Kris Flatlander

Alright so I've got a dilema. I recently broke my tibia and so my base time for the season has basically been shot. I'm about to start off on the bike again this week (it's probably going to be a week of just transition to get everything back in working order).

While I could just start on the same base trajectory as I was on in late-January I have another commitment. I race collegiate and our season starts in two weeks.

So is there any way that I can mix base training while still racing every weekend, or will this plan simply eat away at both. Should I skip racing a work on base, or skip base and just race with more "build" type workouts? My first "big" objectives are in May by the way.

On a side note, I was thinking about replacing some (but not all) of my 4+ hour rides with Sweet Sport Training. Would training at a higher exertion like this make any difference to the question above?

Oh and on a final note, I race Cat 3/Collegiate A's where I do best in criteriums and time trials.

Thanks.

Caad 8

According to the training bible, if you miss a certain amount of time, you have to go back and make up what you missed. So since you missed base training, I would say you have to make it up.

But since your a cat 3 and you have years of cycling expirence, if might not matter that much if you skip it.

slim_77

based on the recent debate(s) on BF, I'd say SST is your friend. Best bang for your buck, but like you mentioned it makes sense to work a transition cycle. Perhaps a few weeks of proper base, riding every day low intensity just to start the adaptations and to prepare your body to do more regular and intense work on a daily basis. I've seen "transition" phases listed at 2 weeks, perhaps for you two or three?

I'm not sure about racing...is sitting in a crit going to do anything for you? perhaps: pack handling, getting the feel being near a sprint, testing yourself? I can't see how it would hurt anything but your wallet...just my .02

good luck, and aim for that late season peak!

umd

I don't think that you can necessarily make that assumption

kensuf

I did a full base prep including several 20+ hour weeks coming into this season. The first few races I felt really strong and was killing it, but then in the 2nd week of February I started to get sick from seasonal allergies. My training suffered, dropping down to about 8-10 hours a week for the last 3 weeks, and I wound up with an upper respiratory infection 2 weeks ago.

I raced my ass off this weekend and was in breaks most of the time. But I wasn't able to work as hard as I normally can, today I couldn't stay with the winning break so I missed a guaranteed top-4 in a well attended road race. My poor fitness right now is probably a combination of the lack of training and the phlegm in my chest..

I'd say try to get your hours back up to ~15, or so, and mix in the intensity to get yourself back in shape. But don't forget the rest you'll need if you're racing each weekend.. It's a fine line that you're going to be treading, but being in college, you'll have youth on your side.

Kris Flatlander

You're intuition serves umd, I'm only in my third year of real racing/training and I only really started doing 3+ hour rides consistently last year, if there's one thing I'm constantly looking to work on it's my aerobic engine. I've never had problems with sprints, 1 minute, or 5 minute drills, it's the long term efforts where I'm constantly working.

Slim_77, since I'm racing collegiate the only thing I pay for is food on the weekends. I'm more focused on racing for the betterment of the team (ie points for nationals) rather than sitting in to test fitness or what not.

Kensuf, the rest idea is definitely a good one. I'll really have to play things by ear these first few weeks, I had a major case of burnout by August of last year.

Caad 8

Tis' why I am the student and ye is the teacher.

MDcatV

this is what I would do:

do a modified base that concentrates on long rides a couple days/week (by long I mean 3 hrs. + at a mostly conversational intensity); and 3x/week do shorter (like 1.5 hrs.) with threshold development work, but not much higher. do this as 2 three 3 week cycles, with a recovery week in between. recovery week, maintain the volume but no intensity. after the 2 blocks, move into higher intensity work 2x/week w (like Tu and Th) a recovery day in between and keep doing the long rides on weekends. on race days, do some long riding after your race to get volume in. you should be able to race effectively but lack a little snap, but be building for what is a long season.

Apus^2

How many months of training did you miss?

ldesfor1@ithaca

i like thi9s, too.

I was going to mention the "long ride after races" part, too. A 50' crit is great for intensity work, then the 2 hours of z2 afterwards will hit the aerobic system, which it seems you'll need. This can suck, to have a great, fun race and then "have to" keep riding more, but enlist your teammates as post race ride buddies. Tell them it will make them way faster and enjoy the company!

Accepting that you wont race really well early on is also a great point. Race conservatively (probably wont have a choice!) and if you do get popped, settle in and enjoy the rest of the race course and get a great tempo workout to finish the race (assuming a RR).

Kris Flatlander

I missed a month of training.

MDcatV, I like that idea, kind of a base/build hybrid that segues into a true build. I'd never thought of the long rides after a crit but that also sounds like a good idea, I'll have to try to squeeze that in. However, racing A's means that I'm typically the last race of the day and we usually have drives that are ridiculously long so I'll definitely play it by ear.

ZeCanon

Big volume during the week, race+ ride on weekends, and train through the collegiate races.

MDcatV has the right idea, except I would keep your mid-week rides volume-centric until at least April. No threshold work yet.