I am training for a technical gravel/xc race in October as my A race. I would also like to do a series of XC Mountain Bike races prior to it as my B race priority since October is quite far away. The races are approximately every two weeks starting mid March to end of June.
If I start structured training now I have 24 weeks until the final MTB race, they all hold equal value but doing well on the final race is always nice so I timed my peaking period then. The races are occurring at different training periods and I think it is more important to follow the structure than do well on any of the individual races. What I am wondering is how to taper for these races especially when the last two races are in consecutive weeks?
Following this MTB Race series I will have 15 weeks to prepare for my A race in October.
I will upload the plan to show the process. I would really like your feedback.
My observations:
If you want to do well at the final event, you might want to include a taper, unless your second week of Peak includes it. It doesn’t show duration/load per week, so hard to see the progression.
I also notice 3 weeks of base 2, whereas every other mesocycle is 4 weeks.
I also would test your FTP 4 weeks apart, but rather after your base phase.
I am wondering if I should taper during peak and treat the last two races as race weeks since they are back to back. I didn’t calculate load per week yet, but I am planning to increase it from week 1 to 3 and then reduce load week 4. I am going to figure out the load/workouts once when I get ATP figured.
Good eye on base 2, I am trying to fit it into the schedule and I think it is probably a bad idea to have short base. Since I’ve been training for the past 2-3 weeks unstructured, I will shorten the prep.
Some of the races fall on the fourth weeks of my mesocycles so I was not sure if I should also do the tests. Perhaps doing the ramp test for FTP would be sufficiently low load.
Here’s something to think about.
The total load/duration would be similar between base and build phases when comparing 3:1 and 2:1.
The 2:1 load would be slightly higher in the 2 weeks, but allow a little more recovery.
Thanks a lot Gerald, that makes a lot of sense. I am 50 years old and need longer recovery so I think spreading the load over 4 weeks makes more sense for me.
I am wondering what is your suggestion for tapering before each race on my calendar?
I’m also 50, and the 2:1 weeks are better (recovery every 3rd week) compared to every 4th week.
As for taper, I would only apply it for the last two races. For the others, swap out one of the HIT sessions in that week, as you can make your race the HIT session. Practice what you want to achieve in the race, and accept that it might not go to plan. Make notes of what you did right and wrong, so you know what to change for the next one.
