GamJams.net: Where Mid-Atlantic bike racers roll: Coaches Roundtable

5 entries categorized "Coaches Roundtable"

GamJams Coaches Roundtable: Fuel for Early AM Workouts

When in doubt about your training, race tactics, etiquette or nutrition, ask a coach. Or if you're GamJams, ask a whole bunch of coaches. GamJams Coaches Roundtable takes reader-submitted questions and poses them to some of the best-known coaches in the region all at once. You get answers, perspectives, advice, counterpoints and, if you pay attention, faster.

Submit a question for an upcoming GamJams Coaches Roundtable here.

This week's GamJams Coaches Roundtable question comes from Bryan, who asks:

Q: I do a lot of my training early in the morning and usually don't eat anything before I ride. During the ride I drink only water. I don't get hungry while I'm riding, but I also ride for only about an hour just in case. Should be eating beforehand or drinking something else during the ride to get more out of them?

Peter Cannell
Cannell Champion Training

This is a subject that has been written about extensively and the bottom line is that it really depends on the individual.

I am a big proponent of early morning workouts for a number of reasons and proper fueling is important.

If we make the assumption that the athlete is performing a workout in the 1 to 2 hr range with some intervals or tempo work, then the following would apply:

-When you wake up you will have plenty of stored muscle glycogen for the workout
-If you wake up hungry, then by all means eat before your workout.
-Coffee is an excellent way to start the morning
-What you eat and how much really depends. If you wake up hungry and generally feel like you need to eat, then eat a few hundred calories or more. What you eat really depends. Could be an energy bar, some oatmeal, cereal or quite frankly whatever you want. If you eat and head out the door, it pretty much doesn't matter. As long as you aren't woofing down a huge amount of food, and as long as you don't have stomach discomfort you are good to go.
-If you don't feel like eating when you wake up, then no need.
-On the bike, I'd highly recommend an energy drink of your choosing.

What really matters is that you have good energy levels and can complete the workout. Food, no food, energy bar or leftovers from the night before, it won't make much of a difference. It really isn't worth over analyzing or trying to choke down some horrible concoction - simply experiment with various food and stick with what works for you.

Now post workout nutrition is much more important, but beyond the scope of this question.

Mike Birner
Mid-Maryland Coaching

The answer depends on several factors - primarily what training you are doing and how well you recover. Generally speaking though, a ride of one hour doesn't usually require additional nutritional support. But by doing this first thing in the morning several other variables come into play.

Provided you are supplying your body with the right caloric load (and quality nutrition) in the day(s) before your ride and you are having no problem with your workout goals then I wouldn't change a thing. Some people, however, have trouble getting into their workouts at an early hour. For the first interval or two it can be tough to get the power and/or heart rate up to your designated zones.

Also, athletes with a high metabolism may find that they've burned through a significant amount of glycogen through the night and need additional nutrition to get through a workout of significant intensity early in the morning. It's not uncommon for riders with high muscle mass/low body fat to feel a bonk coming on during that hour without something in their system to start off.

In either case, something light to eat - perhaps some fruit, a gel or an energy drink - 15 minutes before your ride can help to kick start your metabolism and possibly give you a higher quality workout.

Chris Mayhew
JBVCoaching.com

This is a problem I often have with clients. Having clients so dedicated that they'll ride early in the morning is a good problem to have. However, not eating beforehand is not the best way to maximize performance on the bike.A rider would never eat at 6:00 A.M., not eat all day and then race Greenbelt that night yet people treat sleep as if they're Han Solo frozen in carbonite.

This is one of the few times I'd recommend "energy foods". Primarily the advantage of those foods is the packaging. However, they also tend to have high glycemic indexes, meaning they are sugary and will spike your blood sugar levels fairly quickly. For someone pressed for time a Clif Bar, or a couple of gels about half an hour before getting out the door would really help. On the ride something simple like a maltodextrin based drink (eg Heed Perpetuem) would help maintain blood sugar levels.

Be careful not to confuse how hard a workout feels with how hard it actually is. These early morning work outs may feel hard simply because you're close to bonking. Establish some sort of metric by which to measure the efforts (power, distance covered, elevation gained) so that you know they *are* hard and simply don't *feel* hard because of other factors.

Bill Gros
Pyramid Training Systems

If you've been re-fueling and re-hydrating adequately, you should be able to train for about 90minutes with just water. If you're getting out of bed you could be slightly dehydrated, so getting 12-20oz of water into your system during your initial 15 minute warm-up will certainly be helpful as you seem to be doing. It seems as though you're limiting your training duration to one hour because of the fact that you haven't had anything to eat, but most athletes with a good recovery regimen, will have about 90 to 120min worth of stored glycogen available for use in training. The duration is intensity dependent of course, and dependent upon the development of your aerobic system. which will burn a higher percentage of fats when it has been properly stressed with a volume of aerobic base training. Don't be hesitant to extend your training duration beyond 60minutes with your current routine. Then eat a breakfast within 30 to 45 minutes of finishing up with 100-150grams of carbohydrate, 20-30grams of protein, and 10-15grams of fat. This is a range of calories between 570-855. You'll want to eat again in 2-4 hours.

You also ask if you'd get more out of your workouts if you ate or drank something else besides the water during your training. If you train with a power meter, you'd be able to scrutinize power levels of intervals or longer steady state efforts that could be affected by accessible energy levels. You can repeat similar workouts after starting a ride after having eaten half to a whole Cliff bar for example and an energy replacement fluid during the ride and see if power levels drop off similarly to a comparable ride with no food and just water. Power output relative to nutrition, given the same environmental and fatigue levels, generally will not fall off until glycogen stores become compromised. If you don't have a power meter, then this comparison becomes highly subjective of course. My inclination is to state that you shouldn't be experiencing drops in power output during the 60minutes of your training so long as you are hydrated, fueled and properly rested.

BJ Basham
Peaks Coaching Group

If you are heading out for an hour of easy recovery riding, your nutritional needs will be different from if you are heading out for some lung searing intervals.

Ideally, you should be in the habit of doing what you need to in order to replace your spent glycogen stores between workouts. When you wake up in the morning, those stores can be slightly depleted and if you were racing, it is a good idea to eat several hours before your race to top off your fuel. If time is a limiter, then including some carbohydrates in your bottle or easily digested gels may help you to spare your muscle glycogen which may allow you to ride harder longer in your morning workout.

Eating anything too much right before a workout can lead to gastric unrest which can make a ride a bit less fun while not really contibuting anything to your fuel supplies for that workout. If a little something in your stomach makes you feel better than go ahead, but avoid big meals too close to your workout and then make sure to get any spent fuel and water replaced right after you are done with your ride.

Susan Hefler
Hefler Performance Coaching

You don't need much caloric intake before a 1 hour ride. You did not mention the intensity of this hour ride - so I will assume it could be either an interval workout and/or a recovery spin. Even though your body wakes up in a fasted state - you have enough glycogen stores to do an hour training session. Also - in order for the food you ingest to be of benefit to a training ride - it has to be digested. So you would have to get up even earlier - in order to eat early enough - for that early morning fueling to be of use. An early morning workout IS a good calorie fat burner - depending on the intensity. If the workout is more of an interval workout - you may want to have some fueling in your bottles - some carb and/or electrolytes. Carry a gel(s) in your pocket to eat immediately after or if you want to eat a gel halfway through a hard interval hour workout. There are several drink mixes on the market. Many people like to have a cup of coffee in the morning - this also works fine and aids as a fat burner.

What IS important is the fueling and recovery process post ride. An hour ride can burn anywhere from 500 (easy endurance spin) to 1200 calories (interval workout) assuming you weigh somewhere between 130-170 lbs. As such - if you are running on glycogen for fueling during the 1 hour workout - you want to replace this as SOON as possible post ride. This can be done by ingesting about 200-300 calories. As I mentioned, if the hour session is a hard session - having a gel at mid point is smart (but mainly helps the recovery process for subsequent training vs help on that day). Doesn't really matter what you eat - as long as you eat. The refueling should have some protein in it. There are many shakes available, you can make a smoothie, some eggs and toast, etc. Cereal and milk is a great recovery fuel. It is also good to have some fruit.

Remember that the recovery process is as important if not more important - then the training. Both are critical to success - but so few people ask me "hey can I recover?" They are always asking me for more intervals or more threshold/ power work?? Remember to REST. It is when your body adapts to the exercise stress. If you can get your legs up for about 15' - this also is a great recovery tool. Let the blood drain out and fresh blood pumped into the muscle tissue. Helps remove the waste products broken down by training.

Add your own thoughts to this topic in the comments.

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A 'Coaches Roundtable' Question in Real-Life

A 'Coaches Roundtable' Question in Real-Life
Susan Hefler
Hefler Performance Coaching

Last week's GamJams Coaches' Roundtable question was about what tactics to use when outnumbere by other teams. I wasn't able to participate as I was in Fitchburg, coaching Nathan Wilson (Kelly Benefits Stragegy / LSV Amateur) through the race where he was outnumbered by other teams. His experience there are a real-life example of the Coaches Roundtable question.

My advice to Nathan was this: Do not be afraid to ride hard and push several attacks, just be aware that you must level the playing field. So, make sure that each of your efforts is actually tiring the big team that you are racing against. Do not attack and dangle 10 seconds off the front for 5 minutes. Do attack repeatedly and see if you can draw some other opportunists into your move- then control the move and get the others to ride hard with you. You may also expect some riders from a big team to latch on too, so, make their life hard- don’t just tow them to a sprint. Put them in the wind, on the shoulder, or apply pressure with your efforts. No free rides. Make friends with the other solo racers. They want results too!

At Fitchburg Lonjso, Nathan (Kelly Benefits/ LSV) was racing for G.C. Against EIGHT Riders from Hot Tubes- a very hard tactical situation. Nate followed what I have described above… It was hard, but it works very, very well. Nathan performed incredibly by getting in all the big moves with Hot Tubes, and
rather than just sitting, he pressed the attack whenever possible. He placed Second on G.C, wore the Points leader Jersey, and if there was a red number for “most aggressive rider” he would be wearing it! A Big Shout Out to Steven Kendall (NCVC) who applied some mad pressure to Hot Tubes to help both Nathan and Himself! Awesome.

Next week, Nathan, Steven Black (NCVC), Ben Salibra (CRCA JR development), and Kevin Gottlieb (Squadra Coppi) will have the power of a full team with them at the UCI Tour of the Red River Gorge in Lexington, Kentucky. We also have a few bullets from Garmin/Holowesko to fire- but that’s our high altitude secret weapon! HPC U23 will be there in force! Stay tuned to GamJams for updates on these excellent Junior riders.

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GamJams Coaches Roundtable: Tactics against bigger teams

Submit a question for an upcoming GamJams Coaches Roundtable here.

This week's GamJams Coaches Roundtable question comes from Rich, who asks:

Q: How can unattached riders or riders on small teams take advantage of tactical plays by other, more well-represented teams? Thanks.

Chris Mayhew
JBVCoaching.com

I think the primary thing to keep in mind is how can you use your energy in a way that aligns with the bigger teams. Or, to think of it another way, how can you get those teams to work for you?

The easiest way may simply be to ask. This is really only going to be effective at a stage race or an out of town race. That fosters and us vs them mentality against the locals eg think about racing at Superweek or Toona. Also, there’s less pressure on a given day so cooperation is less costly on a given day.

Another way is to look at the dynamics of the race and figure out how best to work with them. For instance, you’re probably not going to get away alone in a tightly controlled situation. And if you do get away for awhile you might only have one teammate to counterattack when you get brought back. Think about what teams are present and what combination of teams will be necessary for a break to succeed because the larger teams have no interest in chasing. Also, once you see one or two of these teams send someone up the road be prepared to jump on the wheel of someone from the third or fourth team so that you’re not doing all the work to get up to the break.

Beth Anne Leasure
Coach | Team Director | Inspiration

There are many ways to take advantage of tactics of any competitor(s) and team(s), and these ways are applied according to multiple race variables. This answer cannot be confined in this paragraph. Simplistically, a tactician’s tools are knowledge – of self, course, and competitors, as well as insight – reading a race and its participants. The most brilliant example of employing underdog tactics is seen in the races of Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli, who has more significant wins than any rider in history. Jeannie frequently declines team situations, preferring to race alone and be outnumbered. Beyond her physiological dominance and exacting preparation, she comes with considerable instincts and Monsieur Ciprelli – a brilliant strategist. Two chief abilities separate Jeannie for the top step of the podium – incredible timing and ruthless attack repeatability. She waits for the right moment to counterattack but trains as if she must match every attack.

Bill Gros
Pyramid Training Systems

Rich, if you are the type of rider that can work hard in a breakaway to assure it's success, then the smart play is to know who the strong breakaway riders are from the well represented teams. Ride near them at all times, and when crunch time comes and they make their move, then you go with them knowing that their teammates will be working to control the field. You then need to work enough to command your breakaway partners respect, especially with them knowing that you have little to no representation in the main peloton.

If you're a sprinter, the smart play is to jump on to the strong teams lead out train. In our local area racing this is typically only 2-4 people, and not nearly as powerful or organized as a Team Columbia High Road for instance, but never the less, if a team is making a concerted effort, is moving toward or staying near the front, then ride that sprinters wheel until it's go time at 250 to 200 meters. Be aware enough to know that a big effort by a small train from too far out will usually not succeed and is a common mistake in local racing. For instance, a 3 person train ramping up over 30mph from 5k out will most likely not make it, especially in the lower categories. They will leave their sprinter out in the wind with about 1k to go. At our level, each man might be able to pull for a solid 1k, so have a good sense of the course and use the train to your advantage if it's sensible.

The better advice in all of this is to know who the strong riders are. A well represented break may go up the road, but without the heavy favorites, chances of it coming back are great. So sit tight, have some patience, and play your cards with the favorites, more often than not, the strong people in our region end up with the results.

I hope this helps answer your question.

Mike Birner
Mid-Maryland Coaching

Even though cycling is considered a team sport, at the amateur level, being an individual isn't necessarily a disadvantage as long as you ride intelligently. What does this mean? It means being patient and analyzing the race in addition to knowing what you are capable of at your current level of fitness.

First - a couple rules. Never hit the wind unless there is a reason to. Use others to move up through the field as you are going to need to conserve as much energy as possible. Never pull at the front of the field. This will only set you up to miss the attacks that will go off right after you are done pulling. Pulling the field along is fine if you have teammates you are working for but in this case you need to look out for yourself. Let others do the work.

Second - know what you can do. If you don't have the fitness to be in a breakaway for 30-40 miles at a threshold+ pace then you need to be realistic with yourself and save your energy for the latter part of the race. Doing too much too early will certainly take you out of the mix and you won't have teammates to cover the moves you'll miss.

Once you are in the event, know who the teams are that are active and are willing to go to the front. Know who the key riders are and where they are situated in the field. Know which teams are going to be willing to block for their riders. Also watch others to see how the race is affecting them. Are they tired? Is the pace slowing? These may be times to attack - but your odds of succeeding will be increased if you attack with riders from other well represented teams. Their blocking (or lack of a chase) may be the determining factor in the success of your breakaway. The more riders from each of those large teams you can have in your break the more likely it is to succeed.

Now if you're down to a field sprint, again watch the riders who are the consistent sprinters - but be careful to not mark one person. They could be having a bad day or get boxed into a bad position. The key to sprinting without teammates is to properly place yourself without expending any more energy than necessary. This means getting near the front early while staying out of the wind and using other wheels to move up along the outside. As you get into the closing kilometers plan backwards from the finish. Where do you want to be at the line - 1st right? Ok, then where do you need to be at 200 meters, the last corner, or 1 km out to make that happen? Place targets on where your position should be throughout the end of the race and you'll find yourself relying less on other riders and more on your own tactics and strategy.

BJ Basham
Peaks Coaching Group

Good Question. I think there is lots you can do, but the key to the whole thing is having an idea of what the bigger teams can and might do in the race. If you key off a big team expecting them to do the grunt work, you may find that they are unable or unwilling to it. Do a little homework to get an idea of who you are up against in the bigger teams and what their strengths and weaknesses might be. You might be able to predict how the big teams will ride and who in those teams are the key riders to pay attention to. Do they have someone who can win off the front/ Do they have a killer sprinter? Do they like each other? Are their inter-squad rivalries that may affect the way a race plays out?

Once you have some idea of what might happen, you can decide what you can do to take advantage. This is not that different from racing in general. You need to know who the dangerous riders are and who is likely to just survive.

One other note, strength in numbers is not a rule. A big club with a bunch of weaker riders is usually not as affective as a smaller club with 3 or 4 strong riders. Think first about the strengths and weaknesses of your own team and the tactics you might use, and then think about how those tactics may be affected by the rest of the field.

Add your own thoughts to this topic or follow-up questions for the coaches in the comments.

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GamJams Coaches Roundtable: Threshold in training, but not during races?

Submit a question for an upcoming GamJams Coaches Roundtable here.

This week's GamJams Coaches Roundtable question comes from Dave K., who asks:

Q: Even during road races, I never seem to spend much time in my threshold zone - I'm either above or below it. Why do we focus so much on training in a zone that doesn't seem to get used that much in races?

Peter Cannell
Cannell Champion Training

I strongly feel training threshold is the foundation for a sound program. Training threshold not only increases the power you can product at threshold, but also increases endurance and VO2 max power. An athlete with a high FTP (functional threshold power) will be able to endure many more spikes in power that occur during races and will be fresher for the finish. Keep in mind I'm stating it is the foundation of training, but not the only type of training a well rounded cyclist should partake in.

While most power files from races show a highly stochastic pattern, data from breakaways and time trials clearly shows significant time spend at/near threshold.

BJ Basham
Peaks Coaching Group

The easiest way to explain the importance of threshold training is to use the old matchbook analogy to racing.

Everyone starts the race with a book of matches. The goal being to have matches to burn when the racing is hard or when you want to attack or sprint or do whatever. To me, your aerobic system is what determines when you start to burn matches, and your anaerobic capacity is what determines how many matches you actually have in your book or how quickly your matches will burn up.

Training in your threshold zone is aimed an increasing the power at which you can ride without burning a match or without having to burn too many matches. A strong sprinter with a poor aerobic system may be burning matches just sitting in the field. If the race is short enough that sprinter may still have matches to burn when the sprint starts, but if the race is long enough, a rider with a killer sprint may be out of matches when the time to show their talent comes along.

Keep in mind that training in your threshold zone is not just about riding at threshold but being able to ride faster without going above your threshold. Even short bouts of effort above threshold may be costing you matches.

Chris Mayhew
JBVCoaching.com

Stochastic. It's the new plastic. Or black. Let's back up a few steps. Among a large population, say your graduating class, VO2 max is good at picking out who will be the best athlete. However, it's not the best way to determine who the best athlete on the cross country team is. The best determinate of success in trained athletes is something called threshold. Functional threshold power, hour power, LT, ventilatory threshold. There are 39 different definitions and probably almost as many names for it, even though they all measure the same
thing.

Threshold governs how hard you can ride, when you need to dip into your reserves and how fast you can recover from those efforts and do them again. But bicycle racing is typically very variable. Easy here, hard there. Stochastic means seemingly random, but for a reason. If you've ever seen a power graph of a race you know it's not a smooth line, even for a well executed flat time trial. So there's a lot of time spent above threshold (say a cross wind) or below it (recovering after a chase effort) but the line drawn across the graph of those efforts representing threshold governs all those efforts. A higher threshold means you might be able to ride a guy off your wheel, or it may mean you can make one more supra-threshold attack to get rid of them.

Furthermore, it's the best use of your time. Since threshold is so important, the best use of your time is to work on that aspect of your fitness (the cake) and work in the rest of it (the icing, mmmm, icing) in training races or hard group rides.

Beth Anne Leasure
Coach | Team Director | Inspiration

Perhaps you have the wrong coach! If you’re racing a lot, you’re right – you don’t need to spend much time working threshold. Racing in itself can work threshold thereby raising it and making racing feel easier. Instead, once the aerobic base is built – focus on high-end efforts. Racing reaches again and again into oxygen debt; most racers don’t train that system enough. Be thankful you can! Some cannot because the races feel too hard. Also, everybody benefits from working VO2 max. There are all kinds of special formulas to get more magic out of that system. And it is an art form applying the science of training for road performance to the needs of the rider. All this assumes you’re an amateur. A pro has special considerations regarding threshold depending on level of pro, team role, race schedule and opportunity for personal goals. In that case, most definitely seek an advisor with experience training pros.

Mike Birner
Mid-Maryland Coaching

Simply put - the more you train at a high aerobic level and the more you can raise your threshold power the less time you'll spend above it and the fresher you'll be at the end of a race, right?

To get into more detail, some physiologist somewhere has determined that your power at threshold and your power at vo2max are the biggest determinants of your ability on a bicycle. While it can be argued that there is more to it than just these numbers there is no arguing that riders that are gifted in these two areas often go on to be very successful bike racers. Why? Because having a bigger engine can only help. It will allow you to feel more comfortable and use less energy at even lower power levels while giving you the ability to better react during the critical moments of the race.

Now to clarify your training - you only speak of training in your threshold zone. Hopefully you are doing more than that by training your vo2max and anaerobic zones as well. Each will benefit your racing and will work to increase your threshold power. Even a pure time trialist, who needs minimal anaerobic work, still requires periods of threshold and periods of vo2max workouts to push and pull the FTP to a higher level. Working only one zone or the other will result in a plateau limiting your true potential.

Pierre Pelletier
Hefler Performance Coaching

I can only speak for my racing, but I spend a lot of time in a race right around my functional threshold power. FTP is the number of watts I can maintain constantly for one hour.

In Heart Rate, it will be roughly equivalent to my Lactate threshold. Roughly 87-94% of my max heart rate.

In any but the most sedate races, jumps, attacks, chases, and sprints will show much higher numbers both in power and heart rate.... So, what is my "threshold"?

Well, tactically speaking, that's where I am "safe" I can still roll reasonably well, and if I am feeling good (and I see an opportunity) I can attack or toughen the race for the other riders.
If I am rolling in the pack and my HR is way BELOW my threshold I can recover, eat, drink, reposition etc... If the race is on and I am ABOVE my threshold well, I had better pay special attention to energy conservation and positioning... This is not necessarily the best time to be in the wind!

So why do I spend time threshold training? to increase my racing capabilities.... it is harder to make sound strategic decisions when I am gasping for air and fully on the rivet!

I want to be in control of my output so that I can think my way through the race or ride...Riding hard AND thinking is where the race is made... Ride too slow and you will be dropped... Ride too hard and you will be countered and dropped by craftier riders who may not be "stronger" than you at all! Threshold training will vastly improve- for lack of a better term- your ability to "cruise" at race speeds.

Add your own thoughts to this topic in the comments.

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GamJams Coaches Roundtable: Missing a Workout

Submit a question for an upcoming GamJams Coaches Roundtable here.

This week's GamJams Coaches Roundtable question comes from Cliff, who asks:

Q: When real life interferes with a scheduled workout during the week with a big race on the weekends what is a good way to handle a missed workout? skip it? add to the next one?

Peter Cannell
Cannell Champion Training

What an excellent question, especially relevant to those with family, work commitments. There are many ways to handle this but here is what I think works best. Having a schedule and a plan is very important - but for most athletes out there, life gets in the way of training every now and then, even for those with the most flexibility. Sometimes it means a missed workout, sometimes it means you have a little more time and can do some extra work.

So when something comes up last minute, skip the workout, it's gone. You can't make up missed workouts, and assuming you have a solid training plan, adding more to the next day simply won't work. The extra rest will likely do you more good than harm and the stress associated with last minute deadlines, family events, etc makes additional rest even more important.

So in short, a missed workout is gone forever. Forget it and move on.

BJ Basham
Peaks Coaching Group

I hate to fall back on this but "It depends".

If the race is on Saturday and the missed workout was on Tuesday then depending on the workout it may be moved to Wednesday.

If the race is on Saturday and the missed workout was on Wednesday, then it is skipped.

The thing to keep in mind is that what you do in the week before a race has more chance of making you tired for the race than it does of making you actually faster. The workouts from this week are scheduled with next week and the week after in mind. Your sprints on Tuesday may improve your skills but will not likely make you a much faster sprinter for the weekend, but a hard workout the week before a race can have the adverse affect of burning a few of your matches before race day.

Beth Anne Leasure
Coach | Team Director | Inspiration

The first rule of missed training is to remember that you are an organic being, and your training plan is not. The plan is tailored to the realities of life and is made alive through you, not the other way around. The second rule of missed training is to analyze whether the purpose of that session was more one of quality or quantity. If quantity, it can probably be missed altogether or added as volume after the last race of the weekend. If quality, then the third rule of missed training is to decide if the purpose of the missed session can be achieved in another way or another time; because the fourth rule of missed training is to recognize that physiological adaptations take repeated, consistent work over time. In fact, talent is partially defined by the quickness of adaptation – usually 3 weeks for a world class rider and the extent of adaptation – or the ceiling of ability. From Grand Tour professional to novice group riders, everyone must work at it consistently over time. This puts a missed training in its proper perspective.

Mike Birner
Mid-Maryland Coaching

In general, the best course of action is to move on from the missed workout and stick with the predetermined plan. But, as with anything, there are exceptions that depend entirely on your schedule, long term and short term goals. Your question is a bit general so we'll look at some different scenarios.

You mention that this example takes place during a race week. What priority level is this race? If it's a low priority event than you may decide it's best to take your training closer to race day. You will not be fully recovered come race time but you'll come out of the weekend with a greater training overload that can benefit you for a higher priority race later in the calender.

If it's a high priority race then training with significant overload will likely not be a concern that week - so definitely skip the workout and move on. It takes 1 1/2 to 2 weeks for most athletes to see the benefits from any strenuous workout so other than keeping the legs opened up it's not going to have any real training benefit for the race on that weekend.

One other thing to consider is what workouts take priority depending on your strengths and weaknesses. If you have two key workouts planned and you know that you can only do one because of your schedule then pick the one that will best help overcome your weakness.

Bill Gros
Pyramid Training Systems

Great question. This can be looked at from a couple of viewpoints. Well designed training plans will allow for appropriate recovery before your "big race" as you state, and this assumes your "big race" is one of your important events of the season. If that's the case you should have already built your training in preparation for that race, and should be in a slight taper for it. That being said, it's then best to move on with the weekly training schedule, taking advantage of how the plan is structured relative to recovery and intensity. You should be going into the day prior to your "big race" recovered and ready and take part in a training ride that includes a small dosage of intensity.

If your coming race is a "C" or a "B" race, it's possible to shift your schedule, due to the missed workout, to make sure you get in that training as part of the build toward your future "A" race. The key here would be to shift and then possibly adjust down the weeks training intensity to assure proper recovery for your "C" or "B" race. This will allow you to be functional for your race and the training effect that it will bring.

Another aspect to consider would be the day of your race, is it Saturday or Sunday or both? A Saturday race doesn't allow for much week day training schedule adjustment, and stacking any intensity on Thursday from missed Tuesday and Wednesday workouts is a recipe for disaster.

So while I stated that it's possible to shift your schedule, I believe most racers will benefit by just moving on to the next workout and avoid playing with the intensity and recovery balance, take the recovery side, it most likely will pay off in your race. Go nuts!

Chris Mayhew
JBVCoaching.com

There are a couple of things to think about. First, how big is the race? Obviously every race has some importance but is this one you're tapering for specifically or just one of many on the calendar? If you're in a taper, I'd leave it out. Within 7-10 days of an event you're at best maintaining fitness and more likely just adding stress to the system. So a missed Wed workout with a Sunday race is not that big a deal. The exception would be what are referred to as openers, which prepare you for the following day. Those are typically done the day before the event and if you miss it, well, you're out of luck.

With the above in mind, also think about what the purpose of the workout is. If you're doing something like a threshold workout, and it's not a race you’re tapering for, do it the day before the race, but consider doing slightly less overall work (30 minutes of intervals instead of 40-45, so 2x15 in place of 2x20 or 3x15). Threshold work is critical to your fitness and serves as a reasonably good opener the day before a race. On the other hand, if you have a more taxing workout (VO2 work, for instance) it's probably best to leave it out for the week if you can't simply move it to the following day. Missing one workout (or even having a bad week) is not going to ruin your training.

Susan Hefler
Hefler Performance Coaching

Don't make the missed training session up. Why? Training is broken into micro, macro, meso - cycles. All training phases are based upon several parameters: an individual's goals, how much time the athlete has to train AND rest, what level is the athlete currently at fitness wise, how much experience does the athlete have (both psychological and physiological). Since I am being exposed about my philosophy in coaching I will expand to say rest and proper nutrition are 2 of the most underused weapons in reaching a high level in sport, specifically cycling. Most athletes factor in hours they can train, but they don't realize how crucial it is to factor in hours for true recovery.

Back to answering the ?. The parameters I stated above are taken into account when I write any training plan. Any work you are doing in any given week is not going to come into effect until 3-4 weeks later. So if you miss today's workout, there is plenty of time to adjust the training - such that in 3-4 weeks - a missed day will not be noticed in the result. Yes all training is built upon each phase - so if you consistently (or inconsistently) miss workouts you may have trouble in reaching a desired goal. I have always thought of training as the 2 C's and 2 D's >> consistency, commitment, dedication, and discipline. The consistency and discipline MUST be in place 90-95% of the time. Athletes hire coaches to teach them how to be faster, how to ride a faster 40km.TT, or how to reach their cycling goals. What I teach most, besides the actual training, is more internal. To be a strong and "good" cyclist is HARD WORK. It is a sacrifice on many fronts, but the rewards are great - reaching that level of self discipline is invaluable for life.

The methods for which I write a training plan are, again, based on the parameters above - and one is particularly important: current fitness level. For any/all athletes I work with - I do a VO2 test. Otherwise I am guessing at very important cardio information. Like Rick Crawford, I am a cardio/wattage coach. I have encouraged all the juniors I coach to utilize power meters BUT morning resting heart rate (which some dedicated athletes text me at 4:30AM!!!), and heart rate relative to power numbers is information which cannot be cast aside. I first heard Rick present his beliefs 5 yrs ago at a conference in Boulder. I thought he was genius at the time, and after keeping in touch with him throughout the yers - makes me wanna race again just to be coached by him. Really. We cannot overlook heart rate data. It is a system that reveals very useful information.

From the VO2 test - I get all aerobic/anaerobic data on the 3 main energy systems. These 3 systems are what I then use to write the training plan. If one of the systems is a limiter - we work on making it more efficient. VERY important is the fat utilization in 2 of the energy systems - and again lot of training in based upon making the max fat (Zone 2) and lactic threshold (Zone 4) systems Aerobically efficient. For cycling - the higher the aerobic capacity - the better an athlete will clear lactic acid - and the more power you can put out while clearing the most acid - the better. The training plan is largely based on making these 2 energy systems as aerobic as possible. The last energy system - is about creating and maintaining high ATP levels - and this system is not worked until the other 2 are in place. Back to the individual training days - each day has a specific goal. Tuesday is generally short speed (an athlete is not fully recovered from the weekend hence the training is short), Wednesday/Thursday can be a tempo day or an endurance day (which is determined on the experience level of the athlete.Can they handle back to back hard days?). We train your body to work specific energy systems on certain days - and this is why you do not make up missed training or add it to the next day. Adding missed hours does little aside from a somewhat suspect psycological boost - but nearly always at the expense of ones' overall training cycle. ALL training is stress to your body - and in the right doses, the stress is a Positive and creates a positive response. For example, if one week you do speed on Tuesday and the next week you do climbing, your short term training may not be not ideal because the neuromuscular and energy paremeters differ in a climbing workout as opposed to a speedwork session. Weekly microcycles may seem notoriously simular in build... we must give them diligent attention to detail or the 3-5 week macro cycles may suffer badly.

Just remember that ALL training is based upon racing Saturday and Sunday. What you do in the week for training is to simulate hard back to back days on the weekend - when one is racing.

The only time all these wattage, HR and energy numbers really count is when you have a race number on your back - as I tell people. But doing all the hard work - and there are NO shortcuts in reaching the top - is very rewarding when you line up and know that you have done everything possible right, as far as your preparation. You can turn and look at the other 100 guys or gals - and know you have as good a chance if not better, of getting a podium. It all comes down to the quality and the consistency of the work you put in AND the recovery to consolidate your fitness gains, in the long term view.

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