Organization of training, an anal-retentive approach:

I like to have a general plan for the year established by november.

I then work in 3-5 week mesocycles which I plan early in the season, each meso cycle builds upon the one that proceeds it but is often adjusted as the race season wears on. My goals for each meso cycle are based on the principles of specificity and targeting my weaknesses.

Each week I plan out my minicycles, either a few days or a few weeks before. I typically will set up a schedule outlining 4-5 workouts and their general purpose. These workouts may look like this for a Base3 week:
1. 1 hour at 89-92%
2. 1 long ride, 2800-3200 kjs, mostly tempo wattage. Solid and rythmic. Jen’s time.
3. Low Cadence Hills. 3′x8 @ 70 rpm. 380-420w.
4. Sub LT work. 30′ total @ 340-350w. (2×15′)
5. tempo ride, 80-90% for 90′.
6. 60′ core work, 2-3 workouts.

then I check off rides as completed.

I then further establish 2-3 day training blocks (micro-cycles) which are based upon my knowledge of how my body best responds to stress.
Monday gets the sub LT work (as it’s a tought and more important WO), tuesday gets hills.

My recovery days come after 2-3 training rides (sometimes I’ll do a 2-a-day, which means only one training day before some recovery).

I’ll typically try and get 2 days per month completely off the bike and a solid 5 day recovery period every Meso cycle. One thing I’ve changed with great results is this: 1-2 days of full recovery, I do easy speedskills work day 2 or 3 and day 4 I’ll do 20-25′ of work at SST intensity, but short intervals. 3×7′ maybe. Easy to do, mentally and physically but hard enough to keep the legs used to that intensity. Last year i found that 5-6 days of no intensity left the legs feeling like poo when I tried to get back into it. This has REALLY helped.

Weather, work, life schedules tend to play a role in how I plan my workouts, as well.

So,
Macro, Meso, Mini, Micro. Never losing sight of the big picture.

I love this quote from Vaughters and it is a big part of my training mantra:

“It’s not about being anal-retentively perfect for 3 weeks, it’s about being pretty damn close to perfect for months and years at a time”.

(paraphrased!)

I always keep this in mind and take my recovery with as much, if not more, seriousness than most others. Building breaks into y training plan is one of the keys in delaying burnout, preventing injury and performing maximally.

I like to think I’m getting better at “learning my body” but planning R+R periods is a great safeguard against injury and mental (if not physical) burnout.

It’s funny, even though I have more time than most to train, I’m training with less volume, more intensity and more specificity and planning than ever before. It is working brilliantly thus far. So I say that those with less time to train may actually not be at a disadvantage here, if planning is tight and well though out.

-L