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Week 2: Getting ‘Big Race’ Ready – The 1Zambia Training Series

how to train for a mountain bike stage race
how to train for a mountain bike stage race

In terms of training, week 2 is almost going to be a repeat of week 1. I know you’re itching to get out and do some 100km rides in the mountains, but those rides will be much more effective if they’re done after a good adaptation period. We will get there, though.

In week 2 we’re still in the adaptation phase. Last week I talked about the importance of giving your body time to adjust to the demands of regular training. This week’s topic is just as important: helping your mind to adapt to the regular training.

Routine

Routine is important. That’s why Mondays suck. Over the weekend, we break the routine of getting up early and heading off to work. On Mondays we have to force ourselves back into it, and that can be hard, even if you enjoy your job. Something I’ve learned over my years in cycling is that having a routine makes training infinitely easier. Once the routine is established, you can follow it mindlessly. This helps a lot on days when you’re distracted by other stresses.

Here are some tips to help you to develop a sustainable training routine:

– Train at set times on set days. Even if Tuesday’s time is different from Saturday’s time, having set times will help you to incorporate training into your working life, and ward off procrastination. For example, I train with the Kansanshi team at 7:30 AM, six days a week. On Sundays we always train at 13:30, so that guys can go to church in the morning.

– Develop a pre-training sequence. I wake up at 6:00, put my oats in the microwave, and make coffee while the microwave goes. Once I’m done with breakfast, I get my bike and bottles ready, then I kit up. Having this sequence means that as long as I get my oats into the microwave, I can do the rest on autopilot.

 

This Week’s Training

This week we’re encouraging adaptation by forcing you to pedal at high and low cadences. The high cadence efforts will create neurological changes, improving your pedalling efficiency, while the low cadence efforts will create muscular changes, increasing the maximum torque you can produce.

Monday 29th Jan:

Off

Tuesday:

30 minutes gentle spinning (on the indoor trainer if necessary). RPE: 3

Wednesday:

Off

Thursday:
  • 30-minute ride: High/Low Cadence Repeats

 

  • 10 minutes light spinning to warm up. RPE: 3
  • 2 minutes in your biggest gear. Don’t ride full gas. Rather, let your pedalling slow down to about 50rpm (5 revolutions every 6 seconds, if you’re counting manually). Stay seated, and focus on matching the downward push with the upward pull on the pedals. RPE 7
  • 2 minutes in your smallest gear. Really spin your legs as fast as they can go, but without going into an all out sprint. The resistance should be so low that you barely feel it. Again, stay in the saddle, and focus on being smooth and controlled. RPE 5
  • Repeat these two steps 3 times, for a total of 12 minutes.
  • 10 minutes light spinning. RPE 3
  • Friday:

    Off

    Saturday:

    2 hour MTB ride. Ride a route that you know, and try to keep moving consistently from start to finish. Ride the first hour at a pace that feels easier than what you’re capable of. In the second hour, turn up the pace a bit, and try to cover more distance than you did in the first hour. This will build more endurance than hammering out the first hour and limping home.

    Sunday:

    Optional cross training. If yesterday didn’t tire you out, do something other than riding today. Running is a natural alternative, but swimming or Pilates will help you build the core and upper body strength that will get you down those rocky descents.

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Getting ‘Big Race’ Ready:the 1Zambia Training Series

adaptation phase of training
adaptation phase of training

Right. You’ve just made that decision to ride the 1Zambia (or the Sani2C or any other big race, really), and you’re all excited to get out there and do it. There’s only one problem. For the past three months, you’ve completely forgotten how to ride your bike, and you’ve been working really hard on growing a respectably large belly. Where do you start?Fear not. This series of articles is designed to help you build yourself up in a slow, controlled manner, so you can get the absolute best out of yourself in the time you have available.

The series will contain six articles, each explaining one phase of your training. The phases are as follows:

-Adaptation

-Base

-Aerobic Capacity

-Fine Tuning

-Tapering

-Managing the Race

I’ll publish the series on ZambiaRaces.com, timing them to coincide with the build-up to the 1Zambia. The tips and recommended workouts will also be designed specifically with the 1Zambia in mind, but of course you can use this to help you prepare for any race.

With that said, here we go! Step one:

Adaptation

This is the most important phase of all. I’ve been training and racing for 10 years and I’ve never had so much as a tweaked knee; that’s because I do my adaptation properly. Saddle sores, tendonitis, inflamed ITBs, and a hundred other maladies and ailments all pop up primarily because athletes skip the adaptation phase.

What is it?

The adaptation phase allows your body to get used to being on the bike. Think of building fitness as getting a sun tan. Anyone who’s ever seen a group of European tourists after a full day’s rafting down the Zambezi will understand. They haven’t seen the sun in months, and now they’ve had an overdose of it. They won’t get a nice brown tan. Instead, they’ll turn red, peel, and go back to the same pasty white.

In order to have lasting gains in fitness, it’s important to give your body doses of training that it can withstand. In this phase, too much can be far worse than too little.

So, what do I do?

The key to successful adaptation is frequent, non-stressful workouts. These workouts don’t have to be long, but they do have to be regular. Getting on your bike for just 30 minutes three times during the working week will go a long way in helping your body and mind feel comfortable on the bike.

For 1Zambia, it would be ideal to do adaptation through January. I’ve created a sample program below. For this program I’ve used Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) to tell you how hard to go. This is simply a scale from 1 to 10, on which 1 is no effort at all, and 10 is an absolute, gut-wrenching sprint.

Week 1

Monday 22nd Jan: Off
 
Tuesday: 30 minutes gentle spinning (on the indoor trainer if necessary). RPE: 3
 
Wednesday: Off
 
Thursday: 30-minute ride.

    • 10 minutes light spinning to warm up. RPE: 3
    • 2 minutes medium tempo: RPE 6
    2 minutes light spinning: RPE 3
    Repeat the medium tempo effort 3 times, with 2 minutes of light spinning between efforts.
    10 minutes light spinning. RPE 3

 
Friday: Off
 
Saturday: 2 hour MTB ride. Ride a route that you know, and try to keep moving consistently from start to finish. Ride the first hour at a pace that feels easier than what you’re capable of. In the second hour, turn up the pace a bit, and try to cover more distance than you did in the first hour. This will build more endurance than hammering out the first hour and limping home.
 
Sunday: Optional cross training. If yesterday didn’t tire you out, do something other than riding today. Running is a natural alternative, but swimming or Pilates will help you build the core and upper body strength that will get you down those rocky descents.

Tune in next week for Phase 2 of your training!