Criterium Race Training Help

[Rider123]

I've been riding on my road bike for about 1.5 years now.
I normally ride 60km by myself and I average around 25km.
I am 172cm/62kg so I'm not the highest person going round.
I am quite good up the hills but am not too good on the flats.

I've got a Junior Criterium Race next month (26th August), only 18km at (METEC Driving Course in Melb, for those that know). I did the race last yr (after only half a year of cycling and i came 10th out of 13 ppl in Heat 1). I am hoping to better that and try to finish in the Top 3 to make it to the State Finals.

I've got a Heart Rate Monitor and Cycle computer. I am thinking about getting a bike trainer next week.
I am only able to ride 4 times a week as I am still in high school.
I will probable only do 2 x 60km Long Ride and 2x Wind Trainer Sessions.

Could someone please tell me what i should do during each session to improve my cycling for the 18km Criterium Race?

[Alex Simmons/RST]

Try these:

Indoor Training
Intervals

[Rider123]

Hi,

I just bought a Heart Rate Monitor and a Fluid Indoor Trainer.
I was wondering if someone could give me a rough plan for me to follow.
My criterium is only 18km (9 laps x 2km) with one short but kinda steep hill. I've read a lot of things about Sweet Spot Training, FTP, Interval Training etc., but am still confused.

For my race, which is only 5 weeks away, what should i be doing in my 4 sessions a week and what Heart Rate Zone should i be in??

[tripstobaltimore]

http://www.training4cyclists.com/cyclin ... -programs/

or

http://www.cyclecoach.com/index.php?opt ... Itemid=100

[Rider123]

Thanks, looks good.

Only thing is that i don't have a power meter so it is a bit more difficult.
After taking a look at numerous websites and forums ive come up with this plan.

Monday - REST
Tuesday - 2 x 20mins w/ 10 min Wm, 10 min Rest and 10 Cool-down in between (Done on a trainer)
Wednesday - REST
Thursday - 5 mins on, 5 mins off, 4 mins on, 4 mins off, 3 mins on, 3 mins off, 2 mins on, 2 mins off, 1 min on, 1 min off (Trainer)
Friday - REST
Saturday - 6x Hill Repeats (Road)
Sunday - Long Ride - 60km (Road)

What do you guys think? Also, what Heart Rate zone should i be in for the Tuesday and Thursday interval sessions? any ideas??

[tripstobaltimore]

as an APPROXIMATE guide, for the tuesday session I'd be aiming for low 80% (80-83%) of MHR, and thursday would hjust go as hard as you can for that interval (as HR is not a good guide for shorter intervals).

[Scuba23]

I'd suggest finding a group to ride with atleast one day a week, it will help your bike handling skills and confidence with group riding. If you can find a group that actually puts some effort into the ride and maybe some sprints or lactate threshhold work then jump on! I found I got more benefit riding with groups than riing on my own (although my training is still 50% solo 50% group) It has taken a while to find groups who are out to train rather than just ride.
Good luck - let us know how your training is going.

[Rider123]

hey all!
quite update on my training. (First time i've ever followed a training plan for cycling)

Did my first training session on a bike trainer on Tuesday.

Did 2x 20 mins (Was quite hard but feel okay)

Wednesday, i did 5 mins -5 mins rest, 4 mins hard - 4 mins rest and so on till 1 min. Then i repeated it again, but i did it in reverse order; 1, 2, 3, 4, 5mins. Was a hard session, especially the final 3,4,5 min intervals.

Didn't feel great Thursday morning, had a sore throat. Thought at skipping the training session but felt guilty, especially as it was only my 3rd 'proper structured' training session ever.
Thursday - I did 3 mins hard - 3 mins recover, 30 secs FLAT OUT- 1 min rest. Did that about 5 times with warm-up and cool-down

Still had a sore throat on Friday, but Friday was my planned 'rest' day so didn't ride.

Saturday morning, had a sore throat, started to get a cough. Still went ahead with my Hill Repeats Up Barkers Ave (Read 'Steepest Hills in Melbourne' article). Did that 6 times and nearly threw up after the last one but felt pretty good upon reaching home. Went up the hill at around 18-19km/hr which wasn't too bad considering it was a hill with ave. gradient of 10% and MAX. Gradient of 20%.

Sunday was meant to be my 'long ride' but as i was still feeling 'sick' and the weather didn't look too bright, i took the day off. Will try to get a good night's rest tonight and spend some time on my bike trainer tomorrow.

Only 26 Days until my first Criterium - 18km!!!!!

[twizzle]

Don't train when you are sick (running a temp, coughing up crap etc.) - too many possible complications, including some that can put you in hospital... or worse.

Keep up the intervals - best bang for the buck. You might also want to have a read of "The time crunched cyclist" (Chris Carmichael) , which gives training advice for people who only have limited training time.

Re. the fluid trainer - they are fairly repeatable, so you can treat a speed as being a power level. Have a look at the Kurt Kinetic site, they have a list of power equations for various fluid trainers (for their add-on 'power' computer) so if you trainer is on the list you should be able to work out power from speed.

[Rider123]

Thanks for the tip.

Have continued doing interval work. Did 2x20 mins on Monday, 3 mins - 3 mins rest, 30 secs Flat-out, 1 min rest, and then 5-4-3-2-1-2-3-4-5min intervals. What else do you suggest i do for a criterium race which is only 18km in length (2km)??

Also, what do you guys do during the warm-up and cool-down. I normally spend 10 mins doing wm-up and c-d but don't know what to do exactly.

Cheers

[twizzle]

I usually try and get in about 15 minutes at 60 - 70% power, and throw in the occasional big effort to wake everything up. Warm down? There's an interesting concept... I usually just do an extra lap at the end and then call it a day with some stretching. Assuming I can still pedal at the end, that is...

The intervals sound good, but without knowing what you are capable of it's a bit hard to know if you are over/under training. One of the great aspects of having a power meter is the ability to throw the numbers into a model and see if you are doing too much/too little etc.

[tripstobaltimore]

twizzle's warm up sounds pretty spot on. For a cool down I'd be tempted to ride for another 30-40km after the race (at a real easy pace) depending on length, but thats just me.