Leigh from the US asks:I am a category 2 racer in the US and have already done eight races this year. Usually I have an excellent spring season, but this year it is not going so well. I have had some weeks where I felt just beat up, as if it were the late season fatigue. The Winter was pretty bad here, and my training was very broken up. I put in enough miles, but it was unstructured, sometimes riding three to four big days in a row because it would be the only chance before the bad weather came back.hat can I do now to restart my training season? I have had both speed work and endurance, but I need to get a handle on my training schedule. Should I start motorpacing? Should I do more big miles? How can I arrange a peak by mid-May to June? The Coach:Racing and training must be performed in an ordered sequence to get the best from both. You train to race. It is hard to know from you description but maybe you started racing too early too intensely. Early season racing should be goal-oriented - the goal being the peak of the season. You suggest that you want to peak by June. So your training and racing schedule has to be progressive loaded towards that goal.The weather issue is difficult for you. But a properly loaded programme does not really allow you to try to catch up on a missed day. The essential characteristic of a good programme is easy-hard-easy. The hard must follow and be followed by recovery. Otherwise you progressively build up fatigue and your quality begins to fall in both training and racing. When you have trouble training due to weather, you have to ride an indoor trainer. Boring? Probably, but that is where motivation and your sense of goals comes in. If you cannot do that, then you have to accept a longer build up period to allow for the missed days. Right now, you are tired. Then back off. Have an easy week. Every 4th week should be easy anyway. Still do the quantity but not the quality. If you are still tired after a week's rest then you have to re-appraise your plans and targets. You have to rest another week and push the goals out accordingly. I would not do any motor paced training. This is one of the most intensive forms of training and comes in the last stage before peaking. Definately not for legs that need to get rid of some fatigue. I would also not increase my kms. Also not a very smart way to rid your legs of fatigue. I would accept you have a good base. If you are unconvinced then go back to about macro 2 and start building up carefully. I would then have an easy week or even two. Then I would start doing intervals at Macro 3 level. Build you peak up again from there. But recover and rest in between efforts. The last thing you want to do is get locked into a formula-driven approach to training. If you have a bad week then don't worry. If you miss a day because of snow, then that is also of small consequence. And if you are tired, then rest. In the longer term, the recovery you gain will pay off. Leigh asks:Sometimes in the Spring I raise and lower my saddle, especially on the second day of racing. Sunday I felt like my saddle was too low, and although I finished sixth, I felt like it was the most uncomfortable 80 miles I have ever ridden. Does the problem with saddle height sound familiar to you,or do you think it is something else?The Coach:I cannot really understand why you alter your saddle position. I must admit I ride with a slightly lower saddle position when I race in Belgium because of the bad cobbled roads. But I also ride a little further behind my centre bracket when I do this. but never more than a half of a centimetre. Usually, I never tamper with my position. It is not just a height variable, but also where you sit behind the bracket. You cannot alter one without the other.I suggest you do not alter your position unless you are riding very rough roads which shake hell out of your legs. |