How much time did we spend over winter, daydreaming about the sunny afternoon rides to come? The smell of cut grass, sun cream, and chain grease as we rode over the dusty rolling hills of Surrey and Yorkshire? And how long did it take us to remember that this is the UK, and that is a total fantasy?
You’d be forgiven for thinking it was the autumn rather than the first days of July, with soggy leaves on the lanes, strong winds, and cold, heavy showers suppressing weekend rides more often than not. The fact I had to dig a pair of tights and a jacket out of my winter clothes this morning I find particularly upsetting.
We can’t let a little rain spoil our training, but for many the idea of another sodden club run can be too much to bear, even if we do have all the right kit.
Indoor training needn’t be reserved exclusively for the winter, and can be a useful tool for those miserable summer days and evenings too especially if you are in the peak phase of your training.
Before Joining Yellow Jersey, Patrick Canavan was whipping athletes into shape as a coach and running sub 15 min 5k’s. He is a firm believer interval training and took a look back through some of the sessions he built for his clients and provide them to our readers in the form of handy PDF’s.
In Patrick’s opinion the winter is the time for building endurance, the summer is when you want to be working on your power. The 6 weeks leading up to your A-Race you should be, in his words, ‘sharpening the pencil’. These power training sessions below will help you do just that. From Patrick’s experience, ‘interval training done twice a week for a month improved racers’ 40k time-trial performances by 5% and boosted their peak power output by 3%. So if you are training for an sprint or Olympic distance triathlon, a 10 or 25 mile road time trial or a local crit series dropping in these power sessions can’t hurt, can they?!
Indoor Power Training
Indoor-power-training-plan-1-pdf
Indoor-power-training-plan-2-pdf
Indoor-power-training-plan-3-pdf
Yellow Jersey provide insurance products designed specifically for the competitive cycling and triathlon markets. With all claims handled in house by experts recruited out of local cycle clubs and shops, they promise a quick and personal claims process. Click here to find out more.