The First Half of Base

In October I wrote a blog post which looked at areas I felt I could improve for the 2022 season. They were:

  • Position. 
  • Pacing.
  • Lifting.
  • Commuting.
  • Do more work.
  • Waste less time.

Position

I haven't ridden the TT bike outside yet, but I think my position is better now than it was at the end of last season. Proof is in the pudding though.

Pacing

Nothing to say about this.

Milo has been working on his burpees and it shows

Lifting

I started lifting in early September 2021 – before I had finished racing. Initially, I was lifting three days a week, but it was a bit too much, so I switched to twice a week in early October.

My lifting has progressed quite nicely over the last few months. Deadlift is up to 125kg and Squat 105kg – both around two-thirds of lifetime best. It's most likely muscle memory firing back up, but I have had good legs for a workout in the evening after lifting in the morning.

I'm going to try deadlifting sub-maximally on the morning before an evening TT in the season to see whether there is benefit to 'activating' the legs pre-ride.

Commuting

I have only gone into the office six times in this three-month period. It doesn't look like I will need to ride in that regularly in the new year, so at the moment this isn't relevant.

Love a bar chart

Do more work

As the image above shows, I did ~25% more Work in the first 12 weeks of this year's base period than last year. I've been more consistent this year. 


Another excellent bar chart

Waste less time

In October, I wrote: "I think reducing time spent in zone 1, and therefore being more efficient with my time, will make me stronger."

I've seen some scientific literature that shows aerobic development only happens above a certain percentage of vo2 max, which seems to fall around the top of zone 1 for most people.

Time will tell what effect this has but I'm confident reducing time spent in zone 1 is a good thing.


Double bar chart

TSS

Last winter I did a lot of sweetspot, which is why the IF was generally higher. This usually results in a higher TSS, as the normalized power of each session is higher. 

However, by riding more in zone 2 I've been able to get more Work done, and therefore increase the TSS, which will allow me to do more Work.

I'm not too concerned about TSS though. I make time for around 13 hours on the bike per week, so 700 TSS is about the most I can manage in any given week. I can't really progress TSS as I'd have to increase the intensity of rides which would probably lead to burnout.

In short: TSS is what it is.

Not sure if I've ever seen CTL >100

Key sessions

Block 1a:

One workout per week:
30' Tempo (290 watts) progressing 10 mins/week.

One long ride (3-4 hours @ 210-230 watts) per week.

Solid first block. Gradually introduced some tempo work and got used to long rides again.


Hour of power

At the end of the recovery week, I tried an 'Hour of Power'. My legs didn't feel especially good, so I was really happy with that effort. I was on my road bike, riding on the hoods, so not especially aerodynamic, but the focus was on the power.

I paced the effort like a TT - starting out conservatively and building the power. The second half an hour was at 340 watts with the last 10 minutes around 350 watts.

I will probably do another test at the end of January, though it's not really necessary. A Time To Exhaustion test on the TT bike would be more appropriate as and when I start regularly riding it outdoors again.

Block 1b:

Two workouts per week:
60' Tempo (290 watts) progressing 10 mins/week.
Tempo Bursts (various)

Two longs ride (4 hours @ 210-230 watts) per week.

Managed six 4-hour days (including two commutes) this block. Introduced back-to-back long rides which was hard at first but gradually my body adapted. Also played around with cadence during the workouts. 

Block 2a:

Two workouts per week:
3x10' Tempo Burst (290 watts with 10 second 400-watt burst every 2') progressing 6 mins/week.
4x10' Sweetspot (300 watts) progressing 8 mins/week

Two long rides (4 hours @ 210-230 watts) per week.

Because of the way Christmas falls, this became four hard weeks instead of three. I definitely felt the cumulative fatigue by the fourth week.


Summary

That's the first half of my Base season done. All in all, pretty happy with how consistent I have been. I've really enjoyed getting out on long rides as well particularly when the weather was nice in October.

The second half of my Base phase will largely follow the same pattern as the first half. I'll gradually increase the intensity of the workouts e.g. In the third block, Tempo Bursts become Sweetspot Bursts; Sweetspot progresses to Over/Unders.

If you're reading this because you're interested in following a similar methodology to your training, check out this article from Evoq. Brendan also has a YouTube series on how to transition from Base to Race.

Thanks for reading.

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