So it's the end of August now... it's
raining outside... summers been and gone (not that I remember having one!)...
and i'm sat here reflecting on this years training plan.
Back at the end of the winter, I have
to admit, I may jumped to the wrong conclusion on the whole winter 'base miles'
training philosophy. I had criticised it because I felt pretty rubbish at the
end of the winter. I wasn’t able to put in hard efforts. Interval sessions were
difficult to get motivated for… all in all… it was a bit demoralising.
That being said, the theory behind the
‘base miles’ is to provide a strong & stable base level of fitness to
develop on during the spring and summer. It develops your cardiovascular and
circulatory system so that when you start putting hard efforts in, there is
something there to work with, allowing you to train harder, for longer… and I
have to admit… it has done just that!
This year has been great in terms of
performance development. I’m not going to pretend I have stuck to my original
‘spring training plan’ but it’s been far more structured than the previous
year.
There were a few key areas I can pick
out from this year’s training.
- October-February – Base Miles
- March-April – Short 3 min Intervals
- May-June – 30 & 60 min Intervals
- June-July – Time trials & Strava ‘fun’
- August-October – Hills
The short intervals following the base
miles may have been a bit of a mistake. I had opted for these in a panic
following the winter training. The better option would have been to do the
longer intervals first, working down to the 3-6 min intervals for the end of
the season. Each stage of the training would have been a ‘base’ for the next
stage until the hill climbs at the end of the season.
As it happens, the training I have done
this year seems to have worked really well. I have reduced my 10m TT time from
25:46 to 24:04 (nearly broke the 24min barrier) and smashed plenty of PB’s
& KOM’s on Strava. The first hilly TT was last week on Stouts Hill. Last
year my time was 6:06… this year was 5:30 taking my first ever 1st
position! Feeling really strong at the moment… just in time for the hill climb
season. I have entered all the races in the
WTTA Hardriders Hill Climb series. Can’t wait!
