Training Tips: Designing you own training plan

A secret: you can design an effective plan on your own. In fact, it can be done in a very simple manner, without the tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment and technology that a coach like me uses. I can’t promise that the DIY plan will serve you as well as a professionally developed one. However, you’ll still be able to drive your power threshold up, and not your budget. All you will need is a calendar, some markers and a healthy reality check.

Identify your goals. It may be as general as riding stronger in your weekend club rides through July and August. It could be a back-to-back century for a charity fundraiser or a top-five finish in your age group at a mass-start ride. Remember, the more specific the better.

Keep the S.M.A.R.T. acronym in mind when setting goals. It stands for “safe, measurable, achievable, realistic and time.” With the first point, consider how safe your goal is. It might not be safe for you to attempt if you are not starting with a good level of physical fitness or skill. Second, can you measure your progress? Use power metrics, distance or heart rate where appropriate. A goal is both achievable and realistic if it is something that is within reach after the proper training.

As for time, there never seems to be enough. But, the event date provides a framework for structured training. Create your plan by working back from target date, identifying the specific challenges unique to the event. The challenges could be distance, the energy systems taxed, route relief and temperature. Then, work on your limiters or weak links.

Now break out the school supplies. Select your highest priority event. Mark it on the calendar and count the weeks until game day. Ideally, you have at least 10-12 weeks. Next, look at the course. If it is a hilly route, how many hills? What grades and how long are the climbs? If it is a criterium, how many laps? How technical is it? For road races and group rides, how long is the route?

If your strength is climbing, you are likely blessed with a good power-to-weight ratio. However, you may struggle to keep up on long flats with strong headwinds, where the advantage often goes to bigger power houses who put out higher raw wattage. In this case, the flat sections would be the limiter. You should adjust your plan so you focus on increasing your sustainable power through progressively longer time trial intervals. Also, work on drafting in group rides.

If climbing is your Achilles heel, the hill repeat is your new frenemy. Make sure the repeats suit the type of climbing you plan on tackling: short but steep rollers or 10-20 minute grinders. Both present different challenges and tax different energy systems.

A typical plan uses a three-week incremental build of volume and/or intensity. The fourth week is for recovery, in which intensity or training stress lessens temporarily. Modify the next cycle to increase the specificity and intensity of training as you get closer to your event. Include a two-week taper in which you reduce your total training volume to ensure freshness. Cut back on training days during the taper, but keep a few short, high intensity efforts in the plan.

So plan ahead, research events and determine where and how you will be training. Factor in budget, equipment and training time, even travel. And then, get busy training.