Question: after I complete the 24 week training program in The Riding Bumps book ….how do I put together a “block”to maintain and build for other races later in season?

John,  USA

Great question. The trick with this is to be honest with yourself and first determine how cooked you are from all of that training. Here goes….

If you do not have any races coming up for the rest of the year, you need to make a decision as to whether or not you want to stay on a structured training program. Spending too much time with structure tends to wear people out if they do not have a goal in mind. If you are not working toward a goal, you might decide to just go “free form” until you shut things down at the end of the year and then resume your base training in preparation for next year. Conversely, if you have a second (or third) race you are working toward, dont just try to “wing it” or maintain your fitnessss through the next race. That is a recipe for disaster.

The key to maintaining fitness and preparing for late season races is to first recover from your previous training and racing. If you were preparing for a short race you will be primarily recovering from all of your training rather than the race itself. If, however, your race was a monster like Molokai, you are going to need to recover from the race itself. Your first order of business is  to take at least a week off of structured training and chill. If you did Molokai or a similar race, it might take you up to three weeks to fully recover. Beware of post race depression and do not let that get in the way of making smart decisions.

Once your body is recovered and your head is screwed on straight (if needed) it is time to get back to training. What you are going to do is create a mini-periodization schedule. It will be similar to what you have been doing all year in preparation for your A-priority race but the periods will be shorter and depend on when your next race is going to be.

The length, duration, and intensity of your periods will depend on when your next race is scheduled. If the race is months away, our recommendation is to put a few weeks in base training, then ramp it up again, going through the pre competitive and competitive phases,  as you build toward your race. As an example, you could spend 2 weeks in base, 2 weeks in precompetitive, and then ramp it up again for two weeks before you take a short taper before your next race.

If, however, you are like many athletes you have a bunch of races coming up, retarting things from the begining is likely not practical. If that is your situation, you can try to simply keep the intensity similar to your competitive phase training and build for two weeks then take a week off after each race. Should you go this route, it is very impportant to note two things:

• You cannot do this forever. At some point the bottom will fall out if you do not give yourself a break and go back to base training.

• The length at which you can maintain this type of training will depend on what you did last year during your base training. The bigger and more extensive your base, the longer you can maintain your competitive phase training.

Roch