Coaching -- First Impressions

Y axis = TSS. Apologies for not labeling my axes :(

Before we get into the blog, I made me a little chart. Blue dots are weekly TSS score, red line is the cumulative average of the previous five weeks. I've picked out my five best performances.


Blog posts are self-indulgent. Bloggers are narcissists. I am not exempt from either statement. The following post is going to be a loose collection of my thought processes mainly accrued into these coherent paragraphs in order to observe and attempt to look objectively at the situation I am in, and the decisions I have made.

My memory can be really patchy (probably due to a head injury from a bike crash as a child) so this post serves as a permanent memory to which I can return with clarity and at least attempted objectivity.

Having run my own PT studio for a few years, the concept of coaching wasn’t new to me. I did however feel there was a satisfaction to be had in beating riders that were coaches, or were coached themselves. I got a similar kick out of beating people whilst riding a crap road bike (there’s a reason you’ve never heard of Microshift) with clip on bars. I like to be the underdog in situations — it suits my nature.

So the idea of being coached was foreign to me, even if I had coached others in the past. I never disrespected coaches or their clients, but I felt I could do alright on my own. And I did. But then things change and, with this season drawing to a close and an ongoing frustration that I hadn’t fulfilled my potential this year, I decided to get in touch with a coach. It felt the right time. I had just started a new job which meant 11-12 hour days (including commutes) depending whether I was getting the train or riding in. I simply didn’t have time to think about and plan my training as neurotically as when I was at university, nor did I want to waste any valuable evening or weekend time with Sophie and the animals. So outsourcing my self-coaching seemed a sensible option. I reasoned with myself that, even if it doesn’t work out, I will be better positioned to train myself in future, much like if I ever stop riding with power I will always be a better rider having used it. My HR-only commutes are a testament to that.

I have been thinking about hiring a coach since I started time trialling last year. Although keen to see what I could achieve on my own, with knowledge gleaned from others, reading about training, and making educated decisions along the way, I always knew this period of self-coaching had a time limit.

Part of the problem with coaching yourself, regardless of knowledge, is that it's really hard to look at yourself, and your training, objectively. Often I would plan my training -- sometimes at exhaustive length -- only to change my mind with a knee-jerk decision based on subjective reasoning. The solution could just as well be to stick to the plan I had created, but what if it's sub-optimal and I get stuck in a sunk cost fallacy...

One sure fire way of getting faster at cycling, and probably any endurance sport for that matter, is to do lots of it. The progress I have made since I started cycling in 2016 is largely because of my training volume. I had a similar experience with running lots in 2017.

However, volume can only take you so far, and I wasn't about to start ramping up my mileage beyond the 200+ miles per week I have averaged this year so far. Given sufficient volume, the way then to get faster is through intervals. Here is where the problem lies.

Intervals are a key part of almost any training plan, but I never knew what to do. There are seemingly endless sessions that people recommend, with various interval lengths, rest periods, power targets, heart rate numbers, etc. It got to the point that I didn't really know what I was doing and, frustratingly, how to tell whether I was getting faster. The simplicity of "cycling lots" appealed to me because I could easily measure how far I had cycled and could set myself realistic incremental challenges.

My general plan for this year was: gradually build miles from New Year, start with zone 3 tempo work, add in some sweet spot and sub-threshold stuff, race regularly for top end work, then tailor efforts to match upcoming races.

That strategy worked well up to a point but I never felt great racing 10s. I carried a lot of fatigue into races which wouldn't have helped. The alternative was to taper for the race, but then I would lose fitness by having too many easy days.

I have a tendency to overthink, and self-coaching exacerbated that for me. One definite pro of having a coach would be the elimination of one big decision every day which would free up mental energy and stave off decision fatigue. I really liked the idea of riding my bike -- or the turbo -- with a set of instructions from somebody who knows what they're talking about.

Coaching -- A step into the unknown

Tim had a full complement of riders when I approached him but he agreed to provide a six week plan set up as two three week blocks, the first culminating in the A21 TT at the end of August.

I set a pipe dream goal of doing a 19 at the end of last season. I knew it would be a huge ask but, having done 22:0x in this event last year on the aforementioned road bike, in a trisuit and road helmet, I felt there was a slim chance given the major gear upgrades.

Normally when you set a goal you then train for it. I had done very little 10 training, with most of my efforts and energy aimed at the longer distances as I have previously written.

Tim’s three week plan had some top end work, so that was a nice change to my usual volume-heavy workload, and I felt much fresher only doing 500-600 TSS/week as opposed to the 800+ weeks (of which there were six during this season)! In hindsight I was doing far too much quantity and not enough quality.

The plan was essentially two commutes a week, three one-hour turbo sessions during the week, another on the Saturday and an outdoor TT ride on the Sunday which usually featured sweetspot intervals. I quickly adapted to this routine and enjoyed it so much so that I am now a turbo convert. I love riding outside and always will but the convenience and time efficiency of the turbo appeal to my new time-crunched life.

Schedule

For the first three week period, I agreed with Tim to commute twice a week, with them both at an easy effort trying to keep HR under 145bpm as much as possible. This was pretty much what I would do anyway though I did, at times, get carried away in the past. Now though commuting = easy riding. Fine.

Tim provided me with five sessions a week, one each for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. I would commute on Monday and Friday or switch the days if necessary.

I quickly got into a routine once home of: hour turbo, shower, dinner, relax. Most evenings I would get home between 6.30–6.45 and I'd be finished before 8pm. The beauty of commuting by bike is that the days I rode, I'd be 'finished' by 7.15pm, and have done 3-3.5 hours of training. Still, it's quality over quantity for the next few weeks.

Incidentally, during this period I ditched the tube for a slightly-less-sweaty Boris bike from Charing Cross to Paddington on the days I surrendered to Southeastern. I took the rides very easy but it's still 20 minutes each week three times a week, or another 2 hours of riding. I didn't take these into account or add them to my Training Peaks.

Q10/19 -- 31/08/19

I wasn’t actually going to race the A21 TT as I was needed to marshall and I only found out at 7.30pm the night before - by which point I had already had a drink and the Chinese was on its way... in anticipation of not riding I had entered the Thanet 10 up near Herne Bay on the Sunday. I messaged a couple of mates and they both agreed it would be a good idea to race, so I gratefully accepted the chance.

I won’t bore you with pre-race routine, but I did warmup on the turbo. 20 minutes going through the levels. Legs felt good. Bit of a panic as I cut it fine and ended up ripping the velotoze with less than a minute until I was off.

The start of Q10/19 is fantastic, I got myself into best position and flew down the ramp not pedaling for 15 seconds. Garmin and Strava say I hit 50mph. So much fun.

I tried to lay the power down smoothly throughout the opening leg and when I saw ‘31.6mph average speed’ just as the road kicks up I dared to dream.

However the road drags up a 2% average gradient for over 2 miles with undulations so you quickly scrub off speed.

By the time I had reached the roundabout I saw ‘27.7mph’ and thought the 19 had gone, though I knew a PB was still on the cards.

There are few simpler stretches of TT roads than the return leg. It’s a slight net downhill all the way, you get into a massive gear and keep turning it over. Simple. 55x11 then 55x12 all the way, hold your best position and motor. I tried to stop myself looking down but couldn’t resist. Before long it was 28.5, 28.7, 29... i was on for a PB — but how big?

29.5... 29.6... 29.7. I was running out of time and I knew there was a grippy bit of road where I always find the rough stuff coming up.

29.8... 29.7 again. No! 29.8. Yes! I see 20:00 tick over and then not long after, with my visor fogged up, see the chequered flag, hit stop and zig zag back to the car.

I knew I hadn’t done a 19, but it still took me the best part of 5 minutes to see my time such was the state I was in. Eventually, I saw 20:13 which I was pretty happy about all in all.

Q10/30 -- 01/09/19

Thanet 10 was the next day. It was my first time on the course and I don't know the area. Foolishly I just assumed I would know how to get from HQ to the start. I didn't – and was late. The timekeepers took pity and let me go off during a DNS rider's timeslot, but I still had the 5:25 (amount of time I was late) penalty applied.

The race went okay, power 9 watts down on the previous day, though I felt I held a solid position and managed a 20:51 in not great conditions (Chris Fennell was about 30 seconds down on his course record). Overall happy with my performance. It would have been good enough for 7th and my best placing in an Open. I was exceptionally frustrated at myself but promised to make up for it by riding a 19 on the P881R the following Saturday.

Block 2

I decided I would do things slightly differently for this block and the foreseeable future. Instead of riding the turbo after work, I would ride before. Sophie was back to school on the first day of this block, and would be waking up at 6.45, leaving home at 7. When I get the train I leave just after 8 – the decision to ride before was a no-brainer.

The first day went surprisingly well. I didn't feel too fatigued from the weekend – I did sleep for around 10 hours, so that would have helped – and managed the session Tim had given me very well. The reps were much longer than he had previously given me but my legs felt absolutely fine. A good sign, I reckon.

Easy commutes Tuesday and Thursday sandwiching an hour of shorter intervals on the Wednesday, Friday off and then race day on Saturday. Incidentally I usually ride the day before a race but work was busy and finished with a couple of beers. Not ideal but I never want to get so precious about cycling that I can't enjoy other parts of my life.

P881R -- 07/09/19

The P881R race was held in the afternoon so Sophie and I drove to Liphook, Hampshire together and I introduced Sophie to the neurotic, trainspotting-esque world of testers.

The HQ was in a smart school rather than a dusty old village hall, but other than that it was just like every other TT: loads of people, mostly old blokes, half naked, warming up on their best bike which is three times their car. It's ridiculous and I love it.

Warmup was fine, legs felt good, no mechanical problems or issues swapping the training wheel over to the disc and I was good to go.

The ride to the start line was impossible to get wrong and I arrived in good time, waiting where the marshals held us before riding down the slip road to the start.

The out leg felt good, I pushed harder during the ups and backed off a little during the faster sections and things were going great until you start to climb up at mile 7. I hadn't overcooked it -- 370 watts for 3:39 was a crazy effort for me -- but it wasn't enough to keep the average speed at 30mph.

Not sure what to say about the race. My legs felt so good, I was laying down numbers that I shouldn't have been able to do, but I just wasn't as fast as I hoped. I thought a 19 was really on the cards. The P811R should have been faster than Q10/19 but it wasn't to be. Average Power 329, Normalised 338.

(Incidentally, there was another race the following weekend and conditions seemed faster, alas.)

Week two of the second block culminated with the 4up TT at Brands Hatch. I've honestly never enjoyed myself on the bike as much as that race. Our team won and I did 312/336 for 22:12. Legs felt so strong!

The last week of the plan was supposed to culminate with a huge PB at Q25/8 (I still technically haven't gone under the hour in a 25), with my mind set on scraping under the 55 minute mark. Unfortunately there was a boot fair(!) and the race was shortened to 20km which did not appeal at all.

Instead I did a 20 minute test on the turbo and managed 305 watts. The first 10 minutes I was holding 310 reasonably comfortably but then I overheated and could only manage 300 watts for the last 10.

Summary

A bit of an anti-climax but that was the end of the season. As I write this I have taken the last two weeks super easy -- in total three commutes and one social club ride. Tomorrow (6th Oct) I have a 2-up with a clubmate though it is purely for fun and because I had so much fun at Brands.

I have decided to work with Tim for the next season. I have also been in touch with Liam Maybank who seems to be the go to guy for getting aero, so we'll see what happens. Right now I'm content with how the season went and am looking forward to getting back into a routine again. This end of season break has been really good for my head, and it has fortuitously coincided with being quite busy at work and my having lots of good ideas for personal writing projects that I have on the go.

I have thought about what I would like to achieve next season, made some notes and will do a blog post on this at some point in the new month or so. Thanks for reading.