Building Fitness or Carrying Fatigue

So the road season has just ended.  With the season being over many people fear losing there race fitness and being out of shape for the next season.  Based on this assumption of the forth coming events a number of poor choices occur.  Back to mixed hard efforts at random or the perennial favorite group rides where you put out race efforts. But does this work?  I do not think so.Take a minute to analyze the season here in New England. There is a full five months before the next training race and six months to any real race.  Training races consist of short crits and graduate to short road races in april.  Winners are determined by the fastest/strongest finisher.  Are you fast enough right now?  If you are not winning with what you have then what do you need to do?  Think about it for a minute then read on.       

Ask yourself “Am I getting better each year following this logic?”  A well thought out training plan allows you to improve season to season.  So how do you get better?  Train hard!  Can you train hard now?  More often then not you cannot if you gave it a full effort during the season.  You carry a certain amount of fatigue with you after the season has ended.  If you keep training until the weather gets bad which is sometime in late November/early December you do not take your break until then.  You end up being tired when you should be full of enthusiasm for the next season.  So what do you do then?  Rest?  In December three months before the start of the road season!?  

 

I say take a break now.  That way you are mentally ready to go out there in the cold,are willing to make the maximum efforts required to get better when the time comes.  Everyone knows that feeling out being challenged by another rider or workout but then failing to give a max effort in response.  This is difficult to admit in public but it happens to everyone.  Accept it.  Move on.  A break builds the mental and physical reserves needed to deal with the challenges ahead of you.  A break does that continuing to train does not.  Two weeks no structured training.  Cross train, be active.  Fix the diet.  Get stuff done around the house.  When you feel excited to ride you bike get out there.  If it takes more then two weeks that’s o.k.  You need it. 

So before you head out there on the next ride and stick it to the other riders or turn yourself inside out on a hill ask yourself if you will still being the same thing at the races.  Amos