I've been told to blog about whatever I like, but a Scottish cycling blog about cake probably isn't appropriate...so winter training chat it is!
For the last three months the track cycling sprinters have been in a 'winter training block'. This means that power and speed aren't the main focus, and instead fitness and endurance are.
This means that our training has changed a fair bit, which is initially NOT FUN!
The volume and frequency of the efforts have been increased compared to what we're used to. To describe it using a metaphor, it's like eating a lot of cake with every meal, to the point where you throw up.
For example, when training on the velodrome the distance we do efforts over has doubled, and in the gym we'll do more work sets of squatting and deadlifting with limited recovery time.
This naturally means the sprinters are even more tired and sore than usual, and we need to consume a lot of high calorie foods such as ca...you can probably see where I'm going with this.
However, already all the sprinters are experiencing the benefits, with improved fitness allowing us to maintain our maximum speeds on the track for longer, and recover far better in between efforts.
This is ideal for racing. But just like making a cake, all the right ingredients need to be there! So not only is training essential, but so is the right amount of stretching, recovery, road rides and rest.
It has been a very tough block of training but we're moving into a power phase now - which means breaking bike components and ourselves no doubt.
As sprinters this is a much more enjoyable phase for us. Cake however should never be a phase!
Until next time,
Jonny
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