With autumn approaching and so the end of race season, how does everyone approach the off season? Is it a case of last race/event then couple of weeks off? I’ve wondered if there’s value in some end of season testing before taking a break to see exactly where My numbers got to as a marker for next year. I’ve made notes through the season this year about what kit I’ve used and how I approached and paced events so I can refer back to next year. Best thing this year was achieving the season goal
How’s your cycling year been? Have you achieved your goals?
Really good question. I’ve tried a number of approaches over the years and never been very happy with the results.
Typically my season ‘goal’ is a tough multi day tour around the end of August.
Having trained all year and piled on a lot of fatigue during the tour i’m always ready for a rest.
Sometimes after 1 week i feel ready for some unstructured riding, sometimes the brain still looks for any excuse not to ride the bike and I take more time.
At this time of year the weather is deteriorating and the days are getting shorter which makes training less appealing. The end result is I rarely get any productive training done until around December.
From a fitness/numbers perspective, such a long break from structured training is not ideal. Although perhaps having a good break is what allows me to really mentally commit to the hard training the next year.
Edit:
As for how this season went. Left things way too late getting started after an extended stay in couchlandria, which resulted in spending the entire season calorie counting and flirting with overtraining, but ultimately very successful.
Following because I’ve never had a good answer to this question. After an intense and punishing long tour in mid August and just two single-day events in Sept, I tend to take more of a break from the bike then I intend to, and I put on several pounds annually during this time. In addition, it’s that in between season, when the weather is chancy and the days are short for outdoor rides, but it’s too warm to switch entirely to indoor training until November.
I’m trying to deal with it this year by jumping straight into my plan to lose the weight I couldn’t while endurance training, adding back in a day at the gym, and committing to subbing either jogs or hikes for rides when the weather saps my motivation to ride. I’m hoping this will help me hit the start of indoor training season with some momentum.
@TTDragon My last MTB race comes up in 2 weeks. After that I had planned an unstructured week and then the Full Frontal prep week but I now have my eyes on a few more races - trying some gravel, one more short course MTB race and perhaps doing some cyclocross as well. I think a week of transition and then some testing before your off-season plan starts is a good option but you could take a longer rest as well.
So same as many, big train up this summer for a 100M next week, then planning to recover then spin up in October for a KoS beginning of November. Probably a couple of weeks to rest and recharge the battery w some easy stuff, then launch the “indoor” season. Will spend the rest of 2022 badge-hunting the remaining videos off the platform (mainly On Location and ProRides), and maybe try out RGT.
January starts spin-up for the ToS. Rinse and repeat.
So 2022 recap (hopefully): Nuclear ToS, 100M, KoS, complete all WahooX. Not a bad season. Grateful for a solid year of training with little illness/injury. Becomes more-and-more important as I pedal into retirement (next year!)
Was never really a thing with me until this year - I decided to do all the “Week With” videos in March, following the ToS, as sort of a change of pace. In the process I reviewed my profile online and realized how many of the different videos I’d completed just doing my training over the years…and saw the ones I had left.
So most of this summer, whenever I’ve had a ride scheduled by my plan, I looked to match up a similar ride (based on duration, TSS, “type”, etc.) from the list I’d not yet completed as a replacement. Got through all the Inspirations that way, so thought I’m probably close enough I could finish the rest this year.
This just got added to my winter training intentions!
Similar to @CPT_A, I don’t end up having a lot of downtime. Currently at the start of cyclocross season, and still have a 90 km MTB race and a 100 km gravel race to come in the next month or so. Then I’m into a solid indoor training season, after a short break after cross and the other outdoor races have finished.
Testing is always useful however bear in mind how long you leave between your final race of the season where you may go all out therefore the testing may not be as useful.
We also have a transition plan to help adjust your training: SYSTM
