The “Christmas Stars” of Cycling, by Joe Friel
9 December 2009
It’s not unusual for some riders to be doing intervals, hill repeats, and hard group rides in early winter. By late December and January, they’re flying. But by June they’re fried and ready for a break—until next fall, of course. I call these athletes “Christmas Stars.”
Some of these Christmas Stars may have the potential to race well in the important races at the end of the season, but we’ll never know because they don’t make it that far. Some don’t even make it to mid-summer. The problem is that they are just eager—eager to start doing the hard training, the anaerobic stuff. Now if their A-priority races are in February that’s OK. But otherwise, they’ve got their periodization all wrong.
Periodization
It only takes about 12 weeks or so to fully build anaerobic fitness. This is the kind of fitness that makes the breaks, gets you over the lung-burning hills, and makes all the suffering bearable. So the anaerobic intervals and other hard stuff need not start until about three months before the first A-priority race of the season. Getting into the heavy breathing too soon with too much volume means that one must try to maintain it week after painful week. That’s hard, if not impossible, to do for an entire race season. About the only way to do this is to take a long break from training in the spring and then start over again. Most aren’t willing to do that.
The solution, of course, is to spend time in the winter thoroughly developing base fitness with long aerobic rides, steady hill work, skills development, and strength training. Cross-training is also a good option early in the winter, although it becomes less important as you move into the late base period. Aerobic exercise of any type will improve cardiovascular fitness. As the fitness of the heart, blood vessels, blood, and lungs improve, so does endurance. And these systems don’t know whether you’re on a bike, a treadmill, or skis. It’s all the same to the cardiovascular system.
But realize that you can’t come into top form for riding a bike by running. There’s more to race fitness than just a strong cardiovascular system.
Cross-training, however, should always be an option when the weather is too nasty to train outside. You can ride indoors on a trainer yet again, or do a workout in another sport. About the third time in a row you are forced indoors by snow, rain, high winds, short daylight, or whatever else Mom Nature has in store for you that day, cross-train instead. In the winter I’d rather have an athlete be somewhat undertrained on the bike but enthusiastic to ride, than the other way around.
Cross-Training Workouts
Here are the common choices of cross-training workouts to choose from. You may also combine one or more of these workouts to produce a longer session with a lot of variety.
· Hike. This is a favorite, especially for those who live near the mountains. It can be done with a spouse who is not an athlete, which should give you some points. No particular skills are needed. Just pick a trail and start walking briskly. Move along at a good pace, especially on the uphills. To develop strength, wear a loaded backpack. Twenty to 50 pounds will do.
· Run. This is also a popular choice for cyclists, but be careful. The problem with running is that the risk of injury is high. To lower the risk, stay on soft surfaces—no concrete—and start with a short duration such as 15 to 20 minutes. Every week add a few minutes, up to about 45 to 60 minutes total. And don’t run on back-to-back days.
· Combined bike-run. Multisport athletes call these workouts “bricks.” Combine biking and running into one session. This is also a good way to get into running safely. For example, you can ride on a trainer for a while and then go for a run. Every week you can increase the run time while decreasing the bike time. For example, initially, there might be a 75-minute ride followed by a 15-minute run. Every week decrease the bike time while increasing the run time so that you build up to something such as 30 minutes of riding and 60 of running or 45 and 45. Following the bike portion, quickly change into dry clothes and running shoes before heading out to run.
· Cross-country ski. This is another popular winter workout in the snowy northland. Cross-country skiing is great for developing cardiovascular fitness. It also works the upper body—an area in which many athletes are lacking. Another benefit is that you can do long workouts without the high risk of injury as in running.
· Snowshoe. Snowshoeing is like combining running and hiking, only on snow. The skills can be picked up quickly and it can be done any time there is enough snow covering the ground. Using ski poles will also work the upper body.
· Swim. Swimming is easy on the body, but highly skills dependent. Until you get onto it, you’ll fatigue quickly. While you can ride or run for hours with no difficulty, after just a few minutes of slow swimming you’ll be ready for a breather. It will take a while to develop the skills to swim continuously for any appreciable time. That will take a few weeks, so it’s best to do swim workouts as interval sets. Swim a length or two, recover until breathing quiets, and repeat. If you get really serious, you can also swim with a masters team which will provide motivation, training partners, and technique tips from a coach on deck.
· Weights. Although this not usually aerobic, I encourage you to lift weights in the winter. This is a great way to develop total body muscular fitness. If you don’t have weights or machines available, be creative. Leg exercises can be done with a loaded backpack. Rubber stretch cords, available in sporting goods stores and on-line, are also a good option. Don’t just lift weights for cross-training. Also include an aerobic exercise from the above list.
Learn to be patient during the winter months. Don’t rush headlong into intervals and hard group sessions. There will be plenty of time for that later—and your race results will improve as a result. In the mean time, stay active by training outdoors when you can, indoors when you have to, and otherwise by cross-training.
Joe Friel is the author of The Cyclist’s Training Bible and The Mountain Biker’s Training Bible. Sign up now for his free webinar next Tuesday, December 15th at 1pm MST on creating an Annual Training Plan with his new and improved VirtualCoach tool in TrainingPeaks.
5 Responses to “The “Christmas Stars” of Cycling, by Joe Friel”
December 9th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Excellent advice Joe…I’ve been training with your system for the past 2 years, thanks to Eddie Monnier my coach who introduced me to it, and I’ve seen dramatic improvements year after year. I hope to have another breakthrough year in 2010.
I’ll be listening in next week…
ALL THE BEST
LAWRENCE NOVITCH
http://www.gsysconcepts.com/
December 10th, 2009 at 8:42 am
I came to Tampa for one of your camps and had a great experience with Bryan,William, and Matt. Are you doing that again?
December 10th, 2009 at 10:11 am
Always enjoy this time of year! Skate skiing is a best kept secret! Great time to work on Pre-hab too! Thanks Joe and Happy Holidays.
Bonnie
December 10th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
In Cycling Past 50, you say that cruise intervals are the only intervals that can be done year-round. Is it ok to continue cruise intervals through the Prep, Base 1, and Base 2 phases? Thank you.
December 11th, 2009 at 6:41 am
I am trying to avoid the 2+hrs on the trainer. Are 45-1 hr workouts with intervals ok to be doing at this time? doing a lot of single leg, and hammer gearing in 2-3 minute intervals.