I may have missed the note but is there a road plan being loaded for November? I have nothing in may calendar. Thanks.  

Wow, sorry thought I pushed those up on Sunday night, something went wrong.  Sorry about that.  The 4 week block is the final transition / prep month.  Still a solid commitment to building functional strength, some aerobic base, efficiency and riding time, but still not full on just riding!  For the uphill hikes, you can use stairs, bleachers or similar.  Should take a few minutes to get into account then feel free to ask questions. 

TimCusick said:

Hello All!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!  Weather was a tad cooler then earlier this week, nice to be out for a ride!

I posted the 4 week transition plan yesterday.  Transition is a phase that many cyclists do not enjoy but adding some functional strength and cross training really helps you to prepare to train "harder" in later phases of the periodized plan.  You can mix things up this cycle, does not need to be "day-by-day" rigid.  Also, if you already doing some yoga or a functional strength or strength resistance program you like, keep using it.  I would also add, I put "uphill" hiking as an option, in hindsight, should have put "stairs" as most on this list will have easier access to flights of stairs then uphill hiking so can switch.

For the cycling, great period to focus on cadence work.  The cadence work can help build efficiency and this time of year is perfect for some focus in this area.

Let me know if questions.

@TimCusick I may have missed it the thread, but how do I get the off season plan uploaded to my training peaks? currently nothing is uploaded. 

In terms of goals, I am coming off an injury (herniated disc, 6 weeks limited to no activity) and starting to rebuild. bc I have taken so much time off, I feel well rested and want to first rebuild and then train hard in advance of the Branchbrook series which kicks off in Feb/Mar.

Thanks so much.

@GregStreiff, I've loaded the transition plan for you!

Thanks!  we are loading the transition plan to get you up and rolling. 

@TimCusick and @debimartin, if I've got four or maybe five more weekends on 'cross racing left this season, should I re-up the CX plan? Or should I move on to transitioning to the offseason? My TP account is currently empty. 

I’m debating the same issue as Max. My gut is to load a transition plan and I’ll continue to throw in some CX workouts until that season is over. Unlike last year I have no need to maintain the fitness until Nationals. 

Interesting points, @PatrickG. I'm looking at these late-season races as my best chances to get some much-desired upgrade points. Up until Day 2 at HPCX, my 'cross racing was beset by injury and mechanical issues. This season has turned out to be a late-bloomer, and I'd like to continue training for top results. But if I can't improve my form in the time I have left, I may as well move on. What do you think, Tim? 

I would repeat plan and race em hard unless you feel you are really fatigued but that being said, late season racing is about extending form not building fitness.  This means that I would reduce the number of hard days a week by one or two and race more fresh (but not too fresh or rested) for next 3-4 weeks.  It really is too late in the season at this point to gain fitness (typically takes 4-8 weeks to fully adapt to exercise stimuli in general) so focus on the form and freshness.  This means reduce to 2 or three hard days a week inclusive of racing and add an easy day of skills or extra rest.  A lot of times you can get a little late season bump this way...but wont last long as you will start losing fitness. 

For workouts, just pick you favorite hard workout (or something specific that you really feel you need to work on) at this point of the season but make sure the core of the workout is over FTP.  So Vo2max (40/20 micros great this time of year) or 30/30/30/30 or 1 minute power builders or things like that.  IF racing 2x times in the weekend, rest Monday/Tuesday then hard Wednesday rest Thursday, pre-race Friday, race all weekend.  If racing once, flip the thinking (or take extra day of rest) which means race Saturday, easy Sunday, rest Monday, hard Tuesday AND Wednesday, rest Thursday, pre-race Friday....

Make sense?

Very much so. Excellent advice. Thanks, @TimCusick.

Team, with the Holiday weekend, i would like to post training plans tomorrow.  This cycle (the 1st full cycle of the 2018 season) if focused on tempo and SST work to give some foundation for next steps.  Staring in with the NEXT cycle, I am going to make a High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) training plan available for those that feel they don't have the time to complete the standard workouts OR want to focus on HIIT.  You can have both loaded if you want and chose but REALLY suggest you do one or the other.  That being said,  I will link an article I am working on by the time you need make a choice to give some deeper understanding. 

Next cycle should be live before lunch tomorrow!  

Happy Holidays!  I hope everyone has some great holiday plans on tap and ready to enjoy the season.

I posted training through Jan 1, so just a short add through the test week at this stage.  Starting on Jan 1 I will make two versions of the training plans available to all; traditional and HIIT.  Traditional is what we are doing now, following a linear periodization strategy of training whereas HIIT will focus on shorter, high intensity intervals as the basis of building winter fitness.  Over the next week, just let us know which direction you want to go and we can get everything ready.

Have fun! 

Thank you, Happy holidays to you too @TimCusick!

Would you mind explaining the benefits of each of the methods (traditional vs. HIIT)? 

Team - Happy New Year! 

Tomorrow is a day off and "recovery".  I will be posting plans later today just a heads up...

Happy New Year!

Posted all plans for next three weeks this morning.  Please check to make sure you received correct plan.  Let me know if questions. 

Hi Tim, it looks like I've been given the Cat 1-2 plan.  Can you please confirm?  I'd like the Cat 3/4/5 plan please.

I reloaded all the Cat 3-5 plans, should be right now.

Hi @TimCusick
I'd like to jump back into training with Kissena again.  Can I get back on a plan?  Let me know what I need to do.  I'd like the Cat 3 HIIT program.

Hi Jill!

I am not sure how to sign up again through Kissena and hoping to get a quick answer and post here as had a few requests today...

Hello all

The board is working with Tim to make some changes to the coaching program. Because some board members having been on vacation we haven’t worked out all the details and will make an official announcement ASAP. 

In in the meantime, any active 2017 member can get on Tim’s plan that he is posting for next couple of weeks. 

Keep an eye on your mailboxes for an email about membership and changes to the coaching program. 

Thanks for your patience

Patrick  

Thanks Patrick!  Debi is setting up the new member requests tomorrow morning and we will get you into the plan.  

Tim, the workout planned for me today was pretty tough (FTP microburst intervals, 4x10min) and I could only muster 3 of them.  The plan calls for 180% FTP for 15sec, and 40% FTP for 15sec. 

By min 5 and onwards, I had a hard time holding greater than ~140% FTP on the intervals.  Is this to be expected during the interval set?  Or should I be able to do 180% FTP for the whole set?

One of the things that is really hard in workouts to to say "how hard" for interval like this.  The answer really is "go hard then go easy".  For this time of year, yea, that is pretty solid.

On Monday will be rolling out new system and scheduling a webinar to explain the new process.  Look for updates! 

Just a reminder that coaching is a 2018 benefit. Renew your club membership so we can get a list of members for Tim to include in the coaching program. Thanks!

Here is the presentation with links to begin to review the program

Here is the link to all the available plans on TrainingPeaks.com  
https://www.trainingpeaks.com/coach/timcusick#trainingplans

Here is a link to the plans (same plans just more help with selection process) on my website:  http://www.velociouscyclingadventures.com/training-plans-and-endurance-coaching

The plans on both sites are the same and all lead to downloading from TrainingPeaks.  Our personal site just has some support in selecting plans.  Hopefully the process is simple enough, we are here to answer questions.

Here is the link to get your training plan FREE code:  http://www.velociouscyclingadventures.com/kissena