On a drinking/training week in Spain Irish rider Myles McCorry caught and dropped the Telekom pro team on a climb and learned the hard way that sometimes less really is more.
Resisting the temptation to put the boot down and go for broke at this time of year can reap dividends for racing cyclists months later and foster a good club environment for leisure riders, writes the inimitable Myles McCorry.
They came at me along the road like bridesmaids at a farmer’s wedding; all over the place, the club run having exploded while still over an hour from home.
I drove on in the opposite direction. The gaps between the back markers became less regular and the rider’s arms grew straighter.
Some mullet was showing off and destroying a club run with bravado and new wheels when everyone, not to mention the club spirit, would have benefited from a steady spin.
Advertisement
The destruction of a social bike ride used to boil my head. The only reason I don’t get quite so annoyed these days is because I’ve come to expect this madness.
My heart still bleeds for the lad at the back. He’ll think twice before coming out on his irregular spins after getting such a hiding and being left back the road alone.
As for the lad at the front in the big ring dishing it out so early in the year; I want to shake him from his winter fantasies and convince him that sometimes less really is more.
For a lot of riders, the idea of slowing down is counter intuitive in a sport where speed is king. But the concept of ‘slow base’ is a proven invaluable starting point in a training program that takes the body to a sustainable level of efficiency.
Whatever you do, don’t set about this year with the same training habits as 12 months ago if your results weren’t what you hoped for last season.
(Piece continues below advertisement)
A cautionary tale for the young folk
In 1994 at a training camp/drinking week, our size 5 shorts group caught and passed Team Telekom in Gran Canaria. We laughed at their slow pace. Erik Zabel was rubbish; 15 mph. Laughable.
Related News
But just three months later he won Paris Tours and I was dropped at Navan. That sparked a renewed interest for me in the saddlebags and steady rides in the off-seasons of years ago.
Pacing yourself during that period before the intense racing or your sportives start is not about going slow. It’s about starting slow into a process of bringing your condition where you want it to be.
Give your body a load followed by a rest and it will adapt and become stronger and fitter. The philosophy is simple; any training schedule that will stand us in good stead for a whole season must be based on a stable preparation period.
When we understand and can visualise the benefits of those steady miles, the word ‘slow’ morphs from dirty to beautiful. At a recent Quickstep training camp in Spain, Tom Boonan road 123 flat kms in five hours.
As you spin along at level 2, your body is aerobically active but not under stress. During these periods my doctor training partner clarified the four positive processes taking place in our bodies:
- The body learns to use fat as a fuel. When under stress the body panics and grabs energy from the quickest source it can find, usually glycogen from the liver and muscles. During base training, the body becomes proficient at using fat.
- The stroke volume of the heart increases. When relaxed, the chambers fill and empty fully and efficiently. When an untrained heart works rapidly, it has not fully emptied before it is refilling. Ever try and inflate a tyre using fast, half strokes of a hand pump?
- Mitochondria levels increase. Muscles are a mass off individual muscle fibres. Mitochondria are the batteries or motors at the end of the fibres that help them to contract. More mitochondria; more efficient muscle. These are produced in greater volume when the body is active but not under extreme stress.
- Muscle capillary density is increased. Blood brings the fuel to the muscles and takes away the waste products. More capillary pathways mean better blood flow and a more efficient system.
So for those riders who don’t have a training plan for the approaching racing or sportive season, you might want to follow these few steps. They cover a period of 12 weeks, so if you intend to race next month or in early March, then consider yourself at least four weeks into this plan.
If sportives are your game, you’re less constricted by any deadline so you could, if you wished, begin this now.
Step 1
Ride for 2-3 weeks; 4-9 spins at 60 per cent of your max heart rate. The duration of the ride would build within this period to your target race distance. So, if you’re an U14 ride; 30 km. If you are riding a club league; 45km. And if you’re riding the Shay Elliot; 120km+. As I'm getting old, my max viewed heart rate is 181; so 60 per cent is 110bpm. Yes, it feels slow. What’s the rush in cold January?
Step 2
The next two weeks - or 4 to 8 rides - train at 65 per cent heart rate. The target is not a 65 per cent average heart rate reading; as there are hills and corners and cafes in Ireland. But looking down at the monitor it should read 65 per cent of your max for most of the time.
Step 3
For around two weeks, perhaps Wednesday night, Saturday and Sunday are run off at 70 per cent of heart rate. Your body should have adapted to the loads in the weeks to this point and all of a sudden you are riding with the winter warriors, albeit behind their arse and ego.
Step 4
For the final two weeks the long steady sessions are now 75 per cent of your max heart rate - 140-145bpm for me. It’s no longer slow because in only two months the body has developed the aerobic endurance up to your desired race distance or to prepare you for your sporting events. Stay seated, smiling and spinning. Monitor your recovery. Rest when required and eat a few less chips.
The process should enable you to become a March hare and be ready for the spring after developing a gradual capacity for endurance that will last all summer. Still do all the turbo and/or weight training as well as spinning and interval sessions if you feel you need extra race preparation. But don’t leave the legs wasted for the weekend.
Consider a progressive base to start your year. Tested techniques have proven down the years that slow will make you fast.
Thanks for reading
Myles McCorry
