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with adulthood, then you need to leave your expectations and memories of being U19 back in the 2000s where they belong.
Likewise if you had a peak 20min power of 340w sometime four years ago when you were in the form of your life, there is no point in basing your training on these ‘ideal’ numbers now. Using old numbers can lead to training too hard (or too easy if they were lower than now!) And as such it’s critically important to meet yourself where you are now.
If that means lining up for a race knowing it’s going to be very hard, at the start of the season, and just knuckling down and getting on with it and not racing to your expectation, then that’s fine. If it means clicking on the ‘zones’ link and reducing down that threshold power, then that’s fine. If it means other people that you usually beat are faster than you, that’s fine. You can’t control others’ journeys so keep the focus on yourself.
There is something incredibly liberating about saying ‘this is where I am at, what can I do with this?’ And trusting the process, letting go of the ego that tends to surround cycling culture.
4. YOU’RE PROBABLY NOT EATING ENOUGH ON THE BIKE
Rewind 15-20 years and the main staple of on the bike training food, for many, was probably Uncle Toby’s muesli bars. Maybe one for a ride, maybe two for a long one. Gels were emerging in sports nutrition, and the biggest name in the industry was ‘Powerbar’ which was like a chewy, cavity inducing goopy food in a foil package.
Looking back, I can see that many people, including me, were underfuelling (with UT’s
muesli bars having a paltry 18.7g carbohydrate) and that perhaps some proper sports nutrition would have avoided a few of the many hunger flat/hangry/exploding with rage episodes or poor race results in my early riding experience.
We now know that carbohydrate, like a LOT of carbohydrate, is the gold standard in sports nutrition, with >90g carbohydrate (from multiple sources) per hour seen to have performance benefits in events >3hrs. This is obviously massive when compared to an 18.7g muesli bar, and as such, gut training is crucial during training to race with this amount of carbohydrate2.
Importantly, this level of fuelling isn’t required for shorter events with 40-60g/hour recommended for events 2-3hrs in duration, 30g/ hour for 1-2 hours and optional carbohydrate for events <1hr.
There are caveats and conditions (training the gut, hot weather plans, dietary preferences) in which more comprehensive advice is required, so seek out an accredited sports dietician for more information.
5. BEING HONEST WITH YOURSELF IS KEY
As they say, honesty is the best policy and I am a firm advocate for transparency with your coach and with yourself. Sometimes the urge to ride can overtake our better judgement, especially if fatigued or unwell, when we can do ourselves a disservice if not recovering. Being honest with yourself requires taking a step back from knee
2 Jeukendrup AE. Training the gut for athletes. Sports Medicine.
jerk feelings and thinking about what’s really going on and what’s better for you not just today, but tomorrow, in a week, and by the end of your season.
Honesty is also really important when it comes to race performance, and reduces the chance of making excuses and allows the athlete to take accountability for their performance and, as mentioned earlier: meet themselves where they are.
Recently, having some significant time off from training, and exploring other sports, I knew the first XCO race back would be hard. Knowing that the race would be long, I couldn’t attack the start with my usual zeal, I rode steady tempo/threshold instead of out of my skin. Was my performance amazing? No. Was it far off where I would like to be? Yes. Is that just how it is on the journey up? Yes. And you know what? That ‘conservative’ start was still pretty tough 90 minutes into the race!
While this may not make for an exciting story of overcoming all obstacles and racing like a bat out of hell, being honest with yourself makes for better racing decisions and more longevity within the sport.
Anna Beck
Anna Beck is a Level 2 cycling coach and 2018 XCM National Champion, and coaches a range of athletes.
gritcoaching.com.au
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