2015/16 Training Plan

So working off the back of my review of last years training I came to the conclusion that it was far from optimum. It lacked knowledge, planning and purpose... Not this year!

My plan this year will be based on the structured plans offered by Trainerroad and will be predominantly based on an indoor trainer. Trainerroad use a traditional phased approach to training with the use of a pyramid based plan. 3 phases... Base, Build and Speciality. The theory is simple... You build the foundation with low intensity, long duration... You build on the foundations with an increase in intensity and reduction in duration... Finishing with a phase specifically tailored for your discipline.

The phases take a total of 28 weeks. 12 base weeks, 8 build weeks and 8 speciality weeks.

Now this is where the conundrum occurs... Where to peak the fitness/finish the plan?

March/April for the WTTA Hardrider Time Trial Series?

The summer for the main time trial season?

September/October for the hill climb season?

All of which I want to compete in.

I've decided I will prioritise the hill climbs as this is what I enjoy the most and where I would like to specialise my cycling ambitions.

Therefore training will not properly begin until the end of March. This sort of works really well as I will be able to complete a 'mini' training plan between now and then to maximise my potential in the Hardrider Series :) It should also give me an opportunity to understand my limits and training loads before committing to the main plan. This mini plan will consist of the final 8 weeks of 'Sustained Power' build phase followed by '40km TT' speciality phase. I feel like the last few months have not been very intense so already have a basic 'base' to build on.

Trainerroad offer various versions of each plan depending on the number of hours you can handle... Or TSS (training stress score) your body can handle. I will be hitting it hard and monitoring my body's response to see if it is too much or not. I'm going to begin taking daily resting heart rate readings to see if I am recovering properly. If your HR begins to go up, it can be a sign of overtraining... Will see how that goes :)

On top of this... One area I know I am weak on is peak power. Basically, my girly pins and buns just don't have enough meat on them! Now I'm going to go against most of the recommendations out there and increase this with weight lifting. I have access to a gym through work and it is easy to fit into my routine. At this point in time, there is no research out there to suggest weight training helps increase functional threshold power (FTP). I don't understand why not... If you can squat more weight, surely it allows you to develop a higher FTP? We will see... :) I will be completing 2 leg sessions a week durning the base and build phases and reducing to 1 session a week during the final phase (something Trainerroad advise in one of their blogs). One thing I am going to be keeping close tabs in is my body weight... As much as I want more power, I need to carry that up hills. Power to weight ratio is going to be very important!

Note: On the back of some advise from a successful club timetrialist I have decided to remove the above strength training from my training plan.

To keeps an eye on the progress I will carry out a weekly review on how the training went and any subsequent issues I had to overcome...

Hopefully I will be getting a power meter next week and starting the first weeks training week commencing 30th Dec.... Watch this space :)