The Elements of Training

Jeff a MTB rider from NZ asks:

I am currently 33 but by the end of next year I will be 35, that makes me eligible to race as a VET in New Zealands MTB champs starting in early January 1996.

I have a tendency to hammer when I'm not sposed to and leave my best fight in the GYM. I am starting to realise the importance of recovery and after about 5 years of MTB racing I have decided that its safer to be under-trained than over-trained. The big problem is to apply these hard learned lessens.

I have had some pretty bad bouts of chronic lethargy over the last two seasons which I believe were caused by burnout after 3 years of solid racing (MTBs in summer, duathlons in winter) and constant commuting.

Now I have a young family so demands on me are arguabley greater and fitting in the workload will be a challenge.

I have no aversion to road roading at all and am very keen to mix up my training with a bit of running which I feel gives good leg strength and cardiovascular fitness for time spent. I have a vetta HRM but doubt whether I can afford tests at a lab for lactate and heart threshold tests. (Possiby could do this on a mates windloader [speedo drive off the back] with a Conconi test.

I would be doing most training in mornings so I have some family time in the evenings. I guess I have trained at around 15 hours a week for up to a month so if I lower the intensity and hit the hills a bit later I could do it.

Unfortunately I have to commute on my bike as I have done for the last 5 years and I suspect that this does not help me when I start to feel stale. Commuting twice, training on the bike once and then hopping on a windloader might not be a good idea for me.

And now to questions:

1. Do you think this 30 mins of spinning on an ERGO (windloader?) is quality training or even neccessary for MTBing.

Coach

It is to develop leg speed actually without load as a precursor to doing speed work later on with load. The morning work is merely to get the tendons and muscles working so that you can start working on the road quickly.

It is not quality training but necessary so that you start quality training without endangering your legs. The evening sesssions are definately good as a means of developing smooth pedalling form, leg speed with form, and getting the lactates out of your muscles from the morning.

It is as relevant to MTBs as it is to road bikes (they both are pedalled with your legs). The things to drop out of the program though are weights then the spinning if you are struggling with time. Your ride home from work and to work will cleanse your legs from lactates.

I have a similar problem - always on my bike. But i treat my 42 km ride home from work (3 nights a week - I drive the other days) as an easy cruise and I forget I am on a bike.

Jeff:

2. Do you think weights are neccessary other than for variety.

Coach

In the first macro they develop leg strength. No doubt about it. But if you are stuck for time, then don't do them.

Jeff:

3. I had a 6 month spell last year due to a bad back so I CAN understand the use of situps and stretches.

Coach

The sit-ups and the calisthenics are absolutely essential and cannot be compromised. The stretching can be done at all sorts of time though. I find myself stretching in my car, or while I am sitting at my desk, or waiting in a supermarket queue. But the sit-ups have to be done.

Jeff:

I have had a couple of goes at the MTB nationals in Expert class but have cut my losses when I realised I was not competitive. Usually appeared to be a lack of speed. I think this was caused by burnout, by doing too many hill repeats at too high a level when I was not up to it, ie had done my base training too hard and skipped the threshold work and went straight into speedwork/intervals.

I am an athlete before I am a biker so I dont get all misty-eyed about the joys of riding but I believe variety could be the key to me maintaining a solid 14 week schedule.

If you can maybe tell me what sessions I could swap around for MTB sessions in your Elite Vet Schedule it would be a great help, 6 hours offroad seems a lot less than 6 hours on the road to me. Also I am aware of the way hard intervals (hill repeats) can be hard on my brain so was hoping this year to try and "race myself fit" in Criteriums and TTs, usually 40 minute crits and 30 minute TTs, rather than do too many intervals.

Coach

I am not really up on how MTB riders train. My routines are definately for road riders and develop progressive loading as the body and legs is capable of tolerating it. I don't think your "race yourself fit" approach is optimal. Getting fit is about being in control, not chasing a pack around a circuit. and I also don't think a 40 minute criterium is hard enough or long enough to properly replace intervals.

With that said, any of my road routines should be able to be substituted for trail routines as long as the HR targets are met. For example, on Thursday in the first macro I do 4 hours on my MTB instead of the same on the road. The HR monitor tells me how well I am going, not whether it is road or trail.

Try to use my hill method for estimating your MAX HR. It is somewhat inaccurate and in some cases can be quite inaccurate. But if you cannot do the proper evaluations then it has to suffice. The thing to understand is that the HR max will change as you train (usually falling a little during the SE phase).

Jeff:

Typically my intervals would be 6 minutes long up a technical climb between 180-185 bpm. Starting at 3 building up to 6. Usually I would find in a race though that I ended up racing at 180bpm anyway and still be off the pace. What does that tell me?

Coach

That you are not strong enough and your lactate development is low (you are not fit enough). You would be better progressively loading your stress and do it over a longer period. Concentrate early in each year's preparation on SE not speed or intervals.