| Wenzel Coaching Program - June 2002
The following is a condensed and simplified version of the Wenzel Coaching program for June 2002.
 Monday is a recovery day after the weekend. Do a little light swimming or spinning on the bike for half an hour or so. Stop lifting weights this month but keep up a routine of sit-ups or crunches. We suggest three sets long enough to get a mild burn going.
Tuesday is speed or skill work. If you had are getting to the ends of your races pretty comfortably, do a sprint workout consisting of a good long warm up and up to ten 30-second sprints with five minutes rest in between. Stop sprinting when you start to feel tired. Don’t practice slow, tired sprints. You could also dedicate Tuesday to working on a weak area of skill such as cornering, riding out of the saddle, riding the very edge of the pavement, or bunny hopping. If you had only one hard day on the weekend, go for a harder ride that focuses on your specific weakness, or attend a Tuesday Evening Twilight Race.
WARNNG: Don’t race unless you are feeling really well recovered from the weekend. If you race already tired, you won’t be recovered for the following weekend.
Wednesday do three moderate intervals. A moderate interval should be four times as long in minutes as your weekly long ride in hours. (E.g. If you get in a three hour ride every week, do 12 minute intervals.) Between intervals, rest for about half the interval time. Warm up for at least 20 minutes before the first interval and spin for at least ten minutes after the last one. Intervals should be done in the moderate zone, from about 10 to 20 beats below your anaerobic threshold. Do them on terrain that challenges your weaknesses. Do you need to improve your descending, flat time-trialing, hill climbing, crit-cornering...? Use the moderate intervals to improve your weakest area, rather than to enjoy your strengths. If you are finishing races with most of the pack but not winning, find a way to get to the velodrome. Talk to your club coach about how to work it into your schedule. Track racing is the surest way we know to improve road and criterium placings for riders who have any talent at all.
Thursday through Sunday are the same as they have been for the last few months. If you are racing Saturday then Th: rest – Fr: tune-up – Sat: race – Sun: race (or endurance if you are cooked). If you are racing Sunday but not Saturday then Th: endurance (about 1-2 hours) – Fr: rest – Sat: tune-up – Sun: race. As before, a tune up is a ride of about one hour with some hard jumps or an AT interval near the middle.
If you are starting to feel cooked or burned out it is best to take an easy period before you are tempted to quit entirely. Take one week each month in June, July and August really easy, doing only recovery rides on Monday through Thursday, and then jump back into your normal schedule for that weekend. Another great way to revive your motivation is with an achievement ride or a social event. Setmyourself a new one-day distance record, do a century or metric-double. Call Neil for more ideas.
Wenzel Coaching offers a discount to Velo Allegro members on detailed, individualized coaching programs including daily ride times, heart rates, cadences and so on customized to your available time, fitness, strengths and weaknesses. Programs are available for road, criterium, MTB and century riders. Triathlon programs are coming soon. Basic programs are $50 per month plus a one time $50 initiation fee and include a printed program and 45 minutes per month of consultation. Completely customized programs focusing on a peak event or built around a difficult work-schedule are also available. Call Neil Browne at 562-438-3051 or e-mail him at NeilBrowne@Wenzelcoaching.com. You can also check our web-site at http://www.wenzelcoaching.com.
--posted 02 June 2002 |
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It is at this time of the year that I think every cyclist either gets up in the morning or goes to bed at night and says, "God bless 
Have you been thinking about racing this season or next? Are you relatively fit, able to hang in with the 2nd group on Saturday and/or ride at El Dorado Park?
