NEED bulk and power

You should make your post more coherent first. That was a little all over the place.
You don't want bulk. Don't get confused. If you're racing, you want to be lean and powerful. If what you're lacking is sprint and attack power, then you need to do some short 5 minute all-out intervals. This will help to build sprint and attack power. If you want more power all-around, then start doing longer Threshold intervals. Anywhere from 3x10's to 3x15's and once you are in full swing do 3x20's.

As for puking all over the place after a race...not sure what to say about that. Maybe you ate too much? Went too hard too fast? Got sick?

K50 said:

You should make your post more coherent first. That was a little all over the place.
You don't want bulk. Don't get confused. If you're racing, you want to be lean and powerful. If what you're lacking is sprint and attack power, then you need to do some short 5 minute all-out intervals. This will help to build sprint and attack power. If you want more power all-around, then start doing longer Threshold intervals. Anywhere from 3x10's to 3x15's and once you are in full swing do 3x20's.

As for puking all over the place after a race...not sure what to say about that. Maybe you ate too much? Went too hard too fast? Got sick?

what would most people eat before a morning race?

I'll give those intervals a try, is it recovery to 60% mhr then repeat? I wouldn't have suggested bulk but its just that my legs are noticably skinnier than most.

jamesstout said:

what would most people eat before a morning race?

I'll give those intervals a try, is it recovery to 60% mhr then repeat? I wouldn't have suggested bulk but its just that my legs are noticably skinnier than most.

Well, what you eat right before the race might not be as big as you think. Here's a tip, well, this is what I do personally anyways: (my secret to success!) The night before, I eat a massive plate of spaghetti and meatballs with tomatoes and garlic toast. I basically load up on carbs and eat pretty much as much as I possibly can (within reason!).. Then the next morning when I wake up, I'm packed full of energy just waiting to be utilised, and so I only eat a small bowl of mini-wheats cereal with milk, and that's it. I'll eat that 2-3 hours before the race. There are certain things to avoid before a race, sugar being one of them. It will make you sick. Sugar should be used during activity and taken with water. If you have sugar before you race, you'll probably vomit, or feel like vomiting. That's my experience anyways. Pros that I've read about like eating things like oatmeal. That seems to be very popular because of the complex carbs, as well as pancakes with maple syrup. (That was Roland Green).

As for the intervals, 12-20 minute intervals work WONDERS for improving your overall power. After a month or two of doing them, you should notice a big improvement. Definitely by next season you will feel far stronger. So yeah, basically you go at your LTHR range for the said 12-20 minutes, then take a 5-7 minute break between the sets and just spin at an easier aerobic pace. Some people go really easy; like down to a recovery zone, but I just spin at my aerobic threshold heart rate. You should only be doing this once or twice a week. Last year I did 4x15's on tuesdays, and 3x20's on fridays in season. Then of course, to get the sprinting power, one day a week should include the sub 5 minute intervals. If you do those, you'll want to spin at a recovery pace during your rest intervals.

There's nothing wrong with being skinny if you're the guy who flies up the hills... There's a guy that I ride with who I would have loved to see race, but he never did...he is 5'6, 125lbs, and just screams up hills. His power is most likely less than mine, but because he is so skinny and light, he flies!
Hopefully this helps, it sure as hell worked for me!!!

K50 said:

Well, what you eat right before the race might not be as big as you think. Here's a tip, well, this is what I do personally anyways: (my secret to success!) The night before, I eat a massive plate of spaghetti and meatballs with tomatoes and garlic toast. I basically load up on carbs and eat pretty much as much as I possibly can (within reason!).. Then the next morning when I wake up, I'm packed full of energy just waiting to be utilised, and so I only eat a small bowl of mini-wheats cereal with milk, and that's it. I'll eat that 2-3 hours before the race. There are certain things to avoid before a race, sugar being one of them. It will make you sick. Sugar should be used during activity and taken with water. If you have sugar before you race, you'll probably vomit, or feel like vomiting. That's my experience anyways. Pros that I've read about like eating things like oatmeal. That seems to be very popular because of the complex carbs, as well as pancakes with maple syrup. (That was Roland Green).

As for the intervals, 12-20 minute intervals work WONDERS for improving your overall power. After a month or two of doing them, you should notice a big improvement. Definitely by next season you will feel far stronger. So yeah, basically you go at your LTHR range for the said 12-20 minutes, then take a 5-7 minute break between the sets and just spin at an easier aerobic pace. Some people go really easy; like down to a recovery zone, but I just spin at my aerobic threshold heart rate. You should only be doing this once or twice a week. Last year I did 4x15's on tuesdays, and 3x20's on fridays in season. Then of course, to get the sprinting power, one day a week should include the sub 5 minute intervals. If you do those, you'll want to spin at a recovery pace during your rest intervals.

There's nothing wrong with being skinny if you're the guy who flies up the hills... There's a guy that I ride with who I would have loved to see race, but he never did...he is 5'6, 125lbs, and just screams up hills. His power is most likely less than mine, but because he is so skinny and light, he flies!
Hopefully this helps, it sure as hell worked for me!!!

i slammed a gel just before the start that might have had somethign to do with it then... Whats the point of not going at recovery rate in between intervals surely the idea of the gap in between is to recover thus you should spin light only.

did you do intervals on friday and race weekends?

jamesstout said:

i slammed a gel just before the start that might have had somethign to do with it then... Whats the point of not going at recovery rate in between intervals surely the idea of the gap in between is to recover thus you should spin light only.

did you do intervals on friday and race weekends?

Yeah slamming a power gel before a race is bad news. I saw a junior last year, lol it was his first race, I think he was like 8 or 9, and he had about 4 powerbars before his race...and man did that kid puke hahahaha...

The harder the interval, the easier the rest should be. Personally I don't find long intervals that taxing on my system, so I don't worry about it as much, as long as I'm below my aerobic threshold. If I'm doing really intense anaerobic intervals, then I go as easy as possible in between and get down almost to a resting HR. But if you feel like [censored] after an interval, then rest away...

My races last year were pretty spread out. I hear of guys that race or try to race every weekend. Honestly I think that's a huge waste. Only do that if you're a professional, as an amateur you're going to burn out really fast or just compromise your training greatly. If I had a race coming up I would taper the week before and start chopping up my week and doing shorter rides at a little higher intensity than usual to get ready for the race. I really go by feel the week before to tell where I'm at. Normally, a few days before I will do a massive sprint of sorts to see if my legs burn, and how it burns...if I feel fine, then I know I'm good and ready for a race. If it burns, that could mean I just need to rest more.

But last year, I think I was doing some sort of interval 4 days a week in season, with the other 3 days being aerobic rides and 1 LSD. 2 days were Threshold power intervals as I mentioned before, then the others were anaerobic and VO2s.

K50 said:

My races last year were pretty spread out. I hear of guys that race or try to race every weekend. Honestly I think that's a huge waste. Only do that if you're a professional, as an amateur you're going to burn out really fast or just compromise your training greatly.
.

Go easy tiger. We train to race afterall. I am of the other side of the coin. Why would you spend so much time on your [censored] riding a bike if you dont get to enjoy yourself and compete. Its really not that hard to train around racing. look at my plan.

Mon-Rest Day
Tue-Block Training Day
Wed- Day 2 of block
Thu- Day 3 of block
Fri-Rest Day
Sat- 1 hour "touch up" ride to see how the legs feel
Sun- RACEDAY!!!

If I have a 2 day tour or back to back races which is most weekends.

Sat- RACEDAY
Sun- RACEDAY
Mon- Training day. Do specific training.
Tue- Active reco day
Wed- rest day
Thu- Specific training day
Friday- "touch up ride"

If you work to a plan it shouldn't compromise your training AT ALL infact it should GREATLY ENHANCE your training afterall there really is no more specific workout than actually racing is there??? If you struggle to train on weekdays then who said you cant do extra sessions after the race?

Make the leap and race as much as possible. If you only race 10-15 times a year then your chances of bringing in big results is not even close to someone who is racing every weekend!

REMEMBER THIS: You DO NOT have to be anywhere near peak fitness to race! Some of my best ride's have come when I least expected them...I didnt even plan for the peak they just happened. If you dont race regularly you can miss HEAPS of winning oppurtunities and chances to make a name for yourself. Much funner than a training ride aswell as actually being better training!

dm69 said:

Go easy tiger. We train to race afterall. I am of the other side of the coin. Why would you spend so much time on your [censored] riding a bike if you dont get to enjoy yourself and compete. Its really not that hard to train around racing. look at my plan.

Mon-Rest Day
Tue-Block Training Day
Wed- Day 2 of block
Thu- Day 3 of block
Fri-Rest Day
Sat- 1 hour "touch up" ride to see how the legs feel
Sun- RACEDAY!!!

If I have a 2 day tour or back to back races which is most weekends.

Sat- RACEDAY
Sun- RACEDAY
Mon- Training day. Do specific training.
Tue- Active reco day
Wed- rest day
Thu- Specific training day
Friday- "touch up ride"

If you work to a plan it shouldn't compromise your training AT ALL infact it should GREATLY ENHANCE your training afterall there really is no more specific workout than actually racing is there??? If you struggle to train on weekdays then who said you cant do extra sessions after the race?

Make the leap and race as much as possible. If you only race 10-15 times a year then your chances of bringing in big results is not even close to someone who is racing every weekend!

REMEMBER THIS: You DO NOT have to be anywhere near peak fitness to race! Some of my best ride's have come when I least expected them...I didnt even plan for the peak they just happened. If you dont race regularly you can miss HEAPS of winning oppurtunities and chances to make a name for yourself. Much funner than a training ride aswell as actually being better training!

"We train to race" yeah, that's exactly what I said. I shoot for top performance in the big races that actually count, which is why I only had 7 races last year. And we're not talking road races here, these are XC races, which there are a lot less of.

I highly disagree. Racing taxes your system more than consistent intervals will, and the whole point of training is continuous steady improvement. All racing does is cause you to have to rest more, and it's unspecific. As for doing poorer than people who race every week, that's wrong too. If that were the case, using my training plan I wouldn't have kicked the snot out of all the guys who race road races every other week when I only had 7 cup races last year. I would have lost and placed very poorly according to your logic. And if you're refering to club races, I don't even count those as races.