Training

If you’re like me you sometimes have trouble sticking to your training plans.  Life gets in the way.  You get sick, you have to work late, your girlfriend has a huge family with some function you have to go to every few weeks, etc.  These things aren’t bad things, they add up to normal life.  They can destroy your training plan if you let it though.  I have found a few strategies to help keep on track.

Personal Challenges

One way to help stay on track is to create some sort of personal challenge.  Give your self something to shoot for and setup a reward at the end of it that you only get if you complete the challenge.

This has to be a significant challenge.  This has to be something that you couldn’t just go do at the start of your training.  It needs to be something that you will get a lot of personal satisfaction out of completing.

You can challenge your self to ride 5000 miles this year or complete 500,000 feet of climbing like this guy. 

Your challenge has to be big but also attainable.  Your challenge also has to put you in a position to improve your fitness or ability in some way. 

If you complete your challenge then you will be on track with your training and you can have your reward.  You will want to have someone else keep track of your reward and make sure it is someone that will not give in to your begging and will only allow you to have it if you earn it. 

Your reward could be as big as a vacation you have always wanted to take or some thing like a new mountain bike.  What ever it is just has to be motivating enough to keep you wanting it.

Goal Setting

Goal setting can help you stay on track with your training as well as your personal challenge.  You just have to know how to do it.

You want to set several goals.  You want to set shorter term goals that you can easily accomplish with a little work and dedication.

So lets say your personal challenge is to ride 5000 miles in a year and if you finish it you will give your self a new Specialized S-Works Road Bike.  If you don’t complete the challenge you haven’t ridden enough to justify the need for the bike so you don’t get it.

Now break that down into smaller goals.  You would need to ride about 96 miles per week to reach 5000 in a year.  That’s not that bad at all.  So that should be your weekly goal. 

Some weeks you wont make it.  Other weeks you will go over so it will all work out.  The important thing is to keep focused on that 96 miles each week.  If you ride a few nights a week and throw in a century every once in awhile or just some long weekend rides you’ll have no trouble reaching your weekly goal

The overall idea here is to find a way to break down you big goal or personal challenge into small steps that you can do every day or every week that will get you there.  By doing this it will be easier to stay on track and by keeping your eye on the prize and on completing the challenge you will be more motivated and focused making it easier to reach those goals.

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I’ve had a cold all last week that has managed to hang on all weekend.  I don’t feel bad.  I’m just congested in my head.  Its a head cold.  That’s why its still OK to train. 

Chris Carmichael and I’m sure I’ve read it in various magazines from Bicycling to Mountain Bike all say that as long as your aliments  are only in your head and not your chest, you should be OK to do easy to moderate training or riding.

You should not try and ride if you have chest congestion or a fever.  You should also not try and train if your head congestion is severe.  Your body needs its resources to fight off the illness instead of trying to build more fitness. 

If you try and train while you are sick, you are putting yourself at greater risk of the illness becoming severe and getting your body behind and not able to recover after the workouts.

So my personal guide for myself is as follows.  If I cannot do any one of the things on the list I don’t train:

1. Can I still breath deeply and freely through my mouth without coughing?
2. Do I have a fever?
3. Am I dizzy?
4. Do I feel nauseous?
5. Am I achy or sore?
6. Do I feel cold even though I shouldn’t?

All of these symptoms could mean that I am getting sicker or sick enough that I shouldn’t train. I’m not a doctor but this has worked for me and I’m sure it will work for you.  Of course you should seek the recommendation of an actual doctor if you are unsure.

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Cross training is one of the most important and helpful things you can do to prepare for the up-coming bicycle racing season. You might think that spending time on other activities is wasting time you could be spending on the bike but that’s not the case. Lets explore this.

Bicycling does not build as much bone mass

Bicycling is a low or no impact sport for the most part. That means that cycling does not cause the physiological adaptations that make your body build more bone mass. This may not be as important to you if you are younger but as you age, especially if you are a woman, this will be very important. So put on your running shoes and go for a jog every once in awhile.

Avoid Burn-Out

Cross training also helps you avoid burn-out by giving you something else to do for a while that is simply not cycling. Too much of any one activity is bad for us mentally and physically. We all need a break from our normal routines sometimes. Its best to take a break from the bike in the off-season pre-season so your mind will be able to stay focused when it really counts.

Teams Sports are a nice choice

Cross training allows you to play team sports like basketball or indoor soccer. This is great because you get to interact with other players more like, well, a team. You used to have friends, we all did. Playing a team sport during the pre-season can help you rebuild those friendships that we neglected during the racing season

Cross Training will make you stronger on the bike

Cycling is really good at working many of the major muscles in your legs, lower back, and lower abs, but many other sports that force you to move laterally like racquet ball or basketball, work entire muscle groups that get totally ignored on the bike. By strengthening these muscles you build a better base for your cycling specific muscles to work from. When the other muscles are strong your primary cycling muscles do not have to work to stabilize the movements as much making you more efficient.

Keep your aerobic base

The main thing to keep in mind during the pre-season, before the heavy training starts, is to keep as much of your aerobic base as possible. This is how you build performance from year to year. That means you should pick cross training activities that also give you a good aerobic workout.

Good luck and happy training.

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