Formulating
BY KENNETH LUNDGREN
Hey Guys and Gals,
This is a nice time of the year, my favorite — always a Halloween fan, lol. Love the brisker weather, the swirling leaves, just love getting out for non-structured rides, freeing the mind and getting hungry again for the training that’s to come… Many riders, cross folk aside, are entering some downtime, so the coaching part on my end isn’t as stringent… As I’ve stated many times, the winter is arguably the most important training period of the year — you screw this time frame up, and you are limiting your potential come the warmer months… Time to build that foundation, set yourself up for awesome later-season success…
Although the days for this brief period are less filled with e-mails, ride analysis, Q&As, ride schedules, I’m busier than ever. I’m almost done putting the finishing touches on the Elite Endurance late-summer/fall newsletter. Additionally, I’m laying out ATPs for all the athletes on the Elite Endurance roster, hoping to have a better year than ever (lol, easier said than done — EE athletes ROCKED this year, just slamming me with result after result throughout the year — it’s a priceless feeling when an athlete e-mails you, says he/she wins, or they finished on lead lap, or they cleared previously unclearable hills, and they say thank you — it’s the reason I coach…)
To boot, I’m in the process of proofing BioFiles with the athletes with whom I work. This is something I’ve fallen behind on, keeping the BioFiles updated. The BioFile is a fun interview invented by my friend and journalist peer, Scoop Malinowski, and the finished result showcases an entertaining snapshot of the athlete… I will have close to 30 of these interviews up on the Elite Endurance site soon… Have gotten great feedback on the ones we’ve done over the years, so I want to continue the tradition and keep the BioFiles coming!
On the bike front, last week’s TT really left me hurting! My plan was to end the season on that day, and I did! 🙂 Didn’t ride Sunday, took the day off… Enjoyed a nice weekend going out to dinner in NYC’s Meat Packing District, heading down to the Spice Market, then spent a night in Hoboken for my girlfriend’s birthday… Nice to get away from the bike…
This week was a planned week off completely, and I’m using it to the max!!! I’d like to think smarter riders really know how to dial things back, and I’m getting really good at this, lol! 🙂 For most riders, dialing things back is THE most thing to do. That’s why many riders benefit from having a coach, where an objective point-of-view can really help craft your days and make you try something you necessarily wouldn’t do on your own…
Last few days, played a few sets of tennis, but other than that just RELAXED and violated every law of my training diet… Violate that training diet, people. Now’s the time! Always good to have several micro cheats now, throughout the year, rather than suffering that macro-cheat when you need to be in monk mode and completely dialed in…
Many riders are so consumed with weight, weight, weight. NOW is NOT the time to be obsessed with counting the calories, watching the scale like a hawk… Around this time (for most riders), we start to head back to the gym… where we’re looking to rebuild and put on a little muscle. So we need to ensure we get the proper amounts of carbs and protein… If we don’t eat properly, the gym work is almost useless… A Ferrari can’t go 100 mph without gasoline… Stupid, simple analogy but painfully true…
A tip on diet during these winter months: include more protein with your meals. Try to include some protein into all of your meals as this nutrient helps develop muscle and also fills us more quickly, which as the winter progresses will then help keep those unwanted extra winter pounds away… Eating meals rich in protein long-term can help us lose weight because they trigger a hormone that stops hunger pangs. The hormone is called PYY. It reduces food consumption by sending signals to the brain that indicates fullness. The best protein? Soy, lean meat, fish.
I mentioned eating carbs and protein earlier on. And this is important — we think we only need to eat protein to rebuild our muscles. If carbs are avoided before the workout, protein will not be as effectively used by the muscle cells. So always try to mix carbs and protein with pre-workout meals, as well as post-workout meals. Digesting carbs replenishes muscle glygogen while also elevating our insulin levels, which in turn helps protein building.
Most athletes shy away from the fats, but healthy fats should not be avoided. If your diet is super low-fat, your testosterone levels will be lower, and then the muscle that’s broken down will have trouble rebuilding and getting stronger – and this time of the year is about building muscle. Additionally, healthy fats are an excellent source of energy.
After this week, I have some light Transition work, then a week of mild Preparation training, and by mid-November will be starting the first week of Foundation training… Lotsa light weights, lotsa core, lotsa aerobic PowerCranking in my future. At Long Meadow TT last week, I was forced out of the saddle many times, something I’m not used to. I have an aggressive TT position, but with a strong core I can usually power the gear seated, so it was nice last week getting that wake-up call, showing me how much more work I have to do to get back to top condition… Lotsa fast dudes out there, and it’s this prospect I use to give myself huge motivation to do all the small things in training correctly. Control the things you can control, make the sacrifices. You only live once, do things to your max, train smart, live right, and discover your potential. I’m all about doing things and doing them right, 100% or 0%. And I’m the same way with my athletes — we’re not here to mess around. We’re here to push and see what we got…
I will stay off the TT bike for over a month, probably until mid to late December… My goal is simple: to rock the TTs next year, and so I’ve broken down my training plan into distinct blocks, and there is a certain time for certain things in the training plan. For me, there will be no threshold or “sweet spot” work just yet, will be working on some lighter miles, building to longer aerobic intervals before we start creating any lactic acid at all… We shall see how things shake out once April rolls around… 🙂
On Sunday, I’m gonna get over to the Westwood Velo Cross race in the early afternoon, have a number of athletes over there and want to help them out, make sure they’re warmed up, check out their performances… Hope to see many of you over there! Westood Velo Cross at Campgaw Mountain in Mahwah NJ is one of the top cross races in the state and I look forward to watching a great day of cross action!
Thanks for reading.
