bodaciousguy

https://www.biketechreview.com/performance/base.htm

I Read this article by Kraig Willet. He suggests that Long miles for base are unnessary while 20 minute intervals will give greater benefit when building base. He explains it a lot better so just read it.

It sounds like a good idea but I always thought that if you do any intensity at all during the winter then you'd be too burned out by the time the season starts. What he says makes sense. Has anyone else tried this?

Duke of Kent

Yeah I've done intervals since January, been racing since February, and I haven't burned out yet.

MDcatV

Sweet, the first friel vs. coggan thread of the '07/'08 training year!

There's lots of literature here and at every bicycle training forum on this topic. I know lots of folks who do traditional base and win races - generally speaking, this seems to be more the training with heart rate crowd ... I also know lots of folks who do no more than 8 hrs./week, with threshold work year round and win races ... this seems to be more the training with power crowd.

bodaciousguy

But what about training with intervals through the winter? As in, maintaining last years threshold power through October-January. I bet if you didn't get burned out by that then you'd be friggin machine come race time.

Squint

The key to avoiding burnout is to do long slow rides of 6 hours a day on the trainer or in the freezing cold.

curiouskid55

LSM's are long steady miles, not long slow miles. You need to be in the upper end of your aerobic zone for the entire time..

waterrockets 

I do intervals year-round too. I love it. Base miles burn me out.

botto 

whatchu talkin' about Willis?

Snuffleupagus

Ohhhh

That's going in the sig.

NomadVW 

Once you go SST you never go back.

Stallion

Once a week I'll do 3 x 17 min at tempo watt workout and then a 1-2 x 20min effort at tempo watts a few days later. As the fall progresses and winter approaches, I'll start working on threshold stuff

Stallionforce

I think Willett's approach is better. But the truth is that maintaining intervals year-round will burn some people out. You have to understand yourself as a rider. I do lean toward having a taper at the end of the season, enjoy some cross-training, while still making sure I get some good tempo and threshold in -- I never abandon that entirely. But I'd burn out if I were blocking all year, or even doing 2x20's regularly every week.

mollusk

Not me. I LOVE them. The pain is excruciatingly lovely. I'll stop doing sprints and 1-minute intervals during the winter, but I'll always find a time to do these.

kensuf

While I thoroughly enjoy suffering, I have to say that I was feeling kind of burned out two weeks ago. Since 6-gap, I've just been riding easy, doing some strength training (focusing on legs and core), doing some running, and dieting to take off those pernicious pounds. Now, I do have an LT test scheduled on Thursday, so I will suffer a little this week..

My wife and I have also started doing a spin class together once a week, so I'm still getting some interval work in but also spending quality time with the honey, which will I hope will have a very good rate of return come January.

BTW -- myself and a few training partners are going to start doing a few times a week ride from campus at noon sometime within the next two weeks. We'll probably turn those into 5 minute and 20 minute interval sessions in mid-November, but without the 30s attack fests that we've been doing to each other on Tuesdays and Thursdays for the last six months. The first month will mostly just be zone 2/3 to let the body and mind rest.

mollusk

My lunch-time schedule is the suxor this semester. I either teach or have office hours otherwise I would try and find a way to join in these festivities.

On the other hand I have been quite diligent in keeping my Tuesday/Thursday mornings pretty open in the sense that I could get some work done the evening before to free up time during daylight. I might be able to get in a once a week morning weekday ride once evening riding is no longer possible.

NomadVW 

There are more ways to train threshold than 2x20's @ 100%. Try 90 min @ 90%, 1 hr @ 93-95%. 4x5's @ 105% with short 15-30 sec recoveries. Mix it up! The point is, take advantage of the off season to improve the FTP.

Duke of Kent

My personal favorite: 1x20* @ 105%... Another good one, that helps stave off the boredom, is 15s on/off. I do it at 400/200w, and it's pretty miserable once you get into the 20min+ range.

*It should be noted that I DO do a hard group ride after that.

bodaciousguy

Duke of Kent, you are an animal! My question is how do you live with yourself during the day with all that pent-up anger?

I've always thought it to be common knowledge to put in long base miles at medium intensity until the season started. Gonna start with tempo then move onto threshold this December. I'm pretty convinced now that it's mostly the racing/traveling that burns people out and not so much the training.

Duke of Kent

I give my coworkers indian burns, yell at little kids to get the hell off my lawn, and grind my teeth.

About your second comment: yeah, that about sums it up. I don't train hard enough to cause burn out, but long weekends in the sun, uncomfortable hotel beds, and people who steadfastly refuse to let me roll off the front at a sedate 25 per are probably the main reasons I'm ready for this season to be done.

Oh wait, it ended yesterday.