Next Plan

[chiefgief]

This week I am finishing week 12 of XC cat 1 base plan and am looking for advice on what plan to start next.

Here’s my race schedule it races happen (🤞)

February 27 Polar Roll 30 mile C
March 13 Fatbike Birkie 30 mile C
June 5 Unbound Gravel 100 mile A
June 26 Lutsen 99er 100 mile B
July 24 The Rift 120 mile C
September 18 Marji Gesick 100 mile A

I assume I should start the 100 mile PR plan 12 weeks prior to my A race Unbound Gravel. Could you recommend a plan after finishing my base plan this week and before starting the 100 PR plan?

Thank you!
David

[chiefgief]

Correction: I plan on doing the 200 mile version of Unbound Gravel.

[Lynda]

Hi David,

I recommend you follow our Category 1 Cross Country Mountain Bike Build, Peak and Race Mountain Bike Training Plan next. Start this plan at week #2 and following weeks 2 – 12 to end the plan on March 13 at Fatbike Birkie. Take a day off on 3/14

3/15 start the 100 Mile Mountain Bike Race Personal Record Mountain Bike Training Plan but in week 1 do recovery spins on days 2 and 4 instead of the scheduled rides. Move the day 2 test to day 6. Follow the rest of the plan as-is to a peak in week 12 at Unbound 200.

Coach Lynda

[chiefgief]

I like the sounds of that. Thank you Coach Lynda!

[chiefgief]

Hi Lynda, a follow up on my Cat 1 XC Build and Peak plan. I’m on week 5 and was wondering what type of ride I should do for Off-Road ride a hilly course fast or low priority XC race day.

I am using this plan to peak at the Fat Bike Berkie race. I have plenty of groomed snow single track to ride around here but that doesn’t really simulate the Berkie race since it’s a wide open course with rolling hills as opposed to punchy tight single track.

Do you think doing Zwift races, or maybe just ride outside on snow/icy roads is a better use of my time that single track? Most of the single track around here is not groomed very wide so it’s difficult to push it hard without crashing a lot.

Thanks for the help!
Dave

[Lynda]

Hi Dave,

Zwift races and group rides are great! You can focus on power and fitness without having to worry about staying upright on icy surfaces. Crashing a lot is not performance enhancing!

Coach Lynda

[chiefgief]

Very good point! “ Crashing a lot is not performance enhancing!”

I am keeping that phrase in my biking quotes to live by!

[chiefgief]

Hi Lynda, question about my FTP after the assessment in week 8 of XC 1 Build Peak Race plan. My previous FTP was 303 and after the test showed 300. I might have been carrying a little fatigue from the previous weeks as I did the 20 min test on day 4 last week. Anyway I did the L5 hill interval today at my 300 FTP and it felt pretty easy. Maybe 7/10 on the exertion scale. Do you think I should bump up my FTP or just stay the course?

Thank you!
Dave

[Lynda]

Dave,

I recommend sticking with your previous FTP of 303w given you suspect your most recent test was not optimal.

Coach Lynda

[chiefgief]

For short track race practice workouts that can’t be done on single track due to conditions would you recommend doing sweet spot or some sort of intervals for the 30 minute effort? Sometimes I have to do this workout either on the trainer or on a gravel road and I don’t know if the intent is to stay constant at FTP for 30 minutes the way Training Peaks has it constructed.

Sorry for playing 20 questions lately!

Thanks!
Dave

[Lynda]

Hi Dave,

These are great questions. The intent of a short track workout is for power to be in all levels and Normalized Power for the race duration to land near FTP. The intent is for a session with lots of variation in power with surges, power spikes, coasting etc. A short fast race on Zwift is ideal if you are stuck indoors. The structured workout tool on TP is not able to design this session precicely.

Coach Lynda

[chiefgief]

Hey Coach Lynda, I’m in week 8 of the 100 miler MTB PR plan and I was wondering if/how to integrate some XC Cat 1 MTB training into the week as well. I’m doing our local XC race series and I’d like to have some more adaptations for the Vo2 on and off efforts. Is there a workout I can substitute from the XC Cat 1 plan into the 100 miler plan once a week?

Thank you!

BTW I raced my first XC race in the Elite class this weekend and finished in the top 10 overall. I would’ve never thought this possible in the past. I 100% attribute this to your awesome plans!

[Lynda]

Hi Chiefgief,

Congrats on your top 10 elite finish!! Your hard work is paying off.

Week 8 is a rest week. It is important to take the rest weeks! I don’t advise adding more than you have already scheduled to the plan in week 8.

Week 9-11 already have a VO2max focused workout on day 2. Adding more volume at VO2max means removing some threshold work and endurance at race pace, which will dilute your goals. I don’t advise adding more VO2max volume than is already in the plan if your “A” goals are endurance focused.

Coach Lynda

[chiefgief]

Thanks Coach Lynda!

Rest weeks are definitely “hard” now that we finally have rideable trails in MN. But I can see my resting heart rate get lower and HRV go up during rest weeks so I’m sure it’s paying off.

I will stick to the plan like you said and after my 100 miler A race in June I’ll reach out to you about starting a XC plan for the rest of the season.

Thanks! Dave

[chiefgief]

Hi Coach,

I am in week 11 of the 100 miler PR plan and will be racing Unbound Gravel on June 5th. I am looking for guidance on how to continue my training for the rest of the season.

June 26 I will be doing Lutsen 99er (100 mile mountain bike race).

I will then be concentrating on XC MTB racing that are around 24 miles/2hrs for the rest of the summer with the final race on Aug 22. I then will be preparing for Marji Gesick 100 on Sept 18.

I know it’s kinda of a mismatch of race types but could you recommend which plan(s) and when to start them after Unbound?

Thanks so much!
David

[Lynda]

Hi David,

Happy Memorial Day!

What are your race goals and priorities? Is any race more important than another?

Coach Lynda

[chiefgief]

Hi Lynda, I had a great weekend racing Unbound thanks to your 100 miler plan!

The rest of my season looks like this:

June 13 XC 2hr MN series MTB race
June 19 Lumberjack 100 MTB
June 26 Lutsen 99er MTB
July 11 XC 2hr MN series MTB race
July 25 XC 2hr MN series MTB race
Aug 22 XC 2hr MN series MTB race
Sept 18 Marji Gesick 100

There’s also a local weekly 45min short track XC races that I like to occasionally do for fun.

My goal is to carry some of my fitness from the 100 miler plan that I just completed to do well at Lumberjack and Lutsen. I want to continue to improve my standings in the MN series races and PR Marji to beat my previous 15h45min time. I’d say Marji is the most important race. My initial thoughts are to race Lumberjack and Lutsen then start at week 4 of the XC CAT 1 plan until Aug 22 and then start the 100 miler plan again at week 8.

Would this be a good plan?

Thank you!
David

[Lynda]

Hi David,

When you are racing every weekend, your job is to recover. There is no room for training on a race and rest schedule! Every week you have a race, follow week 12 from the XC BPR plan for an XC race or from the 100 miler plan for a 100 miler. Add more rest if needed.

6/28 – Take this week 100% off your bike and training. Sleep, get a massage. Do recovery things. You need to unload race fatigue in order to build up for MG. If you skip this week off you will be flat for MG100.
7/5 – week 12 XC bpr plan
7/12 – week 11 XC bpr plan
7/26 – week 5 100 miler plan
8/2 – week 6 100 mile PR
8/9 – week 7 100 mile PR
8/16 – week 8 100 miler PR but race on 8/22 instead of the 6 hour ride on the plan scheduled for that weekend. Drop the 6 hour ride.
8/23 – week 9 100 mile PR
8/30 – week 10 100 mile PR
9/6 – week 11 100 mile PR
9/13 – week 12 and race MG100

Coach Lynda

[chiefgief]

Thank you Coach Lynda for the detailed breakdown to finish out my race season. I’ve read and heard how important recovery is but didn’t know how to integrate in into my busy race schedule.

Maybe next year I’ll stick to one biking focus at a time 🙃

Take care!
David

[chiefgief]

Hi Coach Lynda, I had some great PR’s for my Lumberjack 100 and Lutsen 99er. For LJ I finished 26th overall and for Lutsen I finished 24th overall beating my 2019 time by 2hr24min!

I plan on taking this week off like you said but was wondering if I should keep up with core/strength training.

I also was wondering about race pacing. For both of my races I held back pushing too hard at the beginning to save myself for efforts at the end. I was passing people for most the of the races all the way to the end and I definitely finished on empty. But this also meant I was bridging gaps and riding alone a lot. Would it be a better tactic to go harder at the beginning to stay with the lead group since they were able to work with each other and draft?

Thank you!
David

[Lynda]

Hi David,

If you can stay with the lead pack and within your pacing parameters it is a good strategy. If you blow up and DNF then it obviously isn’t. It depends how fast they are!

Coach Lynda

[Lynda]

Huge congrats on your PR’s! Beating your time by 2:24 is a massive margin!

Take a real rest week from all training, including strength and core.

Coach Lynda

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