dreadedmonkeygod . net

Training for this race is done. I logged my last gym session last week, and yesterday I did a loop around Cheeseboro Cyn to push the tempo one last time before race day. I'm really happy with the pace: 10.4 miles with about 1k ft. of climbing at 12 mph avg. I'll do one more short, easy ride this week, then rest up and make sure I've got all the knucklehead stuff squared away.

I like the way this training cycle has gone. The gym sessions have complemented my on-bike training nicely, and I'm feeling more power in my legs on the bike.

After this weekend, it's time to get down to the business of off-season training. I have a couple of goals I'll start with, and I'll tweak from there.

Cheeseboro & Las Virgenes Loop

The Tall Cyclist has posted an excellent list of training books, including Philip Maffetone's The Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing. I'll be reading with an eye to seeing what I can use to get in shape for next season.

My frustration is that nearly every training program I've run across requires a time commitment I can't make. I laughed out loud when I found that Strava's training plan for a 10-minute climb required 5-8 hours a week of cycling. And even the most "crunched" of the Time Crunched Training Programs was around 7 hours per week.

It just seems that every program assumes you want to win, and then tells you how to get there. What I need is something that says, "Okay, so you have a barbell, a bike, and five hours a week. Here's how to get the most out of those resources."

I accept that I'm never going to win a race training half as much as my competitors. But I also think it's silly to assume that I can't set new PRs and maybe have a shot at the podium if I make every minute of that training count.

Anyway. I've been getting good results when I put together what I've learned from Dan John and Rippetoe & Kilgore. I need to better understand how weight training meshes with cycling if I want to get the results I'm looking for. I'm hoping Maffetone will help me do that.