February's Training: Aiming for that 2nd Cat Racing License

My plan from January's update on my training status was to start building up the muscular endurance and training volume. I had a fairly steady January and here's my update from February.

February 2012 Training Diary

1. Day off

2. Steady turbo trainer session working on endurance and muscular endurance. Following a ten minute warm up I performed 30 minutes in 52*21 at a cadence of around 90 rpm. HR 175-180 bpm

3. Day off

4. Cross Bike ride for 3 hours in Sherwood Forest. Lots of ice on the roads so cross-country seemed like a good option. 2 hour ride through Sherwood Forest up to Thieves Wood and through Newstead Abbey with a hot chocloate to try to warm me up at Blidworth Woods Tuck Van follwed by a steady hour home.

5. Overnight snow meant roads were impassable. 2 hours on the cross bike in the snow up Bestwood Country Park. It was exceptionally hard work in the snow which many walkers had diced up but great fun all the same. 

Cyclocross in the snow- Sherwood Forest

6. Day off

7. Turbo 50 mins. 10 min warm up, 30 mins ME session in 52*21 then 10 mins easy recovery. HR 170-180 bpm. Ultra cold night so steady session as in garage

8. Gym- endurance session for whole body and core stability

9. Turbo 50mins, Steady Muscular Endurance session. Warm up then 30 mins in 52-19 HR 170-180 bpm. Very cold night so steady session

10. Day off

11. Turbo 50 mins as roads still treacherous due to compacted ice and snow. 10 min warm up followed by 30 mins in 52*15 gear. Strength element. Lower than usual cadence however cadence began to rise to 80-90 rpm by end of session as fluid trainer warmed up.

12. 80 miles 5 hours riding with Samcycling RT teammate Alex in the the Peak District. Met at Ambergate heading over towards Wirksworth, Up Via Gellia and down the Miner's Standard heading over to Bakewell. Up through Bakewell and through Chatsworth Estate before returning down the A6. Very hard ride as Alex is climbing well. Felt cream crackered on arrival home but a great morning's riding.

13. Easy night- sore legs from Sunday's ride

14. Turbo 50 mins. Strength and ME session. 10 min warm up followed by 30mins in 52*15 gearing. Cadence 80-90 rpm (Rising during session as fluid trainer warmed up) 

15. 1 hour gym session focusing on leg strength and back strength

16. Turbo 50 mins. Strength and ME Session. 10 mine warm up followed by 25 mins in 52*14 gearing with cadence 70-80 rpm although pushing up higher towards the end of the session. Hard work feeling like pushing through sand. Steady 15 mins recovery. Starting to feel much stronger

17. Day off

18. 70 miles- 4.5 hours riding in Derbyshire-heading into the Peak District including the climbs of Holy Lane from Ambergate, Part of the Via Gellia and then up Bonsall and Beeley Moor. Really hard ride. Mainly riden in the Big Ring. Tough conditions as very windy and started raining heavily once got up on the tops of the Moors past Bonsall until home. 

19. 75 miles 5 hours including riding steady with local club Mapperley CC on their Sunday Run. Rode out to Newark- Bottesford climbed up to Belvoir Castle before traversing into the Vale of Belvoir for coffee and cake at Rose Cottage near Plungar village. Nice ride. Steady with hard sections on the front particularly climbing up to Belvoir Castle which was very hard work. 

20. Day Off- sore legs from the weekend.

21. Day off- feeling rough as though virus coming on. Glands swollen and feel bunged up with cold.

22. Day off- feeling rough as though virus coming on. Glands swollen and feel bunged up with cold.

23. Day off- suffering all week but starting to feel much better ready for the weekend

24. Day off

25. 70 miles out through North Nottinghamshire via Newark and Ollerton up to Rufford Coach House Café with Mappperley CC including a chaingang section at pace for around 8-10 miles before the café. Stayed in control for this while coming through occassionally. After cafe the group stayed together until a further ten miles from home and finished with a further chaningang section alond the local dual carriageway/bypass road. A group of four had pushed on while the main bunch had been waiting for dropped riders and it took an almighty chase for the remaining 10 miles for a small group of us to get across to the breakaway group which contained mainly 20 minute Men for a 10 mile TT. Cracking training.

26. 60 miles out towards the Vale of Belvoir and Newark finishing up at a fantastic new café for the Nottinghamshire area- Newfield Dairy Ice Cream Parlour and Café at Hockerton near Southwell. This will undoubtedly become a regular haunt. 

27. Easy day as legs slightly sore from the weekend

28. 30 mile 1.5 hour evening road ride with 8* 30-45 second hard efforts on different sections of road. Rode into Sherwood Forest and hit the climbs of Rigg Lane (known as Tit Hill from childhood) and Bull Hill hard in the big ring. Powered up Bull Hill in the 52*21. Legs starting to feel ok for big ring riding- even on the winter bike

29. Easy 40 mins on the rollers.

My thoughts on the last month

• Strength is developing well
• Muscular Endurance greatly improved
• One midweek off due to virus but no other health issues.
• Starting to feel stronger in group rides
• Poor weather and cold temps limited use of interval training- more required in March

Steps Ahead for March

March could be a difficult month training wise as I'm away for 3 weekends of the month. 2 weekends skiing and 1 on my brothers Bachelor Party which will detract from training. Skiing will be great cross training and a good break for me however. 

• Increase intensity of interval sessions
• Integrate more race specific training
• Continue to work on endurance and muscular endurance

January 2012- My Cycling Training Diary (Honest)

Training for a cyclist starts to get serious when January hits so I've decided to publish my honest training diary from January.

January for me is base training and subsequently reflects that emphasis. In the past I've often been hit down by viruses around January/ February time so I'm taking a slightly different approach this year to ensure I do not perform too much riding too early in the season and get hit down by illness. To help with that I'll be using my training rollers throughout January instead of the turbo trainer I've used in the past and I will also be more aware on group rides that I do not need to always be competitive at the front of group rides when the pace goes down.

After the traditional Christmas binge on food and alcohol it's time to add a little more structure into my training and riding with the emphasis on Endurance, Leg Speed and some aspects of Muscular Endurance

January Training
1. 50 miles on bike- steady ride on my own in the little ring on the flat out towards Newark on Trent. Total riding 3 hours
2. Day Off
3. 50 Min's/ 20 miles on Training Rollers- Technique work on quarters of the pedal stroke
4. Day Off
5. 50 Min's/ 20 miles on Rollers- Technique working on quarters of the pedal stroke
6. Day Off
7. 70 miles into the Vale of Belvoir including 30m with local club Mapperley CC. Total 4 hours of riding
8. 80 miles/ 5 hours in the Peak District on my own. A steady ride with great weather. Including climbing the challenging Winster Climb from Darley Dale
9. Well earned day off after a big mileage weekend
10. 50 Min's- 20 miles on rollers. Muscular Endurance for 30 Min's in 53x17 at low level aerobic HR +- 160 bpm followed by 10 Min's technique work
11. 1 hour in the gym working on muscular endurance and core stability
12. 50 min on rollers. 10 Min's warm up followed by 4*5 min tabata intervals 6-8 secs hard 52*15 followed by 6-8 secs easy with 5 Min's recovery between sets.
13. Day Off
14. 70 miles out in North Notts. Minus temperatures should have meant a steady ride however joined up with Mapperley CC and turned into quite a hard ride with the group splintering on a long rolling road (I was on the front for most of it pushing 52*19/17 and then all carnage broke loose once I'd pulled off the front and it ended up single file with others pushing the pace) Maybe a little too hard for the time of year but nice to test the legs out.
15. Day Off- the minus temperatures of the previous day meant I felt pretty rough and felt like I needed a day off to ward against infection
16. Gym Night- 1 hour. Concentrating on Core stability and working the back + legs. Sets of >20 reps
17. 50 Min's on rollers. Easy day concentrating on technique
18. Gym session- circuit training. Really hurt. Not done circuit training for a number of years. Really blitzed ab's and leg muscles
19. 30 Min's easy session on rollers to speed recovery as legs very sore after circuit training.
20. Day Off.
21. Turbo Trainer Muscular endurance/ threshold session 20 Min's 53-21 15 Min's 53-19 90+ revs HR 180s total 60 Min's session.
22. Day off- feeling unwell. Bunged up.. Best to take day off than a week
23. Day off- feeling unwell. Bunged up.. Best to take day off than a week
24. Day off- Starting to feel better.
25. Rollers 45mins easy. Nice and easy session to get the legs back to being used to spinning.
26. Gym Legs and Core including some plyometrics. 1 hour
27. Day Off
28. 3.5 hours on road with Mapperley and rode through from cafe instead of stopping. Group broke up due to size so a lot of chasing back on required including the whole of the section between Averham and Newark Island involving a pro style chase back amongst the cars before drafting off a horsebox. When pace picked up became extremely hard. Need to improve strength still however still only January so pace was maybe a little too hard.
29. 3 Hours on my cyclocross bike in Sherwood Forest for a change of scenery. Freezing temperatures overnight meant lots of icy patches on the road meant it was a safe option to get in some mileage. Hadn't realised how much fun I was missing out on and got a fantastic workout too.

30. Day Off
31.Turbo Trainer session. 50 Min's Muscular endurance 
including 3*6 Min's at and slightly below threshold heart rate (187 bpm) 
1st interval 52*19 and 2* intervals at 52*17.


My thoughts on the last month

• I've steadily built up my training
• Legs feeling stronger
• I've been enjoying riding 
• I've managed to stay relatively healthy. 
• A few days off due to feeling unwell but no full blown virus.

Next month- start building up the muscular endurance and training volume.