Smeulders' Training Plan for 2010

Around this time last year, I sent you an article detailing my own training plan for 2009. To be honest, I was worried that it was overly self-indulgent and wouldn't be received with much interest. The clever half of ErgVideo Inc., David Stevenson said "No, send it!!", and you proved him right. That mailing actually drew the MOST direct feedback of all my mailings in 2009. Thank you for your letters saying "keep that stuff coming" and "I really enjoyed that one". So, in that spirit, and without needing Dave to convince me this is a cool thing to do, I will present my 2010 training plan. If you are a new customer and would like to see our previous mailings, please refer to this page on the ErgVideo site.

"Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, Smeulders walks into mine..."

You may recall that last year was one of rebuilding after a long time away from any sort of structured training. I had spent a good deal of time and effort getting ErgVideo Inc. off to a healthy start. I used the word "restoration" and was uncertain whether I'd be interested in competing at all. Above all, I wanted to share some epic rides with the same buddies I'd spent many miles with in my fitter, faster days. I let the cat out of the bag that I was hoping to ride in some foreign hilly places, too. I wanted some fitness for that.

It's never a good idea to avoid examining any failures or shortcomings with your coach. Embellishing a poor result or making excuses is understandable while beering with your competitors or posing with your training buddies, but it doesn't help the guy who is honestly trying to help you improve. If you aren't honest, he can't help you to improve as much as he could. This actually applies to the self-coached athlete as well. I've seen it: they just don't WANT to admit or believe they made mistakes in planning, execution, or both, and take a self-delusional approach! At least a self-coached athlete has the luxury to keep it all private. Ummm, okay, except for ME...because I share it with my hundreds of customers!

Performance wise, I think I came up short on the timing of my "first" fitness. While I was not going to "peak" for anything in particular, I did want to hit the road with decent fitness so that I could benefit most from hard group rides with my fastest buddies, short of really racing against them. My periodic threshold test scores actually showed a slower improvement than I'd hoped for, until I emerged from that extended "base phase" anyway. Once I was going harder and hitting the MAP intervals, I saw rapid and pleasing improvements.

Vince puts you on the ropes

My trip to Spain was indeed a bit of a short-notice surprise. It wasn't considered in my plan specifically, but by the time it rolled around I was reasonably confident things would go well enough. In all but the steeper, longer climbs, I could stick with the best groups as long as I didn't work too much out front. I traded skill for fitness sometimes, by just drafting REALLY well. My leg speed and racing experience were an asset; I can still read people, the road, and the wind to sense when an attack would be a good idea. You will see some masterful wheelsucking in the ErgVideos Mallorca Tempo and Hills and Wheelers Tempo in Spain. The end of each ride shows a real hard jam on fast rolling roads, and your gentle cameraman is on the rivet for most of those sequences. My numbers (tested threshold power and my weight) predicted correctly that I wouldn't be able to stick with the same boys on the long hills, but I expected to ride well when experience and leg speed was needed.

Upon returning, a short rest followed by some continued training on the road and with very high-intensity ErgVideo rides like Osmond's Odyssey, Italian Festival GP, and Lynn Road Race brought me to a new level. For the first time in several years, I could ride with Paul Datars and Rick Sudac in the Rideau Lakes Tour, an 180km trek from Ottawa to Kingston, with a return trip of the same distance the next day. These gentleman would prefer to race this whole ride, but they keep a small group together to include Paul's wife, Sally. You've seen all of these characters in Adirondack Club Ride: Rick is the tall guy who always pushes the pace; Paul is the guy who made you say "Honey, come and look at the size of this guy's legs!"; and Sally is the tiny blonde who grabs onto jerseys when the going gets tough, and accepts a few madison-style hand-slings from caring members of the peloton.

Beware of crafty blonds

Back to the Rideau Lakes Ride, where we are keeping just enough speed to dangle the fairer of the Datars, but comfortably so. Well, as luck would have it, one of our group had a serious blowout. Cue Sally: "I'll be going ahead...easy pace, I need a rest". This is code for "you boys can go as fast as you want now, but I bet you won't catch me". She goes as hard as she can, joins up with other fast riders and hopes it's a long repair. After fixing the tube and base tape defect, we got started on a blistering chase! I was well-nourished, well-caffeinated, confident, and thankful that a key part of this game is that Rick and Paul have to pull the whole way, lest Sally accuse them of getting help. Make no mistake, these guys blow wheelsuckers off the back all the time. That day I wasn't one of them. I felt a perverse delight when I heard the moans and complaints from behind me, begging the leaders to slow down. All I could think was "No, dudes, go just a LITTLE faster...!!". I can't tell you how great it feels when your best chums say "Paul, it's really cool to have you riding with us again. We like it!"

Paying the price for hard miles

So I felt like I had achieved the main goal, but it was about 6 weeks later than I'd hoped. I rode a few more times with these friends, and it remained a thrill. Anything more than that was "icing" on my season. Indeed, I had work ahead of me for the trip to France where I would surely spend time off the bike tending to my riders. I'd have a week of riding there by myself as final "binge miles" for the summer. Upon return, I had to edit and release 12 ErgVideos by September, and I'd actually have to stop riding to hit that scedule. My massive over-mileage riding helped me be cool with that.

Step 2: Rip on the previous year's training plan

So despite some positive outcomes, it is healthy to consider what aspects of the plan were responsible for my "late start". I would say in retrospect that I spent too much time in "zone 2 base" aerobic riding. You may recall my statements about it being less critical for people coming off a good season or many years of fitness. I also mentioned how progressive coaches build some decent intensity into this phase, and don't necessarily restrict you below threshold power. I force-fed myself the base training because I had been so "out of the scene" for so long. I think the amount I planned into the program was excessive.  I responded well to the workload, but riding this "easy" didn't improve my fitness or threshold power very much. Worst of all, it reduced the time I had for the harder sessions before the season was upon me. When I noticed the accelerated rate of improvement following the harder phases, I was wishing I had started them sooner! I could have also benefitted from more race simulations just before the spring road season hit.

Step 3: Develop new goals and adjust the plan

For 2010, my goals remain modest and focused on enjoyment through fitness. It's easier to enjoy speed or difficult climbs when you are not suffering just to keep moving. I expect to do some foreign trips where I'll need good legs. I've had the Southwest Bike Academy and John Large of CyclingAdventure.com volunteer to contribute to more projects. I look forward to that, and you should too! Our local 15km TT course has all new pavement so I expect I'll try a few of those, with some 40's mixed in. Most importantly, I'd like to ride more with my best friends in the long, difficult warrior-events we have in the area.

To achieve all this, I have drastically reduced the amount of Zone 2 aerobic base training in the plan. This can be seen as a correction as well as recognition that I am starting out with much better fitness after a year of riding. I have held to a 5 session per week routine, since it suits my free-time schedule well. In general, the weekday sessions are the same duration as last year, and weekend rides are little shorter. Rather than the 3+hour slogs I used in base training, I've increased intensity and lowered volume. Overall, the intensity is substantially higher, with more Zone 3 Tempo riding, or "sweet spot" training as it has become known. I hit the threshold development intervals sooner in the program, and likewise my MAP phase is sooner and longer this time around. You will see a progression over time toward higher intensity and many more race simulations. This whole plan is harder than that of 2009, and I expect to be riding at a higher level when the snow melts. Testing with the "Threshold Test" ErgVideo happens every 4 weeks, as usual.

Dr. Evil had Mini-me, I have "Three-o-me"!

You may also recall my scheme to have riding partners in every session. That worked out very well since people just plain love riding ErgVideo. I'm repeating it this year with a small exception. I've planned Sunday rides to be non-intervals sessions in general. I won't be scheduling a partner on Sundays because I want to be able to optionally skip this ride and go for a long cross-country ski session. While no activity can really prepare you for cycling as well as cycling itself, let's be realistic and recognize I am not a pro racer, and my life doesn't revolve around competitive cycling success or results. As I age, there are other aspects of my physical health that need attention and maintenance that cycling simply doesn't improve. Examples are core strength, abdominals, posture, and upper body conditioning. XC skiing works all of these systems; it gets me outside enjoying fresh air, scenery, and speed...much like cycling. It sure beats lifting weights in a tacky gym!

You can see my training plan for the 2009-2010 indoor season year here. It is normalized to a threshold power of 250W, which I will change as I progress. It uses almost all of the 54 ErgVideos now available. I built the plan using the ErgVideo Coach tool, which you can use to build your own plans. Otherwise, you can look into having some other experts build a program for you. See Richard Wharton's, Hunter Allen's, or Al Lyman's programs highlighted at our website.

New FREE ErgVideo Training plans available at Intellicoach.ca

We've substantially modified the Free ErgVideo training plans at Intellicoach.ca. For 2009, we have made the programs a little more advanced and intense for the seasoned rider. The 2008 plans are still available, of course. All plans are built around our core 9-packs for long course tri, short course tri, and road racing. What's really new is the ability to use any of up to four additional 3-packs from the base training series or the new 2009 European content! Please check it out. It will get you in shape, competitive, and excited. You'll be actually looking forward to every indoor session!

THAT is what ErgVideo is for!

Until next time, happy hammering!
Paul Smeulders and David Stevenson
ErgVideo.com