Transition Time

With the season done and dusted and no more racing planned apart from a few fun races and a couple of cross races, my focus now shifts to the winter and laying the foundations ready for the new season. This is true for most road cyclists who follow a structured training program, yet many forget one vital part of the structure; The Transition.

Most cyclists and athletes for that matter have such determination to better themselves for next season that they dive straight in to long hard winter training after only just calling an end to an even longer and harder season of racing! Many riders I know will finish there last race on the last weekend of September and will then be riding a 25hr training week starting on the following Monday, This will led to one thing; Burnout, overtraining and a poor start to the coming year. I can say this with first-hand experience, for 2 years I raced a full season of road racing and then competed in Cyclocross through the winter which started before the road season had even ended. This lead to me starting the following road season fatigued both physically and mentally and lacking the motivation and desire to compete that had been present in previous years. Last winter I decided that enough was enough and I needed a break so I didn't race the cross season, however I made the other mistake of diving head first in to tough structured training comprising of hours and hours of hard riding and this started before my last race of the season so once again I had no lay off period. This is what many cyclists, runners, swimmer and multisport athletes do and yet deep down we all know that it's the wrong thing to be doing. So why do we allow ourselves to do, why is the urge to get on with it so strong?

I think that most athletes will agree that to be successful in high level sport you must have something about, something that keeps your pushing on and pursuing sporting excellence. I also think that it's fair to say, and I'm sure most will agree, that many top level athletes have obsessive compulsive tendencies and it's this mind-set that allow for such driven determination and self-sacrifice. However, this does come with its problems and the one key issue is the worry of losing what has being gained, the worry of getting slower and not fitter, the fear of slipping back and not striding forwards. This is the main reason why many athletes will rush in to hard training after the season end and be busting out eye popping intervals before Christmas. It's all down to the fact that they don't want to think of themselves undoing all of their hard work and that if they keep up their race fitness through the winter then they can just keep building on that going in to next year. Unfortunately this is not how it works.

Athletes can only maintain peak race fitness for so long as the base on which this speed and power is built on begins to crumble, eventually this foundation will give in and that when you know it's time to back off, rest, recuperate and rebuild an if you have done your season right then this should happen just as your last races are taking place. He aim then is to rest up and allow your body to return to equilibrium, only then can you start laying down the foundations again. You wouldn't build a house straight on to a muddy swamp or crumbling piece of rock so why would you want to build your pyramid of fitness on the same kind of thing. So before we begin building our house we need to lay a solid foundation, but before laying the foundation we need to clear the weeds and rock from the land and level it nice and flat. So how do we do that I hear you ask, well it's simple; it's called a Transition period.

So what exactly is a transition period? A transition period is the interim between the end of your racing season and the start of your sport specific winter training. Why is this period so vital? A transition period allow you to ease back, re charge your batteries and re fill the tank which means that you will go in to your training topped up with energy, focus and motivation. It's also a time to reflect and review your racing season and look at what went well, what needs work, where were your strengths and weakness, did you achieve what you set out to do? It also gives you the chance to set new goals and targets for the coming year and begin to plan the training that will take you there. Most importantly though its about letting your hair down, spending time doing things that you have missed out on during the race season, eating few "bad" foods, lying in, staying up later and enjoying life without the stress or pressure of training and racing. Some people may do this full on and not touch the bike for 2 weeks, others such as myself will keep riding their bikes but will put away the gadgets and gizmos and ride with the aim of seeing the world and enjoying the view, something that many of us don't do due to staring at our Garmin's!

This year I am doing my transition period in the right way, I had planned what I was going to do a few weeks before the season ended. I arranged the things that needed to arranged in order to accommodate my plan and went out and made a few new purchases as well. This is how my end of season transition period is going to look:

The Transition period will last a total of 4 weeks and will begin at the end of my last race which was on the 18^th of September (as you read this I will already be in the 2^nd week of my TP). It will end the day before we go away to France for a family holiday, this holiday will mark the start of my Base training, something which I will discuss as I enter that phase. My personal aim for my TP is to firstly break my routine which I have been stuck in for the last few months and refresh my mind and allow my body to freshen up and recover. I will also use the reduction in training as a way to aim my weight gain, this is something that has been a real challenge and has caused me many problems over the past few years. My aim is to increase my weight from 53kg to 58-60kg; this is where my sweet spot is and where I need to get back to. Finally, this period will give me the chance to work on any physical niggles or injuries that have cropped up during the season, the main one being a long term back issue and now a trapped nerve in my right shoulder. These will be a priority during the first few weeks of my TP.

My weekly plan for next 4 weeks is as follows:

Monday – 1.5 – 2 hrs. Resistance training

Resistance training will play a big role in my entire winter campaign but the focus in this period is building a foundation of strength and work on any muscular imbalances. The session will be a fully body workout with some time spent on lower body and some spent on upper body.

Tuesday Morning – 60 min swim

Yes I know what your thinking, why the hell am I going swimming!!! Well, no I'm not becoming a Triathlete, it's simply a form of cross training that provides a different physical stimulus and keeps my mind fresh and invigorated. I am also aware that my upper body is in a very poor state so tis will begin to engage the muscles that rarely get worked, it will also help improve my core stability and breathing rhythm.

Tuesday Evening – 1.5 hrs. Club Run

This will be a nice steady ride out with the local club in order to keep my legs used to pedalling and also for the social aspect of cycling, something that many of us competitive lot have long forgotten about.

Wednesday – Pub Run

Even more social that a normal club run, this is a nice easy ride out to a pub, a drink and then a poodle back home. What could be better?

Thursday - 1.5 – 2 hrs. Resistance training

This will be my second resistance session of the week and will mimic the first

Friday Morning – 60 min Swim

Saturday – 2 hrs. on the Club bash

Sunday – 2-3 hours nice and easy with the lads or if I don't feel like doing much I will just chill with a day off the bike.

In this time I am also seeing a Chiropractor in order to get my back and trapped nerve sorted out; this is something that may be on-going for as long as it need to. This structure will set me up nicely for my Base period and will allow me to get my body back to equilibrium and make it strong and resilient ready for the hard work that is to come. If there is one thing I would encourage all athletes to look at doing right this year is the Transition Period, it will set you on the right road going in to the new season.

Dan