Insane in the brain

Einstein said doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result is insanity. If that's true, I've been insane for the past five years.


After enjoying my best cross-country racing season in 2006, when I finished fourth in the state in the 40+ Expert class, I got lazy and cut back on my volume. Who needs all of those "junk miles''? Instead of patiently rebuilding my base endurance in the spring of '07 -- like I had done the previous three years -- I felt so good I began riding harder at the expense of long steady distance. I thought I had reached a level of fitness that no longer needed a lot of LSD. Consequently, a season that began with such hope and confidence ended in supreme disappointment. I didn't even finish enough state races to qualify for a top-five finish.


For the next four years, partly because of work and partly because of laziness, I continued shortchanging my base training. Fewer hours in the saddle, more time hammering. When I wasn't getting the results, I continually tweaked the intensity, thinking that was the answer. And guess what? I managed to get slower each year. With the exception of a nice finish at ORAMM in 2010, my race results were terrible.


After feeling sorry for myself and suffering a severe lack of motivation all things training and cycling in the latter part of 2010, I'm back to end the insanity and do something to make me feel good about my sport again. I'm beginning an ambitious base building plan that if I succeed will be the foundation of rebuilding my fitness to my '06 level and hopefully beyond. This coming after studying Arthur Lydiard's training principles, which has been like finding the key to unlock my potential. He seems to think building a giant aerobic engine with lots of LSD is a pretty good thing before even thinking about sharpening your high-end. I'm going to put this to the test.


After annually only allowing 10 weeks of base, I'm planning for 24 this year. Eight weeks of lower level endurance miles with a small amount of speed-play, then adding some tempo and force intervals in the next eight followed by adding a final eight weeks of mid-level threshold intervals. Then I'll focus on sharpening with anaerobic capacity and Vo2max intervals and selected fast group rides that will in effect be C-priority races.


Add it up and I'm hoping to get 12+ hours and 180-225 miles a week. Of course, my work schedule could kill the best laid plans. I'm planning on racing ORAMM in July, giving me a not-too-distant target to shoot for, leading into the Florida State Championship Series in September.


I will update my progress monthly so come along for the ride to see if I can reclaim my race fitness.


Or go mad trying.