Cycling Training
HIT THE HILLS FOR A TRAINING BOOST
By Matt Russ
To be prepared for your next event, you must consider not only the distance and intensity of the race, but the course itself. Although this seems obvious, athletes often will stick to their usual training routes out of habit or convenience. This may create some surprises on race day because the body adapts very specifically to the types of stress placed upon it, and you may not be trained properly for your event.
A hilly race requires intervals of strength and power, a flat course requires sustained strength endurance without rest and a rolling course may be a combination of the two. As you approach your goal race, it is important for your training to be as race-like and course-specific as possible. Perhaps during your base period the focus was more general. Now the focus of your training should be on the actual demands of race day: the elevation/grade, conditions/temperature and the strategy/ tactics the course requires.
I advise my athletes to have a toolbox of cycling courses — a flat course for sustained intervals, a rolling course for repeatability and a long and/or steep hill for sustained repeats. With the bevy of information available, it is relatively easy to review the course and elevation information online and even ride the course without leaving your chair. If convenient, a ride or workout on the racecourse, while gathering course information with a GPS, gives you a feel for the course plus information to review. Always be wary of subjective course opinions. One man’s hill is another man’s mountain. Once you have done some course recon online or on your bike, it is a matter of matching your training to it. This may require some travel and planning, but at least one course-specific workout or race simulation per week goes a long way toward being prepared.
If you live in an area with little elevation, your best tool for hill training is the stationary trainer. You can estimate the duration of a climb by reviewing the length (distance) and percent grade chart on most race websites.
34 USA TRIATHLON SPRING 2011
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