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Training for Multiple Goals

Old 09-09-20, 09:50 AM
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DaveLeeNC
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Training for Multiple Goals

I have decided that I really need the occasional 'formal test of some kind' to keep me motivated on the bike. This is getting more difficult as I am now on the wrong side of age 70. This year was to be a repeat of last years Six Gap Century Survival (plus a local century). But I am not traveling to Georgia given the pandemic and the local event was cancelled. I can feel (and measure) my lack of motivation here.

An option for next year is (again the Six Gap Century (end of Sept.) and maybe a hill climb event (late August) in the northeast where I might be traveling at that time (call it a 45 minute climb in my case).

So the question is what changes do you make in training when training for both vs. training for just one (be it the hill climb or Six Gap event)? Just a discussion item for the group.

Thanks.

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Old 09-09-20, 10:15 AM
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First thing I'd do in your situation would be to re-think the August hill climb. It'd be tough to recycle in 4-5 weeks for anybody, much less when you're over 70.

Since you seem to like climbing, perhaps the Cheaha Challenge or Mt. Mitchell in May, or Cherohala in June (assuming, of course, they run on the same schedule as usual in 2021) would give you plenty of time to recover from the first event, and then train and taper for Six Gap. Of course, you'd probably want to start training hard earlier in the year.
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Old 09-09-20, 03:10 PM
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pdlamb - that is an interesting observation. My view was that a weekly/hard climb of maybe 45 minutes would be a wonderful addition to my normal training for either type of event (if I had the terrain in my riding area to do it). Granted a 'hard climb' and a 'race climb' are not exactly the same. But an extended recovery from such an effort (as opposed to short recovery) is not something that I had considered. An extended recovery from a hard century effort is different, of course.

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Old 09-11-20, 02:07 PM
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I am not quite sure of your question. Let me frame this another way. Generally, athletes can have one peak per season using a periodized training program. The peak is generated by matching the event fitness requirements to training efforts with a period of taper to allow the body to recover and peak before beginning to lose fitness. Other events that may occur before the peak are part of the training.

If you want to have two peaks, then there has to be a break. So it is very possible to have a peak in July and another in October but then there is a mid season break.

So that is all theory with some practical implications and you would have to add some 70 something sauce into the mix for good measure.

If you want to do a HC and then 6 Gap, pick one as the A event and the other as a B event. Just make sure that you can have recovery between and a build and taper leading into the next event.

The above discussion is different from doing events back to back and possible impact on performance. Two years ago, I raced a 6 mile GMR hill climb race on Saturday and raced track - 500 meter, team sprint, team pursuit and individual pursuit the next day. As I remember, it was okay. But I was not trying to peak for either one. Sometimes I race a time trial on Saturday and it seems to open my legs up such that I feel great on Sunday.
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Old 09-11-20, 03:12 PM
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FWIW, at racing age 71, I do not need a month to recover from a race before I do another one. A few years ago, we had a 30k ITT that was one week before the state championship 40K ITT and conventional wisdom for all athletes, masters and elites, was that if one did the 30K it would impact performance on the 40K. I can buy that thinking if the 40K ITT was the A race for the year. If one wanted to do two time trials a week apart, no big deal.
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Old 09-11-20, 07:59 PM
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I am not a racer in the sense of having a season. I tend to focus on a single event annually and that is my A race, B race, C race, etc. I just like to 'perform my best' in those rare races that I enter.

Personal preference makes the Six Gap my choice for next year (was to be this year). Personal circumstances lead me to another opportunity for a HC race 5 weeks before that. If this timing was reversed I would simply train for the Six Gap thing, recover for a week, and then have 3 weeks of sharpening and 'speed work' plus taper time for the HC.

But that isn't the order in this case. I am not particularly inclined to make one more important than the other. My inclination is to simply throw in a bit more over 100% ftp work prior to the HC event than I might normally do just for the Six Gap, and call it a plan.

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Old 09-14-20, 12:36 PM
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I don't think the hill climb is any different from any other hard training day, totally appropriate to do maybe once a month in a 6 Gap training schedule. It's the same TSS as a 4 X 8 X 4 105% FTP workout, totally ordinary, do it once a week. Well, maybe not that ordinary at 71, eh? You're an exceptional athlete, though.
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Old 09-14-20, 01:21 PM
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Well, Dave, you are human and have the same energy producing systems that respond to training duration and time as we all do.

In the planning seminars I have attended, the rule of the thumb is that it takes 6 months to get to a peak and then no matter what you do, you get slower. A season is about when events are scheduled that are of interest. And seasons are regional and depend on the weather. You will generally not see events scheduled in January in the northeast due to snow.

Hence the racing season typically starts in March and runs through July, I someone starts racing in March by August, they are ready for a break even though they may be ripping the pedals off the bike.

The typical protocol is rest in September and then begin strength and adaptation in October and move to the sustained long efforts such as climbing in November and December weather permitting or trainer. Depending on when the event takes place, you add specific interval work to augment the distance work and the keep adding shorter duration intervals at the event approaches and then taper and perform.

I would treat the HC as just another training day and in fact seek out HC races or practice HC time trials, The more you race up hill after you complete your strength and adaptation and endurance training the better you will do at 6 Gap. I cannot remember if you have hills to climb or your terrain is flat. I would suggest signing up for USAC time trials and HC races. You can do a one day license or join. And do not even think for a moment about age. Just do the events as beginner racer and ride your road bike. It is the training effect you are after and putting some pressure on yourself to perform versus just going out and riding the timing yourself. it is not the same.

IMO, the way to get fast for 6 gaps is lots of solid long distance work and lots of HC and time trials and then 6 gap. You will then fly up the hills.
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Old 09-15-20, 04:06 PM
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Carbonfiberboy, I have never been an exceptional athlete by any measure - but I am old :-)

Hermes, your description of the training cycle reminds me of something that Arthur Lydiard (distance running coach from decades ago) once said as a summary of his training philosophy (which was a bit novel in its time). It was (roughly - I read this in the late 1970s) "you train to maximize your endurance. Then you throw in intense speed work and try to get fast before your endurance declines". He had good success..

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