Structure in training

So this weekend so the completion of an eight week block of training for me consisting of five session per week. 

My aim at the start as I outlined previously was to get fitter, lose some more weight and improve my ability to ride faster for longer. 

Those were the initial goals I set before embarking on my programme, make sure you know what the goals are you are trying to achieve, otherwise the training will become vague and structure-less.  Goals are required (or outcomes) in order to establish the training programme. 

Structure is the foundation to any successful programme, the structure of your routine, training plans, time and diet. Structure allows you to concentrate on the job in hand, monitor performance and bench mark your improvements. Without structure in your plan you are not training!

I looked at the time I had available and worked on a plan that would help me achieve the outcomes I was looking for. Funnily enough reading an article in Cycling magazine there was a training schedule by one of the BC coaches that actually ticked all the boxes for me. So it was a change for me to follow a programme that I hadn't put together myself - note you are never to old or clever to listen to someone else! 

After eight weeks with most weeks hitting all the sessions I am pleased with the outcomes, my weight has dropped to 12 10lbs, I feel much fitter, on the bike I am faster, 11 PB's on a strava ride last Wednesday evening without pushing myself. The weight loss has also aided the speed I can climb (no surprises there!).

The next stage will now be to build on this foundation and see how I perform in some races - I shall keep you posted 

NB combined with the training programme I also looked more at my diet and made a few improvements, cutting out and cutting down, switching some food products for others. Nothing too dramatic as I eat pretty well anyway but enough to fuel the training and help achieve the weight reduction. 

weight Loss??

Weight seems to be a consuming issue with many athletes and general population as well. I need to be lighter, thinner, skinny, I used to be...... etc etc You know the score!
Since getting back into riding my bike, initially for the intention of shedding some weight that age & lifestyle was helping to increase, my weight has dropped from 15 stone down to 13 7lbs which isn't too bad, not waif like but after years of strength training & my genetic make up I am never going to be stick thin.
Last year I got more into doing what I started off doing over 20 years ago, working one to one with athletes, in this case cyclists.
Spending time looking at nutrition, fuelling training and racing, reducing body fat and working out training schedules fired my enthusiasm and the old brain cells.
Looking at my race performances from last year I knew I could do much better, the limiting factor was desire! training more / harder, eating better, losing weight are simple and achievable, the thing stopping me / us is the desire to do rather than the inability to do.
Whilst you think about that & start to compile your list to counter that statement, I work long hours (running my business), I often travel a lot, I have a family, house etc etc all place demands on my time (like everybody)
So this year (mid Jan) I decided that I wanted to see what I could achieve on a limited amount of time, so I looked at the time I have available and set about putting a training plan together, coupled with the aim of dropping my weight down to 12 7lb by the end of March. A mix of base miles and knowing that I had struggled with riding faster for longer some interval sessions to address this weakness.
So this week I am six weeks into the programme and my weight has dropped from 13 7lb at the start to 12 12lb at present so pretty much on track.
My training is going well with most weeks hitting the 5 sessions - NB I don't worry if I miss one through other commitments, I am not a pro athlete, podium contender so in the scheme of things it really doesn't matter to miss the odd session. What I am doing is looking at how I can fit the training in around my schedule, training later or earlier and even slinging the bike in the van so I can train.
In terms of how I feel and how that is transferring onto the bike is very pleasing. I feel much fitter, average speeds have increased and max efforts are now producing higher speeds and heart rates. Hit the North I felt strong and was riding hard right till the end, last year the last two laps were a struggle to maintain speed and effort.
Time will tell when crit season starts & I am planning a couple of forays into road racing too so lets see how it goes.

Hit the North

Dave H looking relaxed before the off - thanks to Sportsunday Photography

A lot has already been written about Hit the North in the week since the race but I thought I would add my ramblings to the collections. Like many I love this race, how can you love something that you know is going to hurt? Well if you are the type to pin a number on your shirt you probably have done all the thinking behind that already and the answer is..............? for me its the fact that I still can, I may not be pushing for a podium but I still ride as hard as I can and a race is where you can only really push yourself beyond your normal training sessions.
This is the fourth year I have done HtN and I have always ridden my cx bike but wondered what it would be like to ride my MTB so this year my plan was to ride my old Spesh Rockhopper for the first hour then swap onto my Spesh Crux. The Rockhopper is at least 12 years old and in no way light but I had a huge grin riding the course on it, berms, jumps, gnarly descents all just made my smile grow. I knew it was too heavy & I wasn't riding as quick as I could but to be honest I was having too much fun and contemplated doing the full race on it. Swapping onto the cx bike I decided to see how hard I could ride and the recent training I had put in came into play as I passed numerous riders. The Crux coped well with all the course could throw at it and it was only my misjuded line that nearly had me on the deck just as Dave H came to lap me - he promised not to tell anyone ;-)
So which bike to ride? well for me the cx bike was faster but if I had a lighter MTB then maybe I would have a different view. the MTB produced heaps of grin factor so I think if you can try riding both and make your own mind up.
All too soon the bell tolled for the last lap and it was head down and push hard through the pedals.
76th in the end which I was pleased with after three weeks of training and some quality riders in attendance.
Big thanks to Jason & Andrew for sticking with it and putting on a great event, marshall's for giving their time and shouts of encouragement / friendly banter, Alan for pit duties, the CSP guys n girls for the shouts, everybody else for the shouts and Dave & Laura from Sportsunday for the images and encouragement on the day
Roll on next year

2012 a recap

Not sure how anybody else found 2012 but I thought it flew by at an alarming rate. from a cycling point of view it was an interesting year with a few new things ticked off. A trip to Belgium with friend and riding partner Alan aka crossjunkie so us bunked down at the Chainstay in Oudenaarde a real cyclists house, with guys n girls from across the globe living there as they competed in Belgium. With some of the classic cobbles riden we savoured the great coffee with the egg knog shot and lived briefly the life of a bikie. Another first for me was stepping up and riding the crits at Preston arena, Matt my son loves riding there on a Thursday night, nearly as much as he likes the pancake and mess about with his club mates! so after much should I shouldn't am I good enough procrastination I signed up paid my £10 and had a go. fast & furious and I was out the back after a couple of laps, however i loved it, really loved it, blasting round corners sprinting across the start line really fired me up. I wasnt last which helped and it really improved my fitness levels - so if you are thinking should I, am I good enough etc stop thinking and have a go - some good 4th & ladies only races this year so no excuses. An 8th place at Palatine in a 4ths only race only fired my enthusiasm more - this year I aim to do all the 4th cats and see if I can secure a 3rd cat licience (watch this space) Another highlite for me was seeing Sam who I help coach start to make inroads into the under 23 race scene and bag a great win after 80 miles, the great news was him securing a place on the Sportscover development team for 2013. If all goes well Sam's progression will continue and we shall see him in a pro team before too long. Again I organised the CSP cross race at the new venue of Waddow Hall, we even had a ladies only race too - see earlier posts. Great venue, great help from all the club made this a fantastic day. I have booked the venue for this year and Alan & I have more ideas to improve the course and make this one of the best in the NW!! We also ran some ladies only training which not only was great fun but showed that ladies want to ride their bikes, race and have fun - more to come this year So 2013 what will that bring? Hit the North will be the first race of the year for me, great race, well organised, well attended and fantastic fun. Possibly the Spring Classic road race. March I will be at BC taking my level 2 coaching award which will be interesting,lets see where that leads? Then I aim to do some crits and try some road races possibly see if I can get my Cat 3 liceince

Womens CX Race why Bother?

Last year when considering the next Cycle Sport Pendle cross races the thought occurred to have a ladies only race, when I floated this as an idea on my FB page & twitter Cheryl King of CKingImages Photography dropped me a line and said do it and she would sponsor it. Easy as that? NWWCA organisers meeting and the idea got a rather non plused reaction, why do it, they won't ride, women are happy to race amongst the men were a few of the observations that were made around the table. I really wanted the race to be counted against the league, however that wasn't going to happen, (slowly slowly catch the monkey), but by the end a few organisers were starting to see that it wasnt such a daft idea and the thought of a mini series to run along side the league next season was floated. All eyes would be on the Ladies race at Waddow - nothing like a little pressure. So Alan aka crossjunkie & I set out to create a course that would allow ladies to taste cx racing without it being too difficult or testing, but was that enough to simply design a course that would hopefully appeal? The answer I think was no, so we decided to try to start some ladies only training sessions that would help with techniques required in cx and to give ladies a chance to aquire them with other ladies. The first session we had ten ladies pitch up and learn how to dismount, remount, tackle a hurdle and ride around in mud. All left with a smile on their faces and nothing brocken. over the months we ran more sessions at various locations and covered corning, descents, starts and getting riders to flow with their bikes, each session had around 10 ladies attending. So was it worth it???? At the outset I was hoping we would get 10 ladies on the start line, then as the weeks went by and more interest seemed to be generated I thought we might get 15

image thanks to CKingImages 21 - yes 21 ladies gathered on the start line. I had 4 ladies contact me who for various reason couldnt make it on the day. The racing was great to watch and the faces were fantastic to see

Many thanks to CKing Images for sponsoring the event & for the fantastic photos you see here, plus the encouragement to put the event on. So next season the Ladies Race will be on again, better than last time, more ladies having a go and lets get more people supporting the race more cow bells more cheering more noise If you are thinking of adding a ladies race to your event stop thinking about it and do it

National CX Champs Bradford 2013

First race attended in 2013 & I was pitting for those Planet X boys Crossjunkie & Dave Haygarth who were riding in the Vets race on the Saturday. Lazy start as we didn't need to set off early as its only an hour from home, van loaded and off we go. Dave had got there before us and set up a gazebo & saved space for us to park, bikes out, turbo set up and Alan & Dave head off to sign on and overview the course. Once the kit was sorted there wasnt a lot to do so coffee & butty scoffed as the youngsters got to grips with the course. Both Dave & Alan had been hoping that the rain had continued all week and the course was going to be a mud bath, no such look and they both returned from their practice laps looking rather clean, a quick wash of the bikes as they wrapped up & kept warm. It was going to be a fast race, both however were impressed with the course and looking forward to racing. Warm up complete, wrist band attached and I was off to the pits to get set up for the race. Both Alan & Dave were not expecting to need to pit - saving a mechanical as the course wasn't throwing much mud up to warrent regular bike changes. Pitting was reasonably straight forward - well apart from dancing with two bikes across the pits each lap! The start was a worry as the sound of falling bikes was clear in the pits, a silence followed as pit crews peered to see if their rider was down, or clear & racing. Then for the rest of the race I played the waiting game for Alan & Dave to go through the pit areas, swop sides jostle with others for the best spot and hope that the lads didnt need to change bikes through a mechanical. Quick snatches of the race as Nick Craig gave a masterclass in riding, a well deserved National Champ Good ride from Dave with Alan falling fowl of all the germs he has been trying to avoid at home.

Van packed, goodbyes said & homeward bound for a curry and a beer or three