Crank Cyclings Gran Fondo Basic Training Plan

It is Gran Fondo Season. Have you’ve decided to do your first or second Gran Fondo. Maybe it was dare or you just want to have a cycling adventure. The coaches at Crank Cycling would like to help you prepare with with our Gran Fondo Basic Training Plan.

This six week plan will help prepare you for a successful Gran Fondo experience. The first 10 purchasers of this plan will get a discounted rate of 30% using the coupon code Crank2008.  There are only seven weeks till the San Diego Gran Fondo.

San Diego Gran Fondo Info :http://www.littleitalysd.com/events/gran-fondo-san-diego/

The Gran Fondo Basic Training Plan is appropriate for beginning and intermediate riders who are self-motivated but who need to add more structure and direction to their training. By adding appropriate workouts as well as a framework to help focus your work, the plan will enhance your enjoyment and success in the event.

If at any point you wish to consult a coach about the plan you can contact us at jesse@crankcycling.com

For an additional fee we will customize the plan for you, schedule individual workouts and offer regular feedback throughout the duration of the plan.

Coach Jesse Eisner

Gran Fondo Training Plan: https://home.trainingpeaks.com/training-and-nutrition-plans/purchase.aspx?p=40213&af=trainingpeaks3&cid2=PT5ZJDFSAHWP6

Setting Goals

Every year in September, I have my cyclists review the racing season that’s just ended. This past September one of my riders had just finished racing his first season on the velodrome. He’d had a lot of fun with this localized racing and wanted to continue it in the coming season. Racing with the same competitors every week was challenging but it was fun too! It gave him the opportunity to try new and different tactics on a weekly basis. And, of course, saving 60 dollars worth of gas to race in LA every weekend was a nice break too.

The previous year (2010) we’d focused his training on improving general fitness and learning all the different tactics and races demanded of the velodrome cyclist. With a lot of hard work, those goals were accomplished. It was now time to step up and improve upon what he’d worked so hard to attain.

So we sat down together in 2011 to talk about how he could improve upon his last season. We defined clear and specific training goals that would capitalize on his natural abilities. For example, we chose weightlifting in order to improve his neuromuscular power. We added focused tempo efforts at much longer durations to improve his overall aerobic fitness. We focused on specific durations of time at intensities that we agreed showed weakness in certain races. Finally we added motor pacing to help bring his speed up at the peak of the season.

The process I’ve just described is critical: sitting down and asking the questions, “What did I do? What did I do well? And what can I improve?” is important to your development as a cyclist. The answers to these questions will help you set attainable goals. And you should always have a ‘dream’ goal, a goal that may seem out of reach now, but that is also realistic. Improving as an athlete is all about goal-setting; let me suggest a way that will be successful for you.

Set three goals for your next riding or racing season. The first goal is a short-term goal. It should always be something you want to accomplish in a short amount of time, perhaps two to four months. This goal can be as simple as making it through the toughest section on a local club ride (e.g. ‘Stud Loop’ or a hard climb like Honey Springs Road).

The second goal is a mid-term goal and should be challenging enough that it will entice you to keep pushing forward even when you don’t quite feel up to it. This goal can be as simple as finishing that certain race that you’ve always found difficult, or finishing that race with the main group. It can also be as ambitious as setting your sights on finishing in the top ten with the leaders of the race!

The third goal, and my personal favorite, is the dream goal. This should be your most challenging goal, but a goal still attainable if the opportunity presents itself. A good example would be the decision to compete in a really challenging multi-day race. Or you could decide to take that trip overseas that you've always wanted, a trip that includes a race in Belgium or a gran fondo in Italy. These are great examples of dream goals, those goals that are both challenging and rewarding, that are seemingly out of reach but can be attained by committing yourself to the short-term and mid-term goals.

Goal-setting gives intentionality to all athletic endeavors and in the case of cyclists, our riding and our racing. I ask all my riders to write out their short-term, mid-term and dream goals on paper. It’s important to display those goals in a place where you’ll see them every day, like on a bathroom mirror or refrigerator door.  Following these simple steps will help you remember what to focus on in your training, how to challenge yourself as you train, and what to feel good about when you accomplish your goals. If you need help deciding which goals to pursue, don’t hesitate to call a coach!

In my next blog post I’ll talk about how to keep a training diary.

Until then, see you on the road,

Coach Jesse Eisner

Boulevard RR Pre-Ride with Support

Coach Jesse Eisner will be leading a Boulevard Road Race pre-ride  with support January 12th.

The support will include a follow vehicle with power-bar nutrition and electrolyte drinks provided.  We will do two laps of the course the 2nd lap being at a faster pace.

You can ride two laps of the course with  follow vehicle and get the pro treatment;  Have the team car carry your spare wheels, jackets,  and pass you bottles and food. Change wheels quickly after a flat and rejoin the group.

There will be a bail out point at start of 2^nd lap.

If this is your first time racing the Boulevard RR, come ride with us! Get to know the course and select appropriate cold weather gear and equipment.

Coach Eisner has ridden and raced the course multiple times and can give tips on the course, conditions, and tactics.

Boulevard RR  is far from an office park criterium or a ride down the 101. Proper preparation for this event is key.

This is a great opportunity to try out your clothing in the cold,  try  your gears on the hills,  practice nutrition, and pick a point to attack.

Sandwich lunch after the  ride will be provided.   Hot coffee  and tea provided before the ride.  Full follow vehicle support/ broom wagon. Fast and slow groups will separate on the final climb.

Cost $60

Coached Athlete discount: Contact Coach Jesse to register as a coached athlete

Pre-registration required for sandwich lunch-

The weather  forcast calls for a high of 51 with a 10% chance of showers.

Weather forecast for 1/12/13 : http://www.weather.com/weather/wxdetail8/91905

Bring warm clothing and rain gear (I.e. long sleeves,  jacket, rain jacket, neoprene booties, leg & arm warmers, cold weather gloves, and a beanie).

Remember that you alone are responsible for your safety,  so use your good judgement, and do not blindly follow others .   We will provide  some support,   but you should always be self- sufficient.   All distances are approximate.

Register here:  https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/ASP/home.asp?studioid=7102

Year in Review

At the end of every season you should take a break from focused training. I’m not saying you shouldn’t ride your bike...not at all! But you should stop looking at your heart rate monitor, your power data and even your personal training duration for a few weeks. This helps to relax the mind, rejuvenate and reboot yourself. We don’t often think about it, but disciplined training is mentally taxing; it’s just plain tiring. Sometimes at the end of a good season the body will feel like it is ready to keep going but the mind still needs a break. After this ‘cooling off’ period I usually add very loosely-structured training with small goals to my riders’ training diaries. These goals are usually pretty simple: do a 4-hour ride 3 times a month, accumulate 3 to 5 hours of tempo per week or maybe do a club ride just for fun once a week. These workouts and weekly goals are low stress, low commitment and allow your brain to slowly get used to the mental workload that is coming when training season arrives. Riders should find that rides during this time of the year are meant to be fun, motivating and inspiring. This is also the time when you should review how your riding and racing season went during the past year. New-found inspiration and motivation will help you see the future and all its possibilities. You should try to assess whether or not you’ve met the goals you set for yourself this past year and whether you want to try and improve on your gains. Maybe you want to attack those shortfalls that you may notice in this review. Maybe you’ll want to set entirely different goals for the coming year. It’s all possible, and it’s up to you! Setting goals is paramount. If you’ve never set goals in past seasons you should try doing it this coming year. If my athletes are planning on competing in the upcoming racing season, I have them try to set at least three goals to strive for. After all, if you know what goals you want to achieve you can then measure how close you’ve come to attaining your desired results and make adjustments in successive years. Setting goals is one of my favorite parts of riding and racing because I have the opportunity to entertain all the possible things I can try to accomplish, and that’s just fun! But remember: goals should be challenging and attainable. After you set some goals you should make sure to keep a record of the training you do, being sure to add comments about how you felt during and after your training sessions. You should also make sure to set milestone markers to measure whether you are moving in the right direction in order to attain your goals. In my next blog post I’ll talk about setting accomplishable goals for your next season. See you on the road, Coach Jesse Eisner Did you have goals this past season? Did you achieve them? If you need help setting goals for next season and you need direction in how to achieve those goals, let the coaches at Crank Cycling know. We can help!

How to set or beat a personal record on the Roarito-Ensenada fun ride

Have you just gotten into cycling? Are you preparing for your first organized 50 mile fun ride? Maybe you want to beat or set a new Personal Record on the Rosarita Ensenada Fun Ride. Here it comes; the local 50 mile fun ride. Maybe its your first time or maybe you've done it before. But this year you are serious. You want to do the ride in two and a half hours or less. With some focused work and using the same techniques as elite riders, you can meet your goal. The idea is to train your body to do the workload that it is going to take to complete your ride. What you need to do in training is to ride multiple efforts at or above your Rosarito- Ensenada pace. You will also include rest periods during those efforts. Each one of these efforts is called an “ interval” . When you hear cyclists and runners talk about doing interval workouts, they just mean going hard and then recovering. There are many different types of interval workouts, but they are all just different variations of hard work and recovery. One type of interval you may hear about is a “tempo” interval. A tempo interval is hard enough so that you aren’t just cruising around easily, but you also aren’t going hard enough to cause difficult or labored breathing. I like to describe tempo as “ on the gas, but not really going that hard” It isn’t hard to hold for a few minutes, but try holding it for an hour and you’ll feel it! An example of tempo workout would be riding for 90 minutes total, but during the ride doing three 15 minute tempo efforts at 20 mph with 10 minute rest pedaling at 10 mph or so between each effort. The first week you will do this work out twice, with some rest days in between. Rest days can mean one of two things depending on the time you have to train. Either you will take the day completely of the bike or you will go ride for 30-60 minutes easy to loosen up your legs. If you are specifically training for Rosarito-Ensenada You'll also want to throw in a day with climbing to mimic the El Tigre climb that starts at mile 18. The El Tigre climb is a mesa that towers 800 feet above the valley floor. The climb is two miles long and a 7.5% grade. This workout would be a one hour ride with two miles of hard climbing. If you live in San Diego the Torrey Pines climb on the hwy 101 is a great climb to do these efforts on. Any hill that takes you between 6-12 minutes to climb is going to be just fine. When you hit the hill you are going to want to go up it at the fastest speed you can without running out of steam before the top. This is going to mean holding back just a little bit at the start. Ideally, you’ll do “ hill repeats” or multiple climbs up this hill as part of your training. Typically 3 or 4 times is good. You should time yourself up each time, and compare your times to the next workout. Finally, as part of your weekly training plan, you will want to have a three+ hour ride on the same day and around the same time as your event. This is going to teach your body that you will be doing work on that day and time of the week. If this sounds like too much for you, you’ll have to start out at 2 hours and then build up to 3 over the next few weeks. If you are unable to fit both the hill climbing ride and the long ride into your schedule, then you can make the hill climbing ride your long ride. We are also going to want to add to your tempo intervals each week. Every week you will add five minutes to each 15 minute tempo interval in both your tempo workouts. In your fourth week comes the big finally of your training plan; a two and a half hour ride at your tempo pace which is 20mph. So each week should look something like this: Monday: Rest day Tuesday: Tempo Intervals Wed: short and easy or day off Thursday: Tempo Intervals Friday: short and easy or day off Saturday: Hill climbs or Long ride with hill Climbs Sunday: Long ride Week I Week II Week III Tempo ride Tempo ride Tempo ride 15 minute spin to warmup 15 minute spin to warmup 15 minute spin to warmup 15 min tempo at 18-21 mph 20 min tempo at 19-21 mph 25 min tempo at 20-22 mph 10 minute rest at 10 mph easy 10 minute rest at 10 mph easy 10 minute rest at 10 mph easy Repeat Tempo interval 2 X Repeat Tempo interval 2 X Repeat Tempo interval 2 X Week IV Tempo ride 15 minute spin to warmup 30 min tempo at 19-22 mph 10 minute rest at 10 mph easy Repeat Tempo interval 2 X Climbing ride 15 minute spin to warmup 6-12 minutes of climbing 2-4 recover on downhill 6-16 minutes of climbing 2-4 recover on downhill 15 minute spin to warm-down Repeat up to twice more if you can. Do you need help preparing for you first 50 mile ride contact us we would like to help you get ready. See you on the road, Coach Eisner

You Should Be Going Hard!

Recently, on a ride, I was told that “it is hard to mimic race efforts in training”. When it comes to mimicking speed-work , many find this to be true. However, there are ways produce speed-work training but you need to have the resources. The easiest way to practice going fast without racing is motor-pacing, or just the right kind of group ride. . Motor-pacing is drafting behind a motorcycle or scooter to mimic racing speeds, its hard, and its fun, but it frequently requires a velodrome to do it safely and may be difficult to do on open roads.

As far as mimicking non speed-work efforts, you just have to fin the right terrain. The right hill can help you accomplish most if not all of your training goals. In a race, you should only be pedaling, working hard, or going hard when the time is right. Working in the correct break, working for a teammate, jockeying for position before the field sprin, or making sure you arr int he right spot before the big climb so that you don't get caught out when the field splits. The rest of the time you should not be pedaling or going hard. You should be drafting, sucking wheel, hiding in the field, and conserving energy.

In training, it is frequently the opposite. You should be going hard! This is not to say you shouldn't have rest days. But if it's not a rest day, then HTFU and do the workout. If you are training for a race with 10,000 feet of climbing, you'd better get your butt up some hills. If you need to hit 400 watts repeatedly over a 30 minute period, you'd better find a way to make it happen!

Personally, I'm trying to race more competitively this season. This means on days when “I'm just not feeling it”, I need to suck it up, and make it happen. Cycling is a hard sport and on the days I decide not to do my training, there are 80 peers of mine that chose more wisely. Like coach Chris Daggs always says, “There is no try, only do”.

Below is a video of my repeat climbs.



If you need help to get motivated contact us

See you on the road,

Coach Jesse Eisner

Training Stress

What is TSS?  TSS stands for training stress score. If you use Training Peaks or own a copy of WKO for your PC you will see a the TSS acronym with a correlating number in the summery of your workout TSS:239.04

“While exercise intensity is clearly an important factor in determining the type and magnitude of physiological adaptations to training, exercise frequency and duration – which together determine the overall training volume – are important factors as well. However, there is obviously an interaction between training intensity and volume-that is, at some point as intensity goes up volume must come down, and vice-versa, or else you will become over-trained. To quantify the overall training load and hopefully help avoid such a situation, The authors developed training stress score (TSS) for every workout, that provides a graphical summary of your recent TSS”   Training with a Power Meter ~Hunter Alan and Andrew Coggen~

Physical exertion leads to training stress. The quote above talks about training stress and how it is accounted for when using a power meter. Power meters are one of the easiest ways to quantify training load and the stress that comes from said training.

Although Stress from training becomes more easily quantifiable because we can measure power, (intensity, volume, and workload) these metrics do not take into account all factors of stress, physical and mental fatigue.

When you lift weights you create physical training stress. If I lift 450 lbs 40 times I have lifted the equivalent of 18000 lbs or 9 tons. This type of workout done 2 to 3 times a week can end up averaging out to 27 tons of weight lifted in a week. This adds obvious training stress to our overall workload as an athlete. These conclusions can apply to all of the differing workouts that you do i.e. running, kettlebell, swimming, or even yoga.

It is also important to remember that there are other forms of physical exertion that would not be categorized as working out, but will cause stress. For example, have you recently done a home improvement project that involved manual labor? From 2005 to 2009, I spent part of my time working in the construction industry. On some days, I used a Jack hammer for four or more hours at a time. I would say that those days were as hard or harder than a 40k time trial or 90 minute criterium.

The final type of stress (I’ll talk about) to account for is mental fatigue. It is easy to forget the stress that is created by our minds or by what are minds are working on. Especially, when correlating those mental efforts to working out.
As athletes it takes quite a bit of mental discipline to train our body’s day in and day out to achieve goals that are beyond our immediate abilities.

If you receive a promotion at your job, work on a big project, or have a deadline to meet, stress will be increased. Having a child, becoming the head of an estate, or other life change also will increase your stress. Changes like these will most likely have added and new responsibilities that can even effect sleep patterns.

These new responsibilities will take more of your mental discipline and focus. These responsibilities should be considered when thinking about your training and stress.
Knowing that there are other factors of stress is important, but what do we do with that information?

One of the major things you can do is account for all your stress. If you lift weights, cross-train, or don’t ride with your power meter on a specific day, add your own TSS Score to your workout.

In Training Peaks Software, for your TSS score to be accurate your threshold power must be input correctly into the software . A TSS Score of 100 is considered to be one hour of all out effort or equivalent to a 40k time trial. If your threshold power is input accurately Training Peaks will tell you what your TSS is on any given ride.

One way to calculate your own TSS is to use similar duration, terrain, and fatigue as a model. When it comes to weight lifting or cross training you can judge/estimate by how you feel. For example, how did your effort without a power meter (non cycling) compare to workouts with a power meter? Are you less, equally, or more fatigued? When building an annual training program, more information is better. Your best guess, even if it is subjective, is good enough.

In conclusion, share with your coach any life changes that are effecting your training, sleep patterns, or performance. Coaches are here to help you objectively balance your training so you can accomplish peak performance.

See you on the road
Coach Jesse Eisner

Would you like to rent a power meter? Do you need coach? Contact us at www.crankcycling.com We can help.