How to Maintain CTL w/Intensity/Less Volume

Why build? Time to race and don't worry about the numbers.

kaparzo said:

... I am starting to wonder how I am going to build back up all the while racing and training at higher intensities....

Yep, that's the typical problem with premature big loading that forces you to rest during spring preseason build. Ideally you build to a CTL peak just prior to racing and then spend away your base while racing, tapering and recovering. You can stave off big CTL losses by balancing your high intensity training and racing with some CTL building SST or LSD work if you have the time to train and recover from that sort of work. But it's really hard to build CTL with a busy race calendar unless you come into the season really low and race your way to fitness, but that's really tough and not really a great plan.

The classic double peak season would build CTL during winter and spring, spend away a bunch during early season racing, get away from racing to rest then rebuild for the late summer/fall races.

The best advice I can think of is to either prepare to race from where you are (mid 90s is still a lot of training base) and don't stress the CTL or plan to balance your high intensity work with some longer Tempo/SST work to prop up or build a bit of CTL prior to more important races later in your season. Either way, think about a mid season break and rebuild cycle if you plan to race late season events or cross as it's really hard to sustain your base for very long if you're racing frequently.

FWIW, I pretty much dismissed L2 work and below during my first year of training with power. My life doesn't allow a steady diet of really long rides and the benefits of L2 and below didn't seem worthwhile on a tight training schedule. I came to appreciate the role of lower intensity training when I got deeply into PMC based load management my second season. I realized how quickly CTL erodes when engaged in high end training or frequent racing and how hard it is to recover from races quickly enough to do as much SST/L4 work as I do during the winter and spring. I still don't do much below Tempo during build cycles or base training, but use it during race season to balance out the high end work and racing in a way that staves off CTL crashes. Anyway, all the training levels have their place and some lower to moderate intensity work can be just the ticket to balance high end work.

Good luck,
-Dave

kaparzo said:

I am sitting at about 93 right now after taking an easy couple weeks to flush the system after peaking at 105. I am starting to wonder how I am going to build back up all the while racing and training at higher intensities. I understand its simple math, but do people have any thoughts on this, or strategies? Is this a a flaw in the program?

you've built up a huge war chest of CTL now it's time to spend it!

performance potential is a combination of fitness and freshness... it's necessary to give up some of that CTL to get greater freshness that will allow you to perform to your potential in races and be able show that fitness you've built up.

you can carry that fitness with a racing schedule for about 4-6 weeks then as daveryanwyoming has said you'll need to take some time and do a mid season build for a second peak (less racing or racing without mini tapers). the key is to plan you season so that your target races are within that 4-6 week sections where you have max performance potential.

daveryanwyoming said:

I still don't do much below Tempo during build cycles or base training, but use it during race season to balance out the high end work and racing in a way that staves off CTL crashes.

Yeah, I think that L2 "fill" during a period of heavy racing has some value: it keeps your body and metabolism "moving" (for lack of a better term) as opposed to becoming sloth-like, it helps stave off weight gain, and frankly, sometimes I'm so cracked for 1-2 days after racing that I can't even contemplate doing much of anything beyond very, very low L3 anyway.