End of Season

So this year has gone really well... Finished off the WTTA Hardrider Hill Climb Series in a respectable 10th overall with most races finishing in the top 15. I wasn't too sure what to expect so it was more a case of setting the times ready for next season. I met some great athletes during the series and turned out to be great fun! Somehow it didn't even rain!

The training this year wasn't exactly great... There were a few half hearted attempts at some structured training plans earlier in the year where I was introduced to power (albeit virtual) and really got into researching proper training. 

I will use the excuse that my career at work with promotions and diy at home prevented that from continuing throughout the year but it was basically down to bad time management. Something I will learn for next year for sure.

Given the benefits of power measurement for both training and racing, I am finally going to be biting the bullet and getting a power meter in preparation for the winter training. More on that another time. 

I finished the hill climb season at the end of October and shortly after went on holiday (where I am currently). It's been a great oppertunity to review this years training, research next years and really begin to motivate myself. Just having these two weeks off is fuelling my need to get back on the bike. 

I have been writing down plans for next year and really feel like they are going to make a massive impact. It's going to be difficult to manage the time and I'm being very optimistic with training loads but it was never going to be easy.

Without going into detail, I am going to be focusing on a few areas:

Improve raw strength (gym)

Improve core strength and flexibility

Complete a base and speciality training phase in preparation for March WTTA series. 

Complete a full Trainerroad training package (Sweetspot Base, Short Power Build, VO2 Max speciality) in preparation for the Hill climb season.

In order to achieve this (along with work, diy and other life commitments) I'm going to have to sacrifice my mornings and weekend group rides. Weekends are going to be for DIY with intervals beginning at 5:00am. This will give me just enough time to wake, train, cycle to work, work, gym after (on selected days), cycle home, eat, yoga & core work, sleep & repeat. More specific details will follow once I get chance to load it all up :) 

Optimistic I know... And may be too much... But I will be monitoring my reaction to training (resting heart rate, power-heart rate comparison etc) so should get a pretty good idea of my ability to handle this level of training load :)