Cycle-Smart Training Questions and Answers

Hi all,

A new client had some familiar questions that I thought you might all benefit from reviewing, or perhaps hear the answer for the first time:

>1) Missed workouts -- stuff comes up from time fro all of us -- work,
>family, significant other's etc. If I miss a planned day -- say a Wednesday
>workout, do I skip it and do Thursday's workout on Thursday, or do I bump
>Wednesday to Thursday, and then dump my rest day on Friday to permit me
>to do Thursday's workout?

There are three normal scenarios. If you miss the first training day of a mini-cycle (the sprint day), then you can usually start the mini-cycle the next day, and adjust the length accordingly. So, say you miss Tuesday's ride because of uncontrollable circumstances. You'd simply start your training Wednesday, but with Saturday's workout, and then do Sunday's workout Thursday. This way you're moving the shorter 3-day mini-cycle into the space you have (Tuesday-Thursday), getting the training done in the right format, and still being able to rest on Friday as planned. The second scenario is if you miss the middle training day of a 4-day mini-cycle, namely Wednesday. If you miss a Wednesday workout, you usually will simply have to cut your losses and continue on with Thursday's workout the next day. Enjoy the day off and don't worry about it. Third scenario is if you miss the last day of a cycle, like a Thursday or a Sunday. In that case, you take the rest day, but then you can either a) still take the Monday or Friday rest that follows because you can actually use the extra recovery, or b) bump the start of the next cycle up a day, so that you end up doing your sprint day a day early. So, say you miss Sunday. You can start your next cycle on Monday, train Monday-Wednesday, and then repeat the 4-day cycle again Thursday-Sunday. In this case, you'd be doing an 8-day week with 2 4-day mini-cycles, from Sunday-Sunday.

>2) As to weekend races -- looking at my weekly blocs, I don't see a lot
>of Max and Sub Max on the schedule until B24,5, and 6. So, should I refrain
>from taking my HR over my AT in races -- until the peak period you have
>prescribed for me? It seems to me that I will be sitting in a lot races
>until F-burg. Do you think I can still make a move to get some results
>before then?

You shouldn't see any sub max on the schedule at all. Only max. And since Max are sprints that only last 8-15 seconds, AT is irrelevant. But yes, you should try to avoid taking your HR over your AT in races while you're in the base period. That doesn't mean it never happens or that you should drop out of a race because of it; it means that you should try to limit it by sitting in more and attacking less. Part of why there's no AT work on the program is because we know that you'll inevitably be getting some done in the races. Don't think that by sitting in a bit in the early season it will prevent you from getting results. In addition to help controlling the development of your form, it will teach you patience, how to read races, and how much easier it is to get results at the end of a race, when things are truly hard, if you've saved your matches for that point. Most cat. 4 and 3 races will end in field sprints, so unfortunately in order to upgrade that's the most important part of the race to focus on. Sitting in during the early season will help you be more comfortable with that.

>3) I don't mind training when it rains -- but, I heard that it opens you
>up to a greater chance of sickness. Do you recommend that your athletes train
>indoors when the weather is foul, or do you subscribe to the "race in the
>rain, train in the rain dogma?"

Racing/training in the rain opens you up more for sickness simply because it takes so much more energy to stay warm that your body has to dig a little deeper, affecting your recovery, and leaving your immune system more vulnerable. That said, being properly dressed and prepared for rainy weather shouldn't keep you from training successfully if you're motivated to do it. My recommendations for training in the rain is that you get the first day off for rain, but not the second. And ideally, if you can do your workout indoors on the trainer, that's the best alternative.