Vacation Is Over - Getting Back To Training.

After the Masters Provincial RR a few weeks ago, my family took some time off to going "camping" at Crimson Lake - about 14km west of Rocky Mountain House. This camping entailed the use of my in-laws 34ft RV and there was no tent in sight at our "campsite".

My break from training was 5 days! I did bring along the MTB which has seen limited use over the past 7 years now and had a blast riding around with my kids. We took a nice MTB trail over to Twin Lakes and all I could beam about was how I was MTB riding with my kids and they weren't complaining! I then spent another day hunting Geocaches in the area with my son without any luck finding the actual caches.

Did I feel guilty not training? A little but I am smart enough to know the value of rest mid-season. The time off also helped me recover from the RR and my quads felt fully mended come Monday when I rode downtown to work. An interesting feeling to note when you start to ride after a break is how "off" you feel. You feel rested but don't have any snap or pop in the legs. It takes a few days for that to come back.

Tuesday was a nice ride with clients up Cochrane Hill 2x. It was a beautiful day and felt like a "no chain" day - that feeling of the legs turning over without the feeling of any strain. Once you have experienced it on the bike, you want to recapture that feeling again and again. I had hoped to do the Tuesday night crit but a wicked storm blew in to force a cancellation. I pulled the plug on riding over and set up the trainer in the basement instead. Yuck - riding inside in July.

Wednesday I performed the dreaded 3min and 20min time trials with Grant Burwash again on trainers. Yuck again. Crappy numbers, crappy feeling over all, dead legs, no pop or power yet in the legs. Yesterday's "no chain" day was a tease since I didn't actully ride hard. Was I discouraged? Not at all as I expected such results.

Thursday was back on the trainer due to tight timelines and I was able to rail off a solid 3x 6min @ 300-320W with 3min rest. Pretty much my FTP wattage. Legs felt better and I felt overall more in control of how my body felt during each interval.

Today I woke up tired with some soreness in my quads. I had thought about a rest day but felt the need to ride. Once I had wrapped up my work commitments for the day, I was getting dressed to head outside into an overcast day. The rain then came pouring down on me. Good thing I left my trainer setup in the basement. Yuck, another day spent on the trainer in July. Despite feeling blah today, I had a great ride as the legs responded well once I found my comfort zone between 250-270W. It is true that the trainer can be a friend in the summer and not just the winter months.

So after 5 days completely off and a return to training of 6 sessions in 5 days, the legs are coming around nicely. Just in time for the next key races - Tour de Bowness and the Jason Laperierre Memorial stage race. The key for me now in preparation for these events will be on specific sessions to maintain and consolidate the gains I had made from the training done thus far as well as to sharpen me up for the demands of each event. The timeline is too short to truly build further fitness now so rather than just riding around, I am better served doing more specific and intensive sessions. This even means getting back on the trainer for a number of key sessions where I can focus on some very specific interval sets and wattages. This plan worked well for me in 2009 when I placed 3rd in the Cat 3 ITT Provincial Championships and I hope to replicate the feeling I had that day - a "no chain" day.

JVD