Training Tips

With the proper planning, you can escape

Break away from the winter training doldrums

It’s likely been ages since your last race or big cycling event. Now, with the colder weather and fewer hours of sunlight, your outdoor miles are probably limited. Most of your training is probably in your basement or garage. It can feel like a grind. It’s hard to keep toiling away in solitude, to stay patient as you work on your aerobic engine. Your brain (and your legs) miss the intensity and excitement of racing. Welcome to the winter training doldrums.

So, how can you break away?

The way to beat the winter training doldrums is the same as launching an escape from the bunch: an intense but purposeful effort. In this case, that effort is put out in virtual races. Zwift and Rouvy offer a great opportunity to test your legs, feel the rush and excitement of competition and measure your fitness as it progresses.

Racing allows you to train at intensities that aren’t possible with intervals. Watching a virtual wheel slip away while you push to hang on allows you to go deep in a way that counting down an interval timer can’t match. Both Zwift and Rouvy provide a selection of terrain and courses and race durations. They even offer multiple races each day. It’s a great idea to vary the routes you select for racing to work on intensities at different durations. Also consider racing courses that do not suit your strengths. This is the off-season; it’s a great opportunity to work on your weaknesses. Incorporating virtual racing is a great way to break away from winter training monotony.

Picking the right move

But, just like a doomed breakaway, there is a risk of overdoing it. With a calendar full of virtual race options, it’s easy to succumb to the temptation of racing too much. In a real race, picking the right moment to break away is just as important as the effort to make it stick.

It’s important to keep your training on track, which means keeping your endurance training as the focus. A simple guideline for keeping your energy systems in balance is to limit your racing (and intensity) hours to less than 15 to 20 per cent of your weekly volume.

What does this look like for you? See ‘Weekly Plans with Endurance and Intensity’ for examples.

Making the breakaway stick

After a few weeks of virtual racing, it’s very important to take stock and be honest about how you feel. The reason for keeping your intensity percentage in the 15 to 20 per cent range is to keep your aerobic system in balance. Think of each intense effort you do as being built upon a foundation of endurance training. If you start to feel tired, take several weeks off from virtual racing. Allow your aerobic system to come back into balance. Conversely, if you start to feel really good, that’s a natural peak. Rather than trying to stretch this winter peak and put your training at risk, back off, take a few weeks off from virtual racing and build your aerobic system to new heights.

“There is a risk of overdoing it.”