I am working on getting a cycling plan together for the winter and want to know if anyone has some input that would help me… I am thinking it will look like this:
M- 18-20 miles
T- Weights and 45 min easy spin
W- 18-20 miles
Th- Off
Fri- Intervals (about an hour total)
Sat- Weights and 45 min easy spin
Sun- Long ride, 30-40 miles
And then increasing from there when I can. Does this seem like it has everything I need in it? Also, if I start to incorporate running once I recover from stress fracture, should I back off the bike mileage a little, or keep the same plan and SLOWLY incorporate the running?
Seems like a lot of the same, idling along just getting mileage in.
What are your goals for the cycling? What distance do you race? You mention a stress fracture, does it/has it limited your cycling? Current fitness level? Avg monthly mileage last season?
You may maintain fitness on that plan, but you aren’t going to make any gains either.
since you’re mileage isn’t that high I would make sure those miles have a good amount of high intensity in them. 5-10-20 mins intervals or hard hill repeats. Not just cruising for 20+miles.
Friday looks good. For the other days you don’t say what kind of pace you are at. If your ride is about an hour and you are above 90% HR max, RPE 4 and it hurts, that’s one thing. But if you are taking it easy and going at a race or sub race constant speed on flat ground that’s a whole different thing.
Where’s your puke day? If that is Friday then I think 1 a week is good enough.
For the 18-20 mile days it is like an up tempo day, like zone 3 with some short bursts during the ride. And yes, friday would be the “puke” day. Solid?
The offseason is a great time to recover, rebuild and develop new strength. As such, I always try to improve my power output on the bike through these months. I’ve found an excellent way to do that is to develop a weekly routine that contains the following elements:
1-2 “big gear” rides (as in low cadence, 60-80 rpm, high wattage), generally paired with some strength training before/after
2-3 recovery rides (high cadence spinning, 90-110 rpm or higher)
1 long ride, which usually involves some threshold work
Save the intervals for the spring. It’s time to build a base. I’m talking 95% of your weekly load should be aerobic. Power is crucial to the bike leg. GET STRONG!