Advice on splitting training ?

[CaptainDura]

Ok so now I am confused again..

 

There's been two races in the last 9 days, Knysna and the Dewdale classic. Both mtb in my case.

 

So my legs are stuffed from these 2 races.

 

Another race on the 4th of August (Stellenbosch)

 

And the Karoo to coast in 7 weeks time.

 

My question is, how do I approach the coming weeks. 

 

I want to do well in the Karoo to Coast so I am going to start a 7 week program for that. starting this week. it will contain resistance training and also intervals.

 

That will surely mean that my legs will take a beating with the training and intervals and will probably be toast by the time the Stellenbosch race starts. (which is right on the 3rd week where it will be peak training before an easier 4th week.

 

So do i just take the pain and race the stellenbosh race or do I actually switch the weeks around and take the easy week and taper in the 3rd week before the race and then do the heavy week after that (the 4th week).

 

 

[BikeMax]

 

Off topic and I do apologies, BikeMax, this morning I did some intervals (With Michelle's PowerTap ) in somewhat cooler conditions:

 

4x5 minutes at what was supposed to be 90-95% of max with 3 minutes recovery in between. I struggled to get my HR up and could only manage 88% of my max during the intervals, but if I compare my power stats with last week Monday's I was pushing 20-25W more! Is this because of the cooler conditions? I was still soaked!

 

Last week Monday I did the session at 17:15PM and this morning I started the session at 04:15AM. Why would there be an increase in power when I still sweated like BABE (That little PIG)

[/quote']

 

The beauty of HR....

 

If your power was good then they seem to be getting better - could be the cooling but also you are also getting used to doing these on the IDT and also maybe getting fitter..

 

I would not worry too much about HR for these sorts of intervals - just make sure that they are pretty much as hard as you can go for the duration whilst still completing the set.

 

Here?s some reading: (What?s your view on this?)

Sweating during exercise is a sign of an efficient cooler. An athlete who has adapted to keep the body core cool during exercise will shunt blood to the skin?s surface more quickly and release heat from the body. At the same time, the sweat glands increase their output and thus cool the body during sweat evaporation. While fit people produce more sweat than sedentary folks, they lose less sodium, because more of it is reabsorbed by the body. The result is a more efficient cooler.

 

Also?

 

Research shows that when you increase stamina and conditioning, your begin to sweat "more efficiently", or at a lower body temperature than previously. Sweating earlier in a workout helps the body better regulate core temperature in all climates and at all activity levels.

 

Now I?m confussssssed

 

[/quote']

 

All 100% correct - the more efficiently you can release heat the better, and this will be via sweat - but if you are not cooling the skin then the sweat will not be evaporating and you are not allowing your new "efficient" cooling system to work properly. You are also overtaxing it by asking it to do too much and as such keeping much needed O2 filled blood away from the exercising muscle.

 

[pastapouch]

hijacking cont. on some other thread you mentioned to use a fan when training on the IDT, doesn't it make you sick. Thats why I don't use it. Aircons/fans and myself are enemies.

[BikeMax]

 

Ok so now I am confused again..

 

There's been two races in the last 9 days' date=' Knysna and the Dewdale classic. Both mtb in my case.

 

So my legs are stuffed from these 2 races.

 

Another race on the 4th of August (Stellenbosch)

 

And the Karoo to coast in 7 weeks time.

 

My question is, how do I approach the coming weeks. 

 

I want to do well in the Karoo to Coast so I am going to start a 7 week program for that. starting this week. it will contain resistance training and also intervals.

 

That will surely mean that my legs will take a beating with the training and intervals and will probably be toast by the time the Stellenbosch race starts. (which is right on the 3rd week where it will be peak training before an easier 4th week.

 

So do i just take the pain and race the stellenbosh race or do I actually switch the weeks around and take the easy week and taper in the 3rd week before the race and then do the heavy week after that (the 4th week).

 

 

[/quote']

 

It really depends on how important these races are to you ?

 

If K to C is the "A" race then you need to be building fitness from now and as such may be compromising performance at the other races. Why not just use the other races as quality training and then try and peak for K to C ?

 

You can always reduce load slightly and take a day off prior to the other less important races.

 

[BikeMax]

 

hijacking cont. on some other thread you mentioned to use a fan when training on the IDT' date=' doesn't it make you sick. Thats why I don't use it. Aircons/fans and myself are enemies.[/quote']

 

How can a fan make you sick ?

 

Cool air keeps you cool - th eonly reason that A/C can make you sick is the recirculation of other peoples germs as far as I am aware.

 

If you get dry and changed straight afterwards then a fan will do nothing more than give you a comfortable exercise environment (in which to suffer like a dog)

 

What about windchill when out on the road at 30-40kmh ??

 

[Jason]

...maybe getting fitter..

Just a maybe huh?

Yeah HR sucks in a way... I was feeling good except for the 1st interval, had to get going you know... but the average over all intervals was 20-25W more as I said.

I then actually said screw the HR (Cause it was just not going up) and then just went accroding to how I felt... but when the HR did pick up I did ease off to keep it in the zone , you may ask yourself why? Why? Because I'm still training according to HR

Tomorrow's a little easier... looking at averaging 32W for 40 minutes

[pastapouch]

if the room is warm, and a cool wind blows directly on me  I'll have a headache to die from. And if I don't wear a beanie in the cold, same thing the next day. Guess I'm just prone to that.

[Floyd]

 

It really depends on how important these races are to you ?

 

If K to C is the "A" race then you need to be building fitness from now and as such may be compromising performance at the other races. Why not just use the other races as quality training and then try and peak for K to C ?

 

You can always reduce load slightly and take a day off prior to the other less important races.

 

THAT'S IT! That's the secret - at last Bikemax is seeing the light..just kidding.

 

Categorise your races A,B.C.

A=Where you wanna collapse/throw up/drop dead at the finish line in order to win;

B=here you wanna do well, but not as critical as A-races, little bit of rest before but not peaking;

C=for fun,experience,testing progress - don't have to finish

 

K2C is not very technical - I will mostly concentrate on tempo training.

 

One last bit of advice, when you have decided on a training programme(preferably by a reputable body like Bikemax etc), you stick to it and you trust it. You don't lend out your ear to anybody - you owe that to yourself firstly and secondly to your coach!

 

[boeing]

 

hijacking cont. on some other thread you mentioned to use a fan when training on the IDT' date=' doesn't it make you sick. Thats why I don't use it. Aircons/fans and myself are enemies.[/quote']

 

How can a fan make you sick ?

 

Cool air keeps you cool - th eonly reason that A/C can make you sick is the recirculation of other peoples germs as far as I am aware.

 

If you get dry and changed straight afterwards then a fan will do nothing more than give you a comfortable exercise environment (in which to suffer like a dog)

 

What about windchill when out on the road at 30-40kmh ??

 

Agree 100% its the fungus in really dirty Air Conditioners that make people sick!

Its like the misconception that its because its cold in winter that people get the flu (due to low immunity or some rubbish)! this is not true, its just the more common season to get the flu or cold! You can get them in summer as well! Hence why cycling in the rain wont be an issue at all either!

 

Back to the original topic

Racing can show you how to push yourself, the more races the better! You need a Long-Term goal that you should strive for, and the other races (short-term goals) should push you in the direction of your long-term goal!

 

So if your Long-term goal is the 94.7 for example, cut out races more or less 2-4 weeks before the event, but I'd say race pretty regularly as long as you are moving towards that long-term goal

 

[boeing]

It also comes down to your timing of recovery! If you time your next exercise properly (sometimes occurring on the same day) you could cause an effect called Supercompensation, where your body adapts quicker and the results come quicker (basically in lamens terms)