Winter Training

Now is the time to start getting in you base miles. Below is just a start. I have pulled this from a couple of website.

The Sunday Stew ride fits into this. You all should come out.
What are base miles you might ask?

I think many riders neglect to get all they can out of their winter rides. The idea of the Long Slow Distance (LSD) ride needs to go by the wayside. Riding slow is a great way to train your body to ride slow. Of course it will build some endurance, but since most of us have a limited amount of time on the bike, it is not the most efficient way to do this. Moderate or Zone 2 rides are not what I would necessarily call easy. You shouldn’t be completely exhausted from them the way you might be from an interval ride, but you should definitely feel like you are pedaling the entire time.


Tempo Rides
The second workout that I recommend for the base period is the controversial zone 3 interval or tempo ride. For many years, riding in zone 3 (about 10 beats below threshold) was considered the “gray” zone. Too hard to be considered endurance training, but not hard enough to get any real training effect from. That line of thinking has changed and I had great success personally doing a lot of these over the winter. Basically, these are endurance workouts but done at a slightly harder tempo than usual to help improve stamina and speed at the same time. These usually last anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and a half and can be done once or twice per week.

If you have other ideas or want to put out here ideas. Please feel free to add you two cents.

See you on the trail.

This is great Jim. Would you consider posting some example workout schedules? I know that personally I have always done better with structured workout plans that take the guess work out of my training. These could include plans for several different levels of cyclist and maybe show progression through the winter or just post them week by week or month by month. I would be happy to help with this and I know that Slim has a lot of experience with it as well. Thanks.

I will post some examples within the next week or two. I also don't mind any help or advice. If anybody is an offical coach and would like to help out please feel free to do so. Have a great day and train smart.

Here are 7 types of workouts, pretty detailed. This is what I will be doing this winter, quality over quanity, right?

http://www.tacx.com/tacx-coach/trainingsprogrammas/index.dot

This is from Chris Carmichael's book. The Time Crunched Cyclist.

This is what I will be basing my training from starting 3 Jan. I am not a certified coach I just train to what has worked for me in the past. I am train to how my body tells me to. If I am supposed to go hard and my body just doesn’t want to perform then I back off and will recover for the next days training.

This program is aimed at an intermediate Cyclist, so if you are a beginner, you should adjust the training accordingly. You can decrease the number of days you train, and or the time/distances each day. This is posted here as a template. I will not be following the schedule exactly, but will adjust the workouts as needed to fit my schedule.
As always…train and race at your own risk. If you’re over 40, then go see your doctor before starting an exercise regimen.

If the looks familiar I took the above from Velo-doc to protect the innocent.

Monday 45-60 Min EM

Tuesday 60-90 Min Em 3 x10 SS 5 min RBI

Wednesday Rest Day

Thursday 60-90 Em Em 3 x10 SS 5 min RBI

Friday Rest Day

Saturday 90 Min Em 3x10 SS, 5 Min RBI or 90-120 Min Group Ride

Sunday 90 -120 Em

Week 2

Monday Rest Day

Tuesday 75-90 Min Em 3 x12 SS 6 min RBI

Wednesday Rest Day

Thursday 75-90 Em Em 4 x6 min OU 5 min RBI

Friday Rest Day

Saturday 90-120 Min Em 4 x6 Ou, 5 Min RBI or 90-120 Min Group Ride

Sunday 90 -120 Em

Week 3

Monday Rest Day

Tuesday 60-90 Min Em 2 (3x3 Min PI 3min RBI 8 RBS

Wednesday Rest Day

Thursday 60-90 Min Em 2 (3x3 Min PI 3min RBI 8 RBS

Friday Rest Day

Saturday 90-120 Min Em 3 x9 min Ou, 5 Min RBI

Sunday 90 -120 Em

Week 4

Monday Rest Day

Tuesday Rest day or 45 min easy spin

Wednesday Rest Day

Thursday 60-90 Min Em 2(3x3 Min PI 3min RBI 8 RBS

Friday Rest Day

Saturday 90-120 Min Em 2(3 x9min PI), 2 Min RBI, 6 min RBS

Sunday 90 -150 Em or group ride





Rest Between Interval (RBI )
Rest Between Sets (RBS)
Overunder Interval (ou) 86-90 % of Power 92-94 % HR
Power Interval (PI) 101% Power 100% HR
Steady State (SS) 86-90% Power 92-94% HR
Endurance Miles (EM) 45-73% Power 50-91% HR
Climbing Repeats (CR) 95-100% Power 95-97% HR
Fast pedal (FP) 108-120 Cadence

Changed the format so that you might be able to understand it now.