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| I heart my trainer! |
Training
If you had to describe my training over the last few years, it would be: Start strong early on in the year, then slowly fade all that work away through the remainder of the year. On the surface of it, that looks like the definition of insanity - Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
However the encouraging thing is how each and every year my slow fade into lazy bones keeps getting pushed later and later into the year! Here is a brief recap of the last few years:
2013 into 2014
What did I do? This was my first go at base training using CYCLO90 base training from Graeme Street. His base training plan is two blocks of six weeks for a total of 12 weeks. This first year I was just following along with his DVD's and going by RPE (rate of perceived exertion). If I remember correctly, I made it through the first six week block before I got lazy and stopped.
How did it go? I remember riding strong for the first few months of the year. It felt amazing! Of course as the year worked on I got slower and slower until I was back to my not-so awesome slothliness.
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| Moving my tubby butt around a crit race in 2014 |
2014 into 2015
What did I do? Take what I did the previous year, and add on TrainerRoad using Virtual Power with the CYCLO90 workouts! My first FTP test was a whopping 214 big ones, but man was the training THAT MUCH HARDER now that I wasn't just going on RPE. I made it through around week 9 of the CYCLO90 base training, and then fell off completely.
How did it go? If I was flying early on the previous year, this time I was a rocket ship! I vividly remember a group ride in late February or early March where I had no problems keeping up, and actually putting some hurt on people. Hell that year I got third place in the CAT4 Tour de Husker road race even though I raced like an idiot with a failed early break. This was also the first year of Mountain Bike Marathon Racing which was a great time that I horribly sucked at!
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| Heading to 3rd place at Tour De Husker in 2015 |
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| "Enjoying" my first Marathon MTB race |
2015 into 2016
What did I do? What a strange year for me. The start of the training season in 2015 had me doing TrainerRod with Virtual Power and CYCLO90 again. I was also heavy into fat biking, and was planning on doing the Frozen 40 for the first time. In April of 2016 I got my first real Powermeter in a used SRM!
How did it go? Man that was a year of some shit. My Wife Laura was having all sorts of weird GI problems which ended up being a bad Gall Bladder. The months before surgery had her on a crazy no-fat diet which I decided to go on with her and we both lost a butt-ton of weight. In that same timeframe her Dad passed away from a horrible battle with cancer (FUCK CANCER). Then in the middle of the year I decided to throw myself off my fat bike and separate my shoulder so I could also experience the hospital and some surgery.
Needless to say, training and racing took a back seat to life in many ways. At the same time that year was also the start of something new and exciting for me - training with a real powermeter and a smart trainer!
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| Racing the Farley 9.6 at Platte |
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| Same race, same fatty |
2016 into 2017
What did I do? I started last season off STRONG! I did the TrainerRoad Sweet Spot Base 1 and 2, then started into the General Build 1 before the wheels fell off. I was using the SRM power meter with KICKR SNAP smart trainer. This means I got through around 15 weeks of solid training. My best FTP was around 296. Then we moved into our new house, and I let that take me completely off my training / healthy eating habits for the rest of the year.
[tangent] If there is one thing I would recommend to anyone who is serious about their training, GET A SMART TRAINER! I would even recommend that over a powermeter as the good ones can give you good enough power numbers. You cannot fake it when doing intervals on a smart trainer. Plus you spend WAY LESS time screwing around with your gearing trying to find the right power for the interval. [/tangent]
How did it go? Man I was an A10 Warthog strafing a field of tanks at the beginning of the year. I had my fastest time yet at CIRREM by a long shot (granted, you couldn't have asked for better conditions...). I ended up with my first big "W" in a Marathon MTB race. I ended up with the overall series "W" for Marathon MTB.
I raced gravel, Marathon MTB, practice criteriums, and cross races. I also did the Dakota 5-O which was hilariously hard as that is late enough in the season for my slothdom to be fully engaged. I raced more times then I EVER had in a single year, AND WAS ENJOYING IT.
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| Enjoying the new Smart Trainer! |
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| Dakota 5-O! |
2017 into 2018
So what am I doing this year? Well to start things off, my base training got started in late December as I crammed three work trips as well as the holidays all into the last quarter of 2017. The work trip poor planning was all my fault as I tried to work around moving into the new house, and not wanting to screw up my training early season :). So am I screwing the pooch this year already? HELL NO.
I am doing the TrainerRoad Sweet Spot Base plans, and am currently a little over halfway through the second set of six weeks. This early in the season I am sitting at a 316 watt FTP which is the highest I have ever had! My weight is slowly coming down as well. I am feeling stronger and more confident in my training long term then ever. What makes up this confidence?
I decided to make a big change and move my workouts to about 8:30pm as opposed to my old 5:00am. Those seem like quite the extremes right? Well the idea is to be training when Logan is still asleep, so that means either an early morning or a late night. Two things this evening training has done for me:
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| Thinkin bout stuff |
1) I find it considerably easier to find motivation to hop on the trainer at night. I don't have to worry about getting to bed super early, so I can wake up early to work out. I still consider myself a morning person, but man is it easier to find the gumption to put out some power later in the day.
2) My workouts are very nicely fueled. When I would workout in the morning, I would get out of bed and be on the bike within 10 minutes. That means no coffee or fuel, which means workouts are harder, which means Tyler gets stronger slower. Now in the evenings I have already had dinner around 6:00pm, so by the time I am on the trainer my body is still thriving from all them tasty carbs.
The other big change is my Wife and I are on the same page with training and nutrition. We ensure that are "school nights" are healthy, and moderate. We don't drink any beer/booze on those school nights. In short we are on the same page which makes this sort of thing sustainable. Love my wife!!
Looking forward, I plan on finishing the TrainerRoad Sweet Spot Base plan and then jumping on either the Sustained Power Build or General Build plans. Sustained power makes more sense for the Marathon MTB I plan on doing this year, but you really can't go wrong with General Build either. Either way I am stoked to throw in some dirt time to fine-tune the handling skills.
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