Tour Divide Training

Well now that I have conquered the beast I can start my list of what worked and what didn't.  I will start at the beginning with my training.  In 2013, my body held up very well. In 2012 my body didn't fair so well. Part of that reason was I had no cycling base and gave myself only 5 months to train, and part was I didn't stick to the plan my coach gave me.  It didn't always make sense to me so I often did my own thing.  Training for 2013, I stuck to his plan as best I could and I gave myself close to 10 months to train.  I had to trust that he knew what he was doing. It worked!  Never was my physical condition in question.  Legs and lungs were ready. Of course I was completely exhausted at times, but day to day I was able to get up and keep moving without pain and.

Heart rate zones and high intensity training (HIT) was the basic theme. I was able to fit 8-15 hours a week in to my family and work life.  Hard to carve out that much time but I made it work. Some workouts were as short as an hour and some in the months closer to the race were 5-6 hours.  Never much more than that.  Keeping my heart rate in a specific zone really helped to maximize the efficiency of each work out and each workout had a specific goal.  A typical week would include a day of sprint workout with various HIT intervals, one or two HE workouts (High Endurance) at a lower heart rate for a longer period of 3-4 hours without many hills, an LT workout (Lactate Threshold) higher heart rate for an hour and a half or so on a slight climb, and/or an  LE workout (lower endurance) at sort of a mid zone heart rate for a couple hours.  Also, core workouts, yoga and recovery rides were SUPPOSED to be done every week. The workouts would change in intensity or a few different types were thrown in now and then but that's the basic idea.  Recovery days were a very important part of training. 


David would slap my wrists for over training.  He got me to the start line in shape and without injury.  We only communicated over email, but that was perfect for my schedule.  I hated having to respond to his, "tell me how your week went" email on Sunday evenings if I didn't complete the week.  The accountability factor was one of the biggest reasons I wanted a coach.  I found I needed to communicate with him honestly so he could tailor the plan to match my progress and assist with injury recovery or illness, to keep me at full capacity without over training.

Thanks David.  Not sure you thought you could pull this off when we first met but you did it.  Glad I listened, most of the time.  If you need a great plan that works for a full time working person call David Jack!  He knows what he's doing!
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