If you’ve been following me on Strava for the last week, you’ll notice that I’ve been taking it relatively easy on the bike (not on the coffee front – I’ve been hitting the coffee as hard as always). This has been a planned part of the program (I think I’m going to make lots of doping references for the next 3 months – hopefully I’ll be getting some results that look suspicious by the end of it). You won’t, however, have seen the behind the scenes, off the bike work I’ve been up to the last week.
No, I haven’t been hitting weights at the gym. Nor have I been out running or getting into a special diet. The last week has been all about recovery and planning. I still got out on the bike, and I did put some efforts in, but by and large I’ve just been casually turning the pedals and reducing my fatigue levels.
After last week’s FTP test, Matt showed me a video he’d taken of me on the bike. It was probably towards the end of the test, and I was most certainly feeling ragged by that point, but it clearly shows a bit of an imbalance I have on the bike. For ages I have been ignoring my lack of flexibility. With this in mind, the newest addition to my program has been Yoga!
Wednesday morning had me up at a time I’d often be cycling, and down to Palmerston for some stretching. It’s something I’ve never been into, but have been meaning to give a serious go. I’m now pretty convinced it’ll get me more flexible on the bike, but was surprised how much it hurt everything around my chest – in a good way. Thursday morning I woke up and was really sore, but in a way that made me feel like my diaphragm had been worked for the better. Guess what – cycling downs a lot of oxygen, so improving this breathing caper is bound to be good for me! Yoga gets a tick.
Capping off the week of relaxation, I went and saw Matt after the Saturday morning bunch ride (on which, by and large, I sat in and did very little work). We discussed strengths and weaknesses and basically did a bit of a rider profile, and then got onto the important stuff – setting out a regime. I won’t bore you with too much detail, and am excited that Matt has managed to plan out a schedule that includes all the regular riding that I already love to do. So I’ll continue to do the regular bunch rides I enjoy, and will also include some low cadence strength efforts on the stationary trainer and some intervals. If you keep an eye on Strava, you’ll get a fair idea. Oh, and I have two hard weeks, followed by an easy week. Massive focus on recovery with the training, and I know that it’ll get results.
It all feels too easy so far – but I know what is laid out to work through, and that I’ll be smashing myself soon enough. I’m looking forward to giving you another run down in about a week.
P.P.