Good afternoon,
Right - this is definitely planning in advance. Essentially, I am halfway through my first year of university out of a three year course. I therefore have this summer off, and then the following summer off too before I return for my final year. This summer, it will be my last ever proper holiday so I'll be travelling (to do cycling) etc. However, the second summer will involve a 10 week internship at an investment bank, which will probably cut all training down, or maybe a couple (literally) of hours a week in the gym if there is one.
At the moment, I only cycle and am on the uni team. I train from 20 - 28hrs / week, and have been racing for 4.5 years, although the first year and a half were obviously nowhere near this much volume - it is really the last two that I've been doing this (I had last year as a year out, where I trained full time).
Anyway, I appreciate that doing a 10 week intership over the summer will be the end of my racing for that year (there aren't any really after it anyway). However, how is it best to handle this? When I finish the internship, it will be the "off season" - i.e. the end of September. Should I just gradually ease back in for two weeks and then ramp up the volume, treating the summer as a long, very early off season? Remember I'm only cycling so injury is not as likely as if I were a runner too. I assume watching my diet will be very important too - dramatic reduction in calories? Aaaagh!
Thanks for your comments,
James
Right - this is definitely planning in advance. Essentially, I am halfway through my first year of university out of a three year course. I therefore have this summer off, and then the following summer off too before I return for my final year. This summer, it will be my last ever proper holiday so I'll be travelling (to do cycling) etc. However, the second summer will involve a 10 week internship at an investment bank, which will probably cut all training down, or maybe a couple (literally) of hours a week in the gym if there is one.
At the moment, I only cycle and am on the uni team. I train from 20 - 28hrs / week, and have been racing for 4.5 years, although the first year and a half were obviously nowhere near this much volume - it is really the last two that I've been doing this (I had last year as a year out, where I trained full time).
Anyway, I appreciate that doing a 10 week intership over the summer will be the end of my racing for that year (there aren't any really after it anyway). However, how is it best to handle this? When I finish the internship, it will be the "off season" - i.e. the end of September. Should I just gradually ease back in for two weeks and then ramp up the volume, treating the summer as a long, very early off season? Remember I'm only cycling so injury is not as likely as if I were a runner too. I assume watching my diet will be very important too - dramatic reduction in calories? Aaaagh!
Thanks for your comments,
James