So, the Indian government has just allowed bike rides again. My last ride was on March 21st. My A race is 61 weeks away (who knows when another race will be), July 3rd 2021.
this is not how my CTL was supposed to go…
Where do I start back up? Gym is closed still so, I can ride and do home work outs.
Feeling oddly nervous after being relatively fit to so many weeks of nothing. Can I just start the 18 weeks of SST?
Time to get off of the couch.
thanks,
ethan
Hi Ethan!
Yeah it has been a different year. Just hope you are able to stay safe and healthy! That is the most important thing.
So since you have not ridden in the last 41 days I would almost recommend our fall foundation plan to start. You will get some on the bike strength and less intense efforts to begin with. Then you can jump into 18 week of sweet spot afterwards. That is what I would recommend. Though you could just jump into sweet spot and should be fine. Just remember your FTP has probably come down. Might want to do a week of zone 2 ride before you do the first week and FTP test which would be a rough wake up call for the legs.
With 61 weeks till your goal race you have a lot of time! But you can not just not train for a year, you would loose too much and be playing catch up. After 18 weeks of sweet spot I would recommend you do an interval plan based on your goal event. This way you can get some intensity in this year. Chase after Stravas or PR’s. Something to keep you motivated to go hard. Then you can have a couple weeks offseason followed by our resistance training program (hopefully the gyms are open by then) before back to 18 weeks of sweet spot and then a 6 week race specific plan. That kind of lays out your next 61 weeks roughly.
I loaded up the 18 week SST plan, as I’m hoping that there are races that start up again by August.
There are local races set for August -November, both road and MTB.
Should I restart the base + weights as my A race comes around or is riding enough?
I would love to get a Plus 100 CTL for my MTB stage race.
You should restart you base + weights, but not till after any races in this year, and more like in December after a proper offseason.
Remember to watch your ramp rates when you start building your CTL back up. Try to keep to no more than 8 per week. You can’t get to 100 in just a few weeks. Follow the plan and trust the process. Remember that the recovery weeks are when you get stronger!
I will follow that advice…I’ve just purchased a smart trainer, so I have that outlet and I do find myself pushing hard on the daily plan, just to try to get a little sharper, a little quicker.
My focus know is getting a good base, increasing the FTP (hopefully to 300) and staying healthy.
ethan