A few thoughts and ideas if you have completed an endurance event such as The Wicklow 200/100 and are looking to improve/build on your performance during the coming year. As with last years piece these thoughts are aimed at those of us who are never going to be challenging for positions in the top 10 of the general classification. But if like me you are keen to improve and you have to balance training around family, work and any number of other commitments, then these points maybe useful.
Having perhaps done your first event last year or at least gained some experience of endurance riding I’m sure the points I made last year with regards kit and equipment have been taken on board. However it is always worth ensuring that your position on the bike is optimized, there is always the temptation to fiddle with your position on the bike, or if you’ve had the machine in bits to travel you may have altered the position slightly as you reassemble. I always find it useful to get an expert eye to look me over on the bike at the start of each campaign. I can’t overstate how important position is, we see any number of cyclists in the clinic with overuse injuries and very often these injuries are related to biomechanical discrepancies as a result of poor bike set up. Bear in mind the number of revolutions each leg is going to make during a 6-7 hour or more event any slight misalignment is going to be magnified and will result in problems.
Training:
As I mentioned last year the amount of research, advice and information available on training for this type of event is truly staggering and can be very confusing. Therefore I aim to make the thoughts/advice I use to be as “real world” as possible, taking into account the work/life balance etc. To that end these points are based on the current academic research, but tapered to club athletes such as myself, and on my own experiences of what I have found works for me.
Over the last 15 years I have realised that the foundation/starting point for any serious training has got to be a maximal exercise test. This is important in terms of improving performance because the test looks at your physiology as an individual, not as a member of a generic group. The information from the test should give you accurate heart rate data, anaerobic threshold and maximal V02 information as well as other useful indicators of your current physiological status and potential. I use breath by breath gas analysis for this test as it is recognised both in sports science and clinically to be the most accurate. I also like to carry out a body composition analysis, again to give an accurate picture of where each individual is in terms of things such as body fat percentage and lean muscle mass.

I outlined in my last piece 3 training principals that I use as the foundation of training. I have found that this combination works. In terms of enhancing these 3 principals I would add the following,
If you have accurate HR data from an exercise test you should be able to identify a max fat burning zone. This will be a very low intensity zone, most people will feel that exercising in this zone is too easy and doing them no good. I believe that spending 4-6 weeks exercising in this zone prior to starting you base training (Principal 1) has a number of benefits. It has been shown to enhance fat mobilisation and metabolism. The more efficient this energy system is the better for this type of endurance event as it can help to conserve the carbohydrate store. If I’m aiming at The Wicklow or the Etape I would start this type of training from the end of November, to ease myself back into training following a break at the end of last season. The key with this type of training is to keep the intensity very low and extend the time. A minimum of 40 mins up to around 3 hours is good for this type of training.

In January I will start the 3 Principals I outlined last time. Principal 1, the long slow distance is the undoubted foundation of your training pyramid any compromise or short coming here will be exposed at some point. I reviewed some annual training data from one of the top pro cycling teams a couple of years ago and their data indicates that throughout the whole year (excluding 3 weeks end of season holiday) 75% of their training is conducted at this intensity. Remember the key is to build the duration gradually during the weeks and months not the intensity.
Other sessions that may be useful additions to the 3 principals are, (HIIT) high intensity interval training. This type of session e.g. following warm up 20secs max sprint 30-40 secs recovery repeat (increasing reps as training progresses) warm down has been shown in research to increase power out put and speed. However most of the research was looking at 40km time trials. There is some suggestion that this type of interval training may produce a small increase in anaerobic threshold which may be more relevant for endurance riding but the evidence is not yet conclusive.
Some form of resistance and flexibility training is always a useful addition if time allows. Resistance training protects/builds lean muscle mass as well as increasing the metabolic rate. Ensure that you target all the major muscle groups’ upper body as well as the legs. Don’t go mad we’re not necessarily looking to gain muscle bulk, just protect endurance strength and power. Any sort of flexibility programme will aid recovery and help protect against injury if done properly. I have to admit I am very poor at this and kid myself that swimming is my flexibility training; this is probably part of the reason that I often need treatment for IT Band Syndrome.
As I mentioned earlier these suggestions are additions to the 3 principals I outlined last time, these are still the foundation I believe for this type of event. If you have time to add in some of the above sessions all the better, however don’t compromise on the basic principals.

All The Best,
Chris Simpson