The off season training has begun, and here's the super long post to explain.
After the Okayama race, I took a week and a half off. Of course, it was one of the most gorgeous weeks and a half of weather we've had this year so far. It took a lot to not get on the bike, but it helped a lot that the bike was in the shop for an overhaul.
I've made a lot of changes for the coming year. First and foremost, I'm thinking about the coming year. Last year at this time I was just beginning to get the feeling that I might maybe want to road bike a lot more. It wasn't until December or so that I thought I should start setting goals.
This year on the other hand, I've got goals piling up faster than I can think about them. After my week and a half off, I've begun to work on my "off season." My off season this year will basically run from now until April. I've lined myself up with www.trainingpeaks.com with a self-coached training plan that will gear me toward competing with strength at the Tour de Kunisaki in May and the Okayama Circuit again in October. Those are my only "A" priority races for next year.
I've set a handful of other goals for the year, some starting as early as next month, and others for the coming months at the beginning of 2007 and forward. Some of my goals are as follows:
Zenitsubo Hill Climb in under 30 minutes. My personal best right now is 32 minutes 48 seconds. I expect to break the 30 minute barrier on November 26th this year during the Tour de Yuu. I'll need to drop some weight off the bike (and my body) to help me accomplish this one. I'll take the back brakes off, the big chain ring, water bottle cages, pumps, air, saddle bag, and anything else I can unscrew and remove and make the bike climb a hill.
Next goal for the year is a little more unofficial. I want to complete a personal solo century in under 5 hours. That's really a build up to my main goal.
The main goal is to complete the Tour de Kunisaki in under 4 hours 45 minutes. That would be good enough to put me in the top 5 based on last year's results. This last year I did it in 5hrs 13min. That was on a lot of inexperience for riding that distance and nutrition. This year will be much more focused training with this goal in mind.
After Kunisaki and a break, part 2 of the season will build to Okayama. My goal for Okayama is to podium for that event. This year's 11th place finish was more due to strategic error than anything else, but I certainly need to work on sprinting and pace. Part 2 of the season will focus on the shorter races. Along the way to Okayama my goal is to break the 1 hour mark for a 40km individual time trial. That event will be the bike portion of the Sprint Triathlon on base.
A lot of goals, but they're very specific and very doable. I'm taking the training this year to a new level of commitment. Here's the specific things I've changed:
1. No more distance based goals. I completed the 10,000 km for 2006 and then some. Next year is about time on the bike, and focused time. Annual hours should be at or above 500 hours on the bike.
2. Strength training. This started last month really, but this month through the end of January will involve time in the gym to training cycling specific muscle groups that can translate to that force to the pedals.
3. Power training. This is the monetary investment. A Powertap SL will provide me with the ability to quantitatively measure my power. I spent this year working with heart rate based training. Finding that heart rate is becoming very dependant on a lot of factors, power is the way to train.
4. Specific training workouts. This last year I pretty much just got on the bike and rode. You could say I just did a 9 month "base miles" training session. Now it's time to put what I know and the expertise of available coaches to focus effort with each time I get on the bike, whether it's training my ability to corner in a sprint or to simply get on and spend time recovering.
It looks like a great year to come. Here's to an injury free year, a dozen or more races, and goals met for the 2007 training year.
VW
After the Okayama race, I took a week and a half off. Of course, it was one of the most gorgeous weeks and a half of weather we've had this year so far. It took a lot to not get on the bike, but it helped a lot that the bike was in the shop for an overhaul.
I've made a lot of changes for the coming year. First and foremost, I'm thinking about the coming year. Last year at this time I was just beginning to get the feeling that I might maybe want to road bike a lot more. It wasn't until December or so that I thought I should start setting goals.
This year on the other hand, I've got goals piling up faster than I can think about them. After my week and a half off, I've begun to work on my "off season." My off season this year will basically run from now until April. I've lined myself up with www.trainingpeaks.com with a self-coached training plan that will gear me toward competing with strength at the Tour de Kunisaki in May and the Okayama Circuit again in October. Those are my only "A" priority races for next year.
I've set a handful of other goals for the year, some starting as early as next month, and others for the coming months at the beginning of 2007 and forward. Some of my goals are as follows:
Zenitsubo Hill Climb in under 30 minutes. My personal best right now is 32 minutes 48 seconds. I expect to break the 30 minute barrier on November 26th this year during the Tour de Yuu. I'll need to drop some weight off the bike (and my body) to help me accomplish this one. I'll take the back brakes off, the big chain ring, water bottle cages, pumps, air, saddle bag, and anything else I can unscrew and remove and make the bike climb a hill.
Next goal for the year is a little more unofficial. I want to complete a personal solo century in under 5 hours. That's really a build up to my main goal.
The main goal is to complete the Tour de Kunisaki in under 4 hours 45 minutes. That would be good enough to put me in the top 5 based on last year's results. This last year I did it in 5hrs 13min. That was on a lot of inexperience for riding that distance and nutrition. This year will be much more focused training with this goal in mind.
After Kunisaki and a break, part 2 of the season will build to Okayama. My goal for Okayama is to podium for that event. This year's 11th place finish was more due to strategic error than anything else, but I certainly need to work on sprinting and pace. Part 2 of the season will focus on the shorter races. Along the way to Okayama my goal is to break the 1 hour mark for a 40km individual time trial. That event will be the bike portion of the Sprint Triathlon on base.
A lot of goals, but they're very specific and very doable. I'm taking the training this year to a new level of commitment. Here's the specific things I've changed:
1. No more distance based goals. I completed the 10,000 km for 2006 and then some. Next year is about time on the bike, and focused time. Annual hours should be at or above 500 hours on the bike.
2. Strength training. This started last month really, but this month through the end of January will involve time in the gym to training cycling specific muscle groups that can translate to that force to the pedals.
3. Power training. This is the monetary investment. A Powertap SL will provide me with the ability to quantitatively measure my power. I spent this year working with heart rate based training. Finding that heart rate is becoming very dependant on a lot of factors, power is the way to train.
4. Specific training workouts. This last year I pretty much just got on the bike and rode. You could say I just did a 9 month "base miles" training session. Now it's time to put what I know and the expertise of available coaches to focus effort with each time I get on the bike, whether it's training my ability to corner in a sprint or to simply get on and spend time recovering.
It looks like a great year to come. Here's to an injury free year, a dozen or more races, and goals met for the 2007 training year.
VW