Why I have two training plans

· by · in Allgemein, cycling. ·

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Some people don’t even have one and I have two? Sounds crazy in my mind.
But: there’s a point in having two.

Training plans are all about goals. So I have a training plan for my long term goals and a plan for short term goals. This makes decisions a lot easier for me, if the question arises when, how often and what I should train.

Here’s how I split things up:

The life-long-training-plan:

Let’s be honest, I will not make it into pro cycling 😉

Goals:
– good overall fitness
– no chronic fractures or muscular imbalances
– good overal mental health (no Alzheimer when I’m old)
– wanna ride Paris-Brest-Paris
– wanna ride something like the Transcontinental race
– whenever possible, swap car-ride with bike
– save a whole lot of money by riding my bike 🙂

The short-term-training-plan:

Therefore I plan a cycling-, running- or triathlon-race every few months. Then I  divide my training time into periods. Usually this means a three week build up, followed by a rest week.

Goals are almost the same:
– raise functional threshold power
– raise endurance
– work on technique

The good thing on this 2-plan setup is, that there is a higher goal, which I can focus on. So for example my training plan says ftp-intervalls, but my muscles are aching, I decide to throw in a rest day. This means I sacrifice speed in my next race for my overall goal of “no chronic diseases”.
Or even in “B”-races, when I don’t go all out, just to be able to commute the following week for my overall “car-swap”-target.

What’s your “life-long-training-plan”?

10 responses to “Why I have two training plans”

  1. So, if your plan says threshold intervals, and you’re fatigued, you’re supposed to either take shorter intervals, increase recovery time between intervals or decrease intensity by few percent. Or swap a rest day with the intense day, but you don’t throw out the session all together, right? 🙂

    Transcontinental is a different animal… To do it well you shall either do the race itself or shorter alternatives every ones in a while. Lael Wilcox just rode lots and won races, while the spin instructors are hanging in the mid of the pack (that’s from the last TransAm)..

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    • Throwing out depends on what my legs feel like. If I´m sure going into an injury I throw it out, if it`s only fatigue, I swap indeed 🙂
      TCR is on my bucket list, but I know this will take time 🙂

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      • Yeah, if you overreached than throwing out a session is the key.. But that’s what the fourth weeks are for. 😉

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  2. Though structural training does help a ton, I was able to finish a 540km sportive with lots of solo riding in 18hrs time having a year of structured plans and multiple local races under my belt. Yet it seems to me that ultras are won by those who can avoid sleep and not move very fast….

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      • Thanks. The record time is 12:51 but this is done by teams of 20 riders with support. It’s realistic for the bunch of individual riders to complete it in 15-16 hours without support. The event is called Styrkeproven. Would love to do the 1000K Bayern Rundfahrt but no chance to complete the series of 200-600K as we don’t have randonneur clubs up here in the Northern Norway…

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  3. I think we have almost identical lifelong goals. Although my blog is about my goal to do an Ironman, it has made me consider other goals and PBP is one of those. I’d also love to do Land’s End to John O’Groats and my 70 year old coach has just completed Trans Am (which looks amazing: https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=1M2&doc_id=17196&v=hk), so I’m tempted to do that at some stage… but I want to do it at a pace that means I enjoy it.

    I think the biggest difference is that I’ve allowed myself more than one bike – I have a slightly battered hybrid with big fixed panniers that I cycle to work every day. It’s quite distinctive and isn’t worth much, so I hope no-one steals it from the university bike shed. I also have a lovely road bike that comes into the office with me if I have to ride it to work! 🙂

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  4. Pingback: 2 reasons to degrade an A-Race – The Bike Escape·

  5. Good overall fitness and not pain by too much training is most important longtime goal for myself as well. After had a very challenging training plan for a half marathon which caused an ongoing occassionally feet pain I became very careful with setting trainings goals. I have a training plan for every week, but I follow it not very strict. Most times my body tell me what he needs and I follow this.

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