Winter Training -- It's All In Your Head

Following on from the last post, I wanted to write about the beginning of the off-season, the psychology that underpins everything I do on the bike and my pursuit to get faster by getting more aero and training smarter.

Commuting Attitude Change

I've noticed a shift in my mindset since returning to full time work. When I was at Greenwich, I commuted by bike almost exclusively. In fact, I did 42 successive bike commutes from January to when I finished in May.

Since starting in Paddington in late July, I've cycled in on average twice a week. I had one hero week where I did it four times, which produced bulletproof legs and, as it was the week before Q50/11, turned out to be a decent boost of volume before I tapered.

In November I only rode in five times. Things got quite busy at work and I didn't want to sacrifice the turbo sessions. I had a good chat with Neil Harris in the pub about whether to drop the turbo or commuting miles at this time of year (he favours the latter), but in truth I stopped enjoying the ride in. My head has been a bit scrambled in the last month, and I've found striking a good work-life balance hard. The commute has suffered as a result. I spoke with Tim a few weeks ago and he was happy for me to drop down to once a week, especially as I had picked up a bug from a boozy weekend in Somerset, and I wasn’t 100%. I know I'm physically capable of doing two but, crucially, I need to be in the right head space for it.

Some of my commutes to Greenwich were pretty grim, even if I had the luxury of riding home a lot earlier than I do now on occasions. I think the reason I was so consistent, and rode to Greenwich pretty much every time I had to go there (seven times a fortnight) was that I convinced myself that getting the train was not only a waste of money, but it was also a lot of hassle, as I had to change at London Bridge. It didn't save me any time either. In my head riding my bike was easier, made me happier, built my fitness, etc. Everything in my mind said: 'ride your bike, don't get the train'. The opposite has been true in the last month.

Last Friday at the pub with Neil one thing in particular we talked about was ‘enjoying the process’. This is something I have found difficult in the past. I love riding my bike and like to think I always will, but I can get ahead of myself and caught up in striving to achieve lofty goals, which is probably why I’m a candidate for burnout – and why getting a coach will (I hope) prevent that happening.

Striking a balance – on a macro ‘work:life’ level, and a micro ‘enjoy cycling:get faster’ level – is an ongoing process. Since returning to full time work, I’ve found the demands on my time hard to manage. There’s an omnipresent sense that my life is askew. I’ve thought about it a fair amount and I think my work is the issue. Although my contracted hours are fairly standard, working late is just part of the job. Even on a good day, including the commute, it’s 11 hours if I get the train and 12 hours if I ride. But working late is par for the course in this industry. Maybe it’s because I’ve been out of the living the student life for a few years, or whether I’m just lazy, either way something has to give.

(Sophie and I have spoken about where we'd like to buy a house in future and we'd both prefer to move back down to where our families are, preferably in the Battle area. This would almost certainly mean a change of job for me, and I hope that might redress the aforementioned balance. Just in time for when we have kids...)

A glimpse into the future

Learning to love the Turbo

Since resuming structured training mid-October, my turbo sessions have been in the morning before work. Initially this seemed a logical, time-efficient move. But recently I’ve been waking up quite tired, especially so if I rode home the previous evening. So, I’ve decided to move turbo sessions to the evening again.

In general the turbos have been going well although I did overheat last Tuesday (26/11). The session was longish intervals with short recoveries. My heart rate was above threshold whilst doing 275 watts. I knew something was wrong and realised I needed a ‘proper’ fan. Bought one the same day and I can’t believe how much easier riding indoors is now. Schoolboy error. I did a very similar session this week: my HR was ~20bpm lower on average and my RPE was 6/10 instead of 8/10.

In general, this has been a solid start to the beginning of winter training. One part of my working relationship with Tim that I really appreciate is his holistic approach. The turbo sessions and weekend rides are always challenging but within my abilities; I never finish a ride feeling exhausted, but I also know that I've got some good work done.

Thinking back to the end of December 2018 when I resumed structured training, I can remember going quite hard quite early and there's no doubt that played a part in me needing to take a break after Q100 in June. I haven't spoken to Tim about how we'll approach the season yet, but I hope that if I do take a mid-season break, this time it will at least be a proactive decision, as opposed to a reactive one.

On Sundays I usually go out and do some TT testing which has been a good opportunity to spend time in my new position and also enjoy riding outside. Sometimes I'll go out with the club instead, depending on how I feel and whether I want to ride with others. 

Position

I went to see Liam Maybank who made some adjustments to my position and gave me a list of equipment upgrades to make. I'm always reluctant to spend too much on TT stuff as it can be a case of diminishing returns, but I also know last season I was fighting with one arm tied behind my back as my position was woeful and my equipment nowhere near optimal.

Some of Liam's suggestions really highlighted my lack of basic TT knowledge; we weren't talking about spending thousands of pounds on equipment, a lot of the mistakes I had made were very easily rectifiable and I am aiming to have it all in place before the Catford 10 in April.

As a short summary, Liam estimates I can save 30-35 watts through equipment changes, and 20+ watts through position.

I tried to find a way of converting ‘watts saved’ to ‘seconds saved’ and the best estimate I could find was:

1 watt saved = 0.1s per kilometre

So 50 watts saved = 5s/km, or 80 seconds across a 10 mile TT.

If that was true I would be in with a shout of doing a long 18 on the A21. I can’t see that happening any time soon!

(This Strava segment is short: actual times are 7-12 seconds longer)

Looking at the above image I would imagine a 50-watt saving would put me somewhere around a middling 19. Obviously there are dozens of variables, but it's interesting to ballpark. A top 10 on this segment would be pretty fun...

#Goals (can't say 'goals' without hashtagging it these days...)

I set the following goals back in October:

• 19 on the A21
• 3:49 Q100
• 1:49 Q50/11
• 53' on Q25/8 or G25/93
• Secret -- reveal at end of 2020 season

These all will ambitious but not beyond what I am capable. I don't know how many watts I would need to do for each course, or how low my CdA needs to be.

If you know, you know!

The 19 on the Q10/19 course on paper should be the easiest to achieve -- I was 14 seconds away this year.

I'd need to cut 9:03 off my PB at the Q100 to do a 3:49. I did that ride on feel, without power or HR data, and my position was so unsustainable that my upper back was in pain for weeks after. Eminently doable.

A 1:49 50 would be really going some for me. I'd need to shave off 4:40 from my PB, which was done with power -- 277NP. In my head 290 seems a reasonable target, and with a better position... who knows.

My 25 PB is, slightly ridiculously, slower than my 100 PB. I still haven't broken the hour! I was hoping to do a 54 back in September, the week after doing 338NP for a 10.

I obviously won't say much about the secret goal, but all will be revealed, whether I achieve it or not, when it happens or at the end of the season.

Fanx for reading :)