How I have trained

I have been training constantly since I decided to race TCR in August, but it took a bit of time to find out how. I tried a few generic programs before I eventually decided to buy my own lactate meter and make my own

I have spent quite some time fine-tuning everything. At first, I planned a whole month at a time, but that was just a waste of time. I ended up being too ambitious, as the plan was based on “perfect conditions.” This type of training mix was also new to me, so I had no idea how well I would recover and how much volume I could handle.

Now I plan one week at a time, sometimes day by day. Each session is programmed to progress from the previous one, unless it’s an easy day. As long as I have a strategy and goal with the training block, this seems to work fine.

My main focus is to always have progress in my intervals. I usually don’t plan an interval that does not progress from the last one. If progress is not possible, I will just do an easy ride and save my legs. I adjust.

I have a minimum of one rest day a week. This rest day is just as much a mental rest day as a physical rest day. I also reduce the volume to about half every fourth week. So three weeks with full training, then one easier week.

I train strength 2-3 times a week. I tried 3 times a week at first, but it was too much and I struggled to progress with my bike intervals. So I adjusted it to 3 times one week, 2 times the week after, and so on. That quickly helped, and it seems my legs finally got enough time to recover. If needed, I will also only do one strength session during my rest week.

I have also adjusted how I train strength in the gym. I stopped training to failure and reduced my reps and the number of sets (on leg exercises). I add weight every time 5-6 reps feel too easy. I then usually start with 3-4 reps with the new weight. If I have a good day, I might do more sets, but I don’t increase reps. If I feel extra tired one day, I might swap out the deadlift with leg press or other machines. It just feels safer to push myself on a machine when I’m tired.

The problem with being a cyclist in the gym is that you have the aerobic capacity and endurance to do so many sets close to max (leg exercises). It’s easy to just do “one more” and end up overdoing it. It’s like with interval training; you should quit before you empty the tank. You should always be able to do one more interval at least. If I feel I can go on and on, I know it’s time to add more weight and reduce the number of reps.

As my legs are getting more used to the fatigue from strength training, I have started to experiment a little with a double session on the weekend. First, a strength session in the morning, then intervals in the evening, usually high-torque tempo intervals. I try to do 2-3 tempo sessions a week, some at high torque, others at natural cadence. The sessions are starting to get really long as I’m currently working on increasing the duration in the zone and not power. So I might try to add a little more power (but still tempo power) to some sessions, just to mix it up.

One of my favorite tempo sessions is one where I will combine different power levels and cadences but always stay in the tempo power range. For example, one will be 40min x2 tempo intervals, where the first 20min is 190w and the last is 180w. The next session I will progress with something like 50min x2 tempo, where I will do 30min at 190w, and 20min at 180w. This way I can be more creative with how I progress, and it makes the progress steps smaller but more frequent. I will usually do the lower power with lower cadence. Most importantly, it makes the sessions more fun. It’s important to mix things up to not get bored and burned out, especially when all my sessions are inside on Zwift.

I am also slowly adding more volume week by week. This currently happens naturally as my interval duration increases. I try to add volume by making my already long sessions longer, as I want to keep my shorter sessions short (max 2 hours).

Progress so far

Muscular endurance and aerobic threshold (LT1)

Progress seems slow if I only look at the numbers, but I can feel the difference in muscular endurance already.

Tempo intervals at 80 rpm feel a lot easier. I used to do all rides in my 1x8 or 1x9 gears, now all rides are 1x10 or 1x11. When I do go back to my natural cadence (90 rpm), and I have a good day, 190w suddenly feels like spinning, almost as if I’m not pushing on the pedals at all. I still struggle with intervals at 200w, though, which is something I will start doing more of as my LT1 seems to have increased a little.

I have been doing some lactate measurements, but it’s not always easy to compare and see progress. I know I did the testing wrong the first time (lactate strip touched my finger), but since then I have been getting better.

There seem to be a few changes, however. My baseline seems to have gotten lower, and my LT1 has improved a little. It is now around 180w, which feels correct. Here are all my measurements from the last few months:

Here is my tempo interval progression. Some are done at a lower RPM or higher watt, which means a shorter duration. This summary is a bit messy, as I have been adjusting the durations a lot based on my daily form. The main focus has been total time and RPM. I also like to change things up to not get too bored.

Strenght training

Here is my leg strength training progress in the gym (kg/rep/set):

I also do other exercises, but I excluded them to make the list smaller.

All in all, I’m happy with my strength progress considering that my legs are never really fully rested when I am at the gym. There is always some fatigue as I’m training my legs 6 days a week.

Volume (CTL)

I have been working on increasing my bike volume. This was a big struggle at the start of the winter, as long easy rides on the turbo were painful, and the strength training created a lot of fatigue at first. However, as I trained more strength, I also got more comfortable on the bike and less fatigued from the strength training. 2-3 hours on the turbo is no longer torture for my butt. This has made it possible for me to increase the bike volume finally. Now most rides are a minimum of 2 hours, some 3 hours. All training is done indoors, so at least the quality has been good.

My current CTL is around 80. Weekly TSS is around 600-700. I have been working my way up to 10 hours on the bike per week, something I just recently managed. With strength training, this means 13-14 hours total of training each week.

Challenges

I recently did two challenges, which were surprisingly fun and motivating. I will try to do more in this next training period.

The first challenge I did was the Rapha Festive 500. I failed on the last day with 60 km left. The sudden house hunting sidetracked me.

The second challenge I did was called Vulkanuka. My cycle club hosted this event, and it’s about riding the Vulcano KOM as many times as possible during one week. The more times, the more tickets you get in a lottery to win a jersey. The fastest KOM and QOM also got a jersey. I could not fully commit to the challenge, so instead I just did all my interval sessions on the climb and ended up with 28 rides (2 hours ride = 7 efforts). Nothing to brag about, but I noticed I liked these kinds of challenges and plan to do more. I like round numbers, so maybe one future challenge for me will be to ride 50 or 100 times up the Vulcano KOM in one week or so.

The winner of Vulkanuka did more than 100 rides up the KOM and was a female. The fastest time was a 13-year-old who did over 300w the entire KOM (he is < 40kg). The next generation is scary fast. I have already been outsprinted by this young guy on the track several times, so I don’t doubt these numbers at all.

Changes going into the next training phase

There won’t be too many changes. Instead, I will keep doing what I’m doing but try to do it even better. I want to do more challenges. I also want to do more tempo intervals around 200w and to do a few longer rides during the weekend. I will try and add 4-hour rides soon hopefully. Maybe even some longer ones. The extra volume will be mostly easy rides below LT1.

I also put some studs on my MTB and hope to do more outdoor rides in the forest. It just needs to stop snowing all the time so that the dog walkers can make the trails compact enough. I can’t remember the last time I experienced a winter with this much snow.