Matthew pushing and pulling me the whole way!
My official 2011 hard training schedule from Matthew started this week. I’ve had a great couple of months of unstructured training that were super good for the soul. I was still active, but just doing whatever I felt like on a given day. However, the regimented schedule is back and all the hard foundation work for the season begins now. Winter and Spring are always a big challenge for me mentally and physically because the general goal of this part of my training is to really pile on the workouts to get some major adaptations. It’s a delicate dance between flogging myself repetitively and recovering sufficiently so that I don’t get sick or overtrained. It is the hardest part of the training season and the results will not show until well into the Summer. It requires me to summon extreme patience and trust, not my strongest traits.
The Restwise recovery tool is essential during this period of the season because the workload is intense. Matthew expects me to be dipping into low recovery scores of about 50 to 60, then coming back up into the 90s and 100s after the rest days. If those dramatic peaks and valleys don’t happen with enough regularity, then he will change my training schedule accordingly, either ramping up the volume and intensity, or bringing it down if necessary. If I relied on just my perceived level of fatigue for this training adaptation, I would not see the results because I will “feel” very tired for most of this training block and would probably take it too easy.
Post Cape Epic
I have to admit that while I love the off-season freedom of just being able to go out with friends and do whatever sort of physical activity I want, I also really thrive on having very specific instructions from my coach. Having that guidance takes all of the guess work out for me and keeps me very honest with my training. For one, I know Matthew is going to look at my Restwise scores and my Suunto Movescount graphs, so if I do not do the work, he will know and I will feel guilty.
Also, there is simplicity and motivation in following a strict program. For example, I know the work that I will be doing next Tuesday and I know it will be HARD. Mentally, I’m already gearing up for it and looking forward to the rest day on Monday before hand. This will force me to eat better, hydrate, get a good night’s sleep in hopes of feeling strong for the intense work on Tuesday. It’s just like going to the office knowing you have a big presentation to give the next day. You prepare for it and show up ready to go.
Training with Matthew in Leadville. Even the day after winning the Leadville Trail 100, he made me go out and do a recovery ride. If he were not there, I probably would have sat around eating bacon, drinking coffee and resting on my laurels.
If any of you have been wondering about coaching and if it’ll help you, I can emphatically say YES! I attribute 90% of my success on the bike in the last 5 years to having a great coach. Without Matthew, launching a bike racing career would have been like trying to complete an Eco Challenge without a map. I could have pedaled in circles and worked hard, but would not have gotten anywhere.
Unfortunately for you, Matthew only coaches me, so you’ll have to find your own.
However, there are a ton of great endurance coaches out there. A couple programs that I know of that have had great success are Lynda Wallenfels Coaching and Carmichael Training Systems.
Both programs have different levels of service and both are educated on endurance cycling training. Lynda is a long time 24 hour and endurance mountain bike racer. She’s both book smart and trail experienced, so she can relate well to an endurance cyclist. My boyfriend Greg used one of her online programs to win 24 Hour SS world championships his 2nd year. Everyone’s heard of CTS and there are a ton of coaches there with a variety of programs to choose from. Regardless of your choice of programs, be sure that you hit it off personally with the coach. They become a mentor, friend and motivator, so it is essential for your success that you get along and understand each other.
Happy training to everyone! Good luck putting your head down and doing your homework.
Thank you Reba! Originally form Argentina, I somehow landed here in Alaska where I slowly got into mountain biking again. Frequent riding and some endurance races are getting me back into shape. My training has been pretty unstructured this winter (not easy to stick to schedule when temps are all over the place between +40 and -25F) . Anyway, thanks for pointing us to LW Coaching. I’ll consider using one of Lynda’s training programs this spring and summer to prepare for a more competitive ride at the Soggy Bottom 100 (http://aksoggybottom.com). Right now my goal is simply not to slow down my partner on the Susitna 100 (http://www.www.susitna100.com). You are awesome! Ride on.
First, congratulations on winning Mountain Biker of the Year award! Just read this entry. Good job getting right back into your training! I wish I had your discipline!