Good morning!!

Well not quite morning here, but it is somewhere! I often am asked questions about training this time of the year. For most of the nation, it's cold, windy, dark, and bleak. But that does not mean your training has to suffer. Most of you are through your "off season" and have taken time away from your sport, rejuvenated yourself, and are ready to begin training for the new season. Great, but where to start?

January marks the beginning of the base period for most athletes. This is a time to develop your aerobic engine. Lets use the analogy of building a house. To begin building a house, one must first pour the foundation. The foundation is what the rest of the house is built upon, and without a strong foundation, the house would immediatly fail. Once a strong foundation is established, only then can the details of the house can be worked on. Now, think of this time of the year to use to lay down your foundation. The intensity of your workouts should be rather low. Focus on maximizing your time doing aerobic exercise. So, if you train with a heart rate monitor, do your work in zone 2, which is approximately 70-80% of your LTHR. If you use power to monitor your effort, ride at 60-75% of FTP. If you train by feel, "conversational pace" is how your could describe your efforts. In other words, you would be able to have a conversation with a partner when training. Avoid the temptation of pushing yourself too hard, we'll save that for later in the year. When an appropriate foundation of fitness is built, you will then be able to put in those details, the intensity as your training year progresses. Good luck!! I'm almost finished with the race schedule, and will post soon!! All for now.

SJI