 248~256W at just over 3.0W/kg (July/August @84-82kg)
By starting earlier I hope to break the plateau and reach a goal of 270-280W by the end of 2017. If I can reach 3.4W/kg I'll have hit my goals : )!

Originally Posted by caloso
2x20' sweet spot (90-ish% of ftp) is my bread and butter for lifting FTP in the early season.
That's one exercise I remember because I punished myself with it about every month! : )

Originally Posted by Carbonfiberboy
TrainingPeaks has relatively inexpensive training plans for sale. IIRC there are several 12 week plans. I don't recall a 16 week plan.
Thanks, I started following the TrainingPeaks Youtube Channel and I was pretty impressed by their content. I'll have to give them a try -- I searched up their plans and it seems they range from about $60 to $140 which is very reasonable to me. $120 being the median for Winter Training plans.


Originally Posted by 12strings
I'll admit, I don't have a long-term training plan, but as far as individual workouts, I try to go find the "GCN training" videos on YouTube, set up my phone on my bike in the garage, and do the 20 or 30-minute ones.
I searched for the "GCN Training" video recommended last night and I was pretty happy with their 40 minute sweet spot exercise. It's really good content.

Perhaps it's because my Turbo trainer is an older model (I bought an older CycleOps for $50 on Craigslist) -- but when I started sprinting hard (cadence 130rpm+) the rear wheel started lifting off the trainer and it felt really unstable. Do newer trainers have this issue?

Last edited by Panza; 01-13-17 at 11:10 AM.
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Old 01-13-17, 11:37 AM
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Originally Posted by Panza
Perhaps it's because my Turbo trainer is an older model (I bought an older CycleOps for $50 on Craigslist) -- but when I started sprinting hard (cadence 130rpm+) the rear wheel started lifting off the trainer and it felt really unstable. Do newer trainers have this issue?
All trainers that keep the rear wheel on the bike will have this issue, some worse than others. Keeping the air pressure up in the tire and making sure it's snug against the roller will help.

To eliminate the problem you need a direct-drive trainer, in which the rear wheel is removed to mount the bike to the trainer.
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Old 01-13-17, 07:47 PM
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Originally Posted by jsk
All trainers that keep the rear wheel on the bike will have this issue, some worse than others. Keeping the air pressure up in the tire and making sure it's snug against the roller will help.

To eliminate the problem you need a direct-drive trainer, in which the rear wheel is removed to mount the bike to the trainer.
Thanks, I just looked it up to find they start at $600. ... I'll just focus on making smoother pedal movements... It's probably better for me in the long run. I think I've got enough resources for my winter training. : ) I'll report back after my training program with results ; )
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Old 01-24-17, 12:56 PM
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Originally Posted by caloso
2x20' sweet spot (90-ish% of ftp) is my bread and butter for lifting FTP in the early season.
Need to try the sweet spot for 2x20. I usually end up doing 105% for 20 minutes. Maybe bring it down a notch and make it longer.
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