Scott Moninger at the Tour de France

Scott Moninger
The winningest US Pro Ever!

FOR IMMEDIATE PUBLICATION:

Peaks Coaching Group announces that Coach Scott Moninger will be working alongside Bob Roll as commentator for the upcoming Tour de France. 

Bedford, VA, USA, June 14^th 2012 –

Scott Moninger, the winningest US Pro ever in US cycling history has been chosen to be a commentator alongside Bob Roll at the 2012 Tour de France.  Scott, now retired from pro cycling, is currently a master level PCG power coach.  Moninger will be working daily with Bob Roll and NBC Sports as a commentator answering cycling questions about race tactics, strategy, and more. 

Scott Moninger comments, “I am excited to participate with such an elite race, the Tour is the most prestigious of the Grand Tours and I am honored to be chosen for this position.” Moninger continues, “With my years of team and race experience I feel I will bring pertinent incite to the race commentary.”   

Moninger has a professional racing career spanning 17 years (1991-2007), Moninger has raced on 6 different pro teams including most recently BMC (2007), Healthnet (2004-2006), and Mercury (1999-2002) pro teams. He began his prestigious career racing professionally as a member of the Coors Light Pro Cycling Team in 1991. In his 27 years of racing and 17 years of pro racing, Moninger acquired an amazing 275 career wins.  Scott was voted the 2005 VeloNews Male Road Cyclist of the Year and twice was ranked #1 road rider in the USA (1992 – 2005). In 2008, Scott was Director Sportif for the Toyota/United Professional Cycling team. The team won over 60 professional events in the 2008 road racing season.

Scott currently is a master level power coach for Peaks Coaching Group. He is also a key part of the Peaks Team at the Peaks Power Training Camps.  PCG is based in Bedford Virginia, was founded by Hunter Allen. Hunter is widely known as one of the top experts in the world in coaching athletes using power meters. Allen is the co-developer of Training Peaks and co-author of “Training and Racing with a Power Meter” and his newest book co-authored with Dr. Stephen Cheung, “Cutting Edge Cycling.”

Remember the little stuff.

By BJ Basham

Master PCG Coach

I have worked with lots of riders in the years that I have been coaching and you can think of riders as being in different phases of their preparation. Everyone can be thought of as being at the bottom of their form, in a growing and improving phase or at the top or peak of their form and this applies to new and experienced riders.

Remembering the “little stuff” refers to paying attention to all the other things that you do to get ready for your events other than training. Little things can be stuff like remembering your recovery nutrition or taking a nap or getting enough sleep.

When it comes to paying attention to the little stuff it is the riders at the top and bottom of their form that usually need to be reminded the most.  Riders who are improving and seeing progress and return from their training are motivated to keep seeing that progress so they are motivated to stay on top of the little stuff.

What does it matter?

Riders at the bottom of their form can risk getting in a “What does it matter?” state of mind.

• What does it matter what I eat, I’m not training that much.
• What does it matter if my bike is squeaking, I’m not fit enough to win.
• What does it matter if I start at the back, I’m not going to finish anyway.
• Snickers bars and beer make for good recovery if I am out of shape anyway.  

For these riders, redoubling their focus on the small stuff can help them to start to make gains and to start improving faster. Making sure to train and rest and take care of their bodies is a necessity for getting back into shape.

They need to remember that if you assume you will not ride well you will almost always be right. But doing all they can to avoid holding themselves back will give them the best chances for great training days which can lead to great race days.

Bullet Proof.

Strangely enough, when riders reach their peak of fitness, it is possible that they can get in a “bullet proof” mind set.

• I am so strong I can eat what I want.
• I am so fast that I can waste my energy in the race and still be in with a shot.
• I am so fit that I can win on a muddy bike with worn out training tires.  
• Recovery drinks and extra rest are for riders weaker than me.  

 For these riders, staying focused can help to extend their peak and also ensure that they are not wasting their limited days of peak form on days that are not the targets of their season. Many riders in the middle of the peak of their season go super deep at the Wednesday night worlds and then wonder why they did not have the snap at their target events on the weekends.

  

Everybody needs to remember the little stuff.

Every rider needs to pay attention to the little stuff and I have seen riders who can hold that focus right up to and through their target events. But I have seen just as many riders who will lose the plot in the days and even hours before an event. They let their diet get sloppy or they spend time doing stuff other than resting. On race day some riders will totally neglect their pre-race prep or not warm up like they have been with every workout leading up to the event.

There are probably a number of reasons that a rider might forget the little stuff. For some it may be just a matter of making sure they have an excuse for not riding well.

• I would have done better if I got my normal warm-up.
• I would have won if I remember to pump up my tires.
• I would have finished if I did not eat McDonalds on the way to the race.

The riders who tend to be successful will be the ones who pay attention to the process of getting ready to race. That process does not end until you get to the end of the event. Remembering the little stuff is a simple thing that every rider can do to make sure they see that process all the way through.

Len Pettyjohn and Omer Kem join Peaks Coaching Group

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Peaks Coaching Group announces the addition of Omer Kem and Len Pettyjohn to their team of endurance power based cycling and triathlete coaches.

Bedford, VA, USA, June 20^th 2012

Omer Kem and Len Pettyjohn have joined Peaks coaching Group extensive team of premier coaches.  Peaks Coaching Group has over 40 coaches throughout the US and the world with Hunter Allen, the go-to- guy for Power Training and author of “Training and Racing with a Power Meter”, leading his team and expanding the coaching group by adding two very prominent coaches to Peaks. 

Len Pettyjohn, a 30 year veteran to cycling has done it all in his industrious cycling career.  He has been involved in every facet of cycling, from riding, to racing, to cycling team management, and event organization.   Pettyjohn has organized and coached team after team though out the years who has achieved world class results;  Coors Light Pro team, Crest Amateur Team, Lowery’s Women’s team to name a few. His highlight year was 1989, when Coors Light team member Greg LeMond won both the Tour de France and World Road Championship.  Pettyjohn continued to work with Coors Light throughout the mid 1990’s as the team dominated the domestic circuit, with more than 500 total wins in six years.  Pettyjohn comments about his joining the Peaks Coaching Group, “With my vast race tactic and strategic knowledge experience, I would like to help master level riders step up to their full potential as athletes.” 

Omer Kem, is a 7 year US pro and now race director for a strong US Bissell team.  Kem is interested in developing young racers and molding them into champions.  With his experience as a pro and now as a team director and coach he brings a lot great experience to the coaching table.  His desire to develop young racers brings a niche talent to the Peaks Team.  Kem comments, “I am excited to be part of Peaks Coaching Group, as a race director for Bissell, the athletes that I coach will keep me in touch with the  young up and coming racers and allow me to move them up the ranks as they come into form.”

Hunter Allen, owner of Peaks Coaching Group, exclaims, “I am honored to continue to have elite caliper coaches join my team”.  “Len and Omer are coaches that have unique cycling experiences that will enhance our awesome team of coaches,” Allen continues, “Both Len and Omer have been through my extensive Peaks Power Training Certification and are now available for athletes.”

For more information, contact:

Kathy Watts

Kathy@peakscoachinggroup.com

The Power of Knowledge and the Knowledge of Power

By Hunter Allen

This winter I had the opportunity to travel the USA on a book signing and speaking tour, which is always a great time as it gives me a unique insight into how different each area of our beautiful country is.  The people of this country are also so very different and each brings their own perspective to cycling, power training and endurance sports.  We are similar though in that we have strengths and weaknesses, are limited in our training time, respond somewhat similarly to training stimuli and all want to improve.  These similiarities are the key reasons why training with a power meter can help us to improve our cycling.  In my travels, I have met pro road cyclists, track athletes, ultra endurance mountain bikers, triathletes, recreational riders and many others,  each asking me questions about they can best use their power meter to optimize their training time, optimize their chronic training load and also optimize their individual intervals as well.   The knowledge of using a power meter for optimization is one of the top asked questions that I get at my seminars and book signings.   Sure, everyone wants to hear about this pro or that pro and see how to analyze their power file in the TrainingPeaks WKO+ software, but the general theme is always around optimization.                              

Optimize your training time

After you have a power meter for at least  six to eight months, you have plenty of data to review in order to find trends based on the training response to your training dose.   We each have limited time to train and a certain point, you have to make sure that you are focused during those key training hours on your best and highest use of time.  First you need to make sure you understand what exactly is your best and highest use and that comes from having clear goals combined with a very honest assessment of your strengths and weaknesses.   I wish I was a better climber, but I am not. I am a great all-arounder that win road races, crits and the occasional time trial with a very high anaerobic capacity which allows me to do the best in the hardest of hard criteriums.  Knowing this and being honest with myself will then give me the confidence to make a few goals which support my unique abilities.  Only after I have made those goals, correctly meshed them with my abilities will I be able to optimize my training time.  In my example, I have picked a couple of road races that are hilly and long, along with two hard criteriums all within a four week span which gives me the best chance at doing well in at least one of them.  For me, the limiter will be on muscular endurance in the road races as I tend to get cramps during a hard road race that’s longer than 75miles and in the criteriums, I’ll need my sprint as sharp as possible in case I want to win a few premes.   Generally though, I’ll need the highest FTP I can possibly achieve and also optimize my ‘repeatability’ for shorter anaerobic efforts which I excel in, but the key will be having the repeatability to attack over and over.  Doesn’t everyone want to have those two general abilities? Which is a good point to think about as you plan your training time, since winning races has a lot to do with your FTP and if your FTP is higher than the rest of the peloton, it makes it much easier to create a winning opportunity, therefore always make training your FTP the core of any training program.   Now that I have defined the components of success for my goals, I can divide our training appropriately into the limited time that I have to train, which is about 12 hours a week.   Of those 12 hours, I will want to spend at least 3 hours focusing on improving my FTP, and I’ll do this mainly with intervals in the sweetspot range with one focused workout right at my threshold power or a touch above and spread throughout 2-3 workouts in the week.   Then I’ll want one workout during the week, to focus on my anaerobic capacity and the amount of time at anaerobic capacity won’t be that long (maybe 25 minutes total),  but the strain will be high.  Finally I’ll want to do a sprint workout as well, but I am going to incorporate it into my Saturday weekend ride and do the sprints early in the ride when I am freshest and can create the most watts during the sprints.  The rest of the Saturday ride will be endurance and sweet spot and I am going to burn 4 hours of my available 10 hours on this Saturday ride in order to stress my muscular endurance and really fatigue my legs. Sunday will be as many hours as I have left to play with(probably about  2)  and I’ll make sure to do some climbing or riding in my time trial position at endurance and tempo pace to just get in the time.  

As you have read, meshing your goals with your strengths and weaknesses provides the foundation from which you can optimize your training time best suited to your goals.   Let’s look at how we now optimize your chronic training load over the next few months in order to make sure you achieve the perfect balance of fitness and freshness.

Optimize Chronic Training Load

Chronic training load(CTL) is defined by all of the workouts that you have done in the last 6 weeks and the last 6 weeks of training is what drives your current fitness.   Of course, the hard work you did last season and in the last 6 months provides you with the foundation of fitness from which you build upon, but ultimately your current fitness has been built from all your workouts in the last 6 weeks.  This is an important concept to understand and review on a regular basis as what you do today and this week, ‘drives’ your CTL(and fitness) 6 weeks from now. Ultimately though, you want to optimize your training over every 6 weeks’  period which means planning for your hardest week, planning in the proper amount of rest, planning for your maintenance weeks, etc.  The critical things you need to consider are: 1) building your training load up in a rational manner, ie.- don’t do too much too soon.  2) make sure that have enough new training load so that you prevent training stagnation. Eventually you’ll stop adapting to your current training load and need additional stimulus to create further improvement.  3) allowing for the proper amount of rest in order to create a peak of fitness when you want to have it.  Each person is a little different in exactly how much rest they need in order to create enough freshness for a peak performance.    With these rules in mind, lets come back to my example in which I am training to peak for a solid four weekends of hard racing.  When we consider these goals, we can work backwards so that I create the most fitness possible during those weeks.   For me, I have found with my athletes and myself, that a rest week needs to be planned in two weeks(weeks 5 &6) before that “A” race in order to create enough freshness the week before the race week, so I can hone and sharpen my abilities for the race.   Many people like to rest the week before their “A” race, but I have found that it’s not as effective for myself n or my athletes, as while you do indeed gain the freshness needed in most cases, you also can become stale and lose a bit of mental confidence because the legs don’t feel as good as you think they should.  Starting your rest week two weeks before your “A” race, allows you to still race on the weekend without having to worry about your performance  and having stale legs.   The week before your “A” race,(week 6) you can do a few tune-up workouts, which are shorter workouts emphasizing higher intensity and then plan a final taper for 3 days before your big race.  With these two final weeks planned out, that means working backwards again and making weeks 3 & 4 some of the hardest weeks of your final training block.  You will need to make them about 15-20% harder than any of the weeks preceding them.  Increase both your volume and your intensity during these two weeks and dig deep in each workout.  You will be tired, sore, complaining to anyone who will listen and ready to stop, but you have to push through these final two weeks. We continue to work backwards from weeks 3 & 4 and come to weeks 1 & 2 which represent ‘the beginning of the end’ or the start of your chronic training load before your “A” race.  This makes week 1 & 2 very important and it’s absolutely critical you come into those weeks rested and ready for the training load.  I recommend that these weeks are spent on your FTP and Vo2 max unless your goal is highly specialized and training in these areas won’t help you reach your goals.  This will give your body just enough time to adapt and improve your threshold and Vo2 systems before your peak of fitness.   One caveat here is important to include:  if you are sick leading into these two weeks or get sick during them, you need to rest, rest, rest and be 100% before beginning your final push, even it means delaying the training a bit.    When you examine your Performance Manager Chart in TrainingPeaks WKO+ software, make sure you are comparing ‘ramp rates’ of CTL throughout your 6 weeks final build.    In Figure 1, note how you can hover over the CTL line (blue) and compare how quickly your CTL rises from week to week.  Be careful if it starts to rise more than 8 TSS/day each week.  It’s fine to have it rise over 8 TSS/day per week for a week or two, but if you have a week that it goes up 15 TSS/day and then the next week is 12, alarm bells should be ringing as this means you are increasing your training load too quickly and too rapidly.

  FIGURE 1

Optimize the number of intervals

How many intervals you do in a training session can be optimized and this is one of my favorite ways to properly utilize a power meter during training.  Until recently we have only been able to guess whether we should do 5 hill repeats or 10, 15 or maybe none at all.  We had no understanding of what wattage we needed to hit in order to improve that energy system, nor did we know what wattage we were hitting on interval one and how we fatigued we might be by interval 12.  I have written about this concept many times and put it in the 2^nd edition of “Training and Racing with a Power Meter” as well, so I am not going to go into depth here, but do want to give you some basic concepts with which you can build on.   First off, when you train, you are training with a goal in mind in that training session, maybe it’s improving your anaerobic capacity and in my personal case, this is an important goal for me since I want to have the most number of “matches in my matchbook”  to be burned in a race.  For anaerobic capacity,  I want to do intervals between 30seconds and 2 minutes and in this example, I am going to crack out some 1 minute hill repeats because they are just painfully satisfying.  First off with my FTP at 300 watts, I know I’ll need to do at least 120% of 300(360watts) in order to even strain my anaerobic capacity system enough to cause enough stress and in turn gain improvements.   I will start out shooting for 150% of my FTP (450watts) and then do as many intervals as I can until I can’t average 360 watts for the effort.  When this occurs, I know I will have completely exhausted this system and doing anymore intervals won’t help me.   Now, I have a more complete discussion of the optimal intervals in Dr. Coggan’s and my book and I would encourage you to read it thoroughly so that you can optimize the number of intervals in each session you do.    In Figure 2, you will see a guideline to help you understand when ‘enough is enough’.   In order to do this correctly, you have to have a clear understanding of how you use the ‘interval’ button on your power meter computer head and then also how to review those intervals before doing the next one.

 

Figure 2

Each of these three optimization ideas come from the fact that you are using your power meter in training and using it properly to keep your body right on the ‘face of the wave’ so to speak.  Optimizing your training is something that each of us can do and should do since we all have limited time to train and that time is highly valuable.  Another resource you might want to check out is my website and under the Seminar/Webinars section, I have placed over 25 webinars on different topics including these three, along with tips on using WKO+ software and how to build your training plan.  Keep up the great work and stay focused this early spring using these concepts to help guide you to success. 

Peaks Athlete Sam Schultz makes Olympic Mountain Bike Team

Sam Schultz was named to the Olympic mountain biking team by USA Cycling, the organization announced Friday.

 “I’m psyched,” Schultz said from Colorado Springs, Colo., where he will compete in a Pro Series race on Saturday. “I don’t know quite what to think yet. It doesn’t seem real just yet, but I’m super psyched and pumped to see what I can do at the Olympics.”

Schultz and Todd Wells of Durango, Colo., both received discretionary nods and will make up the two-person men’s squad. “It came down to coach’s discretion because none of us met the qualification standards, but it was heavily based on the first four World Cups this year and going back to the past year of international performance at World Cup-level fields,” Schultz said.

Schultz has been pursuing his Olympic dream since graduating from Hellgate High School.

“Oh, man, pinch me,” Sam’s father Bill said. “He left home, I think it was the day of his last class in high school in his senior year, to move to the Olympic Training Center (in Colorado Springs). He had that invite. He didn’t even stick around for graduation because he was so anxious to get going. It’s quite a journey.

“I’m proud of him.”

Schultz has competed in four World Cup events this season. He placed 42nd in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, in March; 37th in Houffalize, Belgium, in April; 20th in Nove Mesto na Morave, Czech Republic, in May; and 34th in La Bresse, France, also in May.

“It’s been going well,” Schultz said. “I’ve been happy.” Schultz said Swiss riders have been dominating the World Cup races so far this season. “They’re super strong,” he said. “The reigning Olympic gold medalist the last two Olympics is a French guy, Julien Absalon, and he’s still riding super fast, so he’s right up there on the list. But the Swiss have been pretty unreal. They only get three spots (in the Olympics), but they’ve been placing five or six guys in the top 10 of most of the World Cups this year, so they’ll be strong.”

Schultz won’t compete until the final day of the London Games on Sunday, Aug. 12. Racing begins at 6:30 a.m. MDT that day on a course at Hadleigh Farm in Essex, 35 miles east of London.

“I rode the course last year,” said Schultz, who will compete in another World Cup race in France a couple of weeks before the Olympics. “We had an opportunity to go to a World Cup in England. We got a preview of the Olympic course.

“It’s a little weird; it’s pretty manmade, so it looks a little weird but it rides super well. There are a couple of technical rock-garden sections and a lot of climbs. I think the course suits me pretty well, so I’m excited.”

“We have a strong team going to London with a solid combination of experience, leadership and young talented athletes who are all capable of standout performances,” said USA Cycling vice president of athletics Jim Miller. “Each member of the team is deserving, we’re proud to welcome them as a part of Team USA and look forward to a promising Olympic Games.”

The preceding article was reprinted from the Helena Independent Record

---------

Sam Schultz, a Peaks Coaching Group Athlete, is coached by PCG Master level coach, Kristen Dieffenbach Ph.D. 

http://www.peakscoachinggroup.com/ASPX/bios/kdiffenbach.aspx

Cyclist to Multisport Athlete: 3 is good for 1

Cyclist to Multisport Athlete: 3 is good for 1

By: Lisa Cooper Colvin, Ph.D., FACSM, LCEP

Exercise Physiologist, University of Louisiana at Monroe

USA Triathlon Level 1 Coach, USA Swimming Level 1 Coach, USA Cycling Level 2 Coach,

USA Track and Field Level 1 Coach

http://www.peakscoachinggroup.com/ASPX/bios/lcolvin.aspx

As the days get longer and the sun begins to warm you up, one day after your long ride, you might ask your coach and/or yourself "I wonder if I could add something new to my training...could I try a duathlon or triathlon?”  The answer is OF COURSE!  Not only would this be an outstanding multimodal activity that would help to decrease overuse injuries, it also is an excellent means of strength training, core stability work and proactive injury prevention on your part.

The first thing athletes tell me when I suggest this addition and/or transition is "I can't do that sport, I swim like a rock!”  As most of us have exceptional lean muscle mass that pulls you like a magnet to the bottom of the pool, it is easily overcome with stroke mechanic drills, fin kicking and economy in the water.  Others of you might justify not trying a multisport event because "I can't swim!”  No problem again!  Multisport events are not just limited to the swim, bike, run events (triathlon of many distances) but you can venture into duathlons.  I have worked with many category 1, 2, 3 cyclists over the course of my 20 years of coaching and although they did not compete in any multisport events, they had their best seasons in years in stage, time trial and long road races.

OK Lisa, I will give it a try.  What now?  There are 5 easy steps to beginning a multisport mentality that compliments your cycling goals.  They are SMART: 1. Swimming instruction, 2. Multiple workouts per day, 3. Alignment of  your cycling goals with your addition of multimodal exercise, 4. Run for running sake, not to help cycling goals, 5. Triathlons (or other multisport events) make cycling races more enjoyable so get ready to cat up!

STEPS IN TRANSITIONING/ENHANCING YOUR CYCLING SEASON

1. Swimming Instruction

            Even with Lance Armstrong's triathlon background, one of the first things he did was to join a swim group that had a coach.   On deck instruction and coaching is a sure way to achieve quick success in the water.  As freestyle is the preferred stroke for the swim section  of triathloning, having a USA Swimming or ASCA certified coach assisting you in this aspect will make this  "concerning" portion of triathlon events most enjoyable (I PROMISE!).  From stroke instruction to swim workouts, this exercise will help your cycling by strengthening your cardiovascular system, increasing upper body tone (which is often neglected by cyclists and will not bulk you up) and enhancing your core body stability.  How better than to get 3 workouts in one training session....this is a no brainer.

2. Multiple workouts per day

            Triathlon training plans can be confusing and frustrating to design but a skilled coach can easily help you fit in multiple workouts per day without your spouse and friends forgetting your name!  There should be 5-6 days of workout and one day of active rest.  HUH?  REST?!  NO WAY!  A much overlooked portion of a well designed training plan includes a rest day and easy workouts each week.  No, you won't loss any fitness.  For a fact, I will bet the farm that your racing IMPROVES!

For example, here is a training template for cyclists transitioning to multimodal activity:

·         Monday: swim; easy ride on road like for 1.5 hours in the flats at power of L1

·                     Tuesday: Tuesday night World's (your hard group ride) of 1.5-2.5 hours UL4-5 or whatever it takes to hang on

·                     Wednesday: swim; BRICK: ride time trial bike or road bike in drops for 1 hour with 4 x 30 second Time Trial power effort           at 20 minutes (1 minute recovery between intervals); after ride, IMMEDIATELY put on running shoes and run 10 minutes (5 minutes out and 5 minutes back)

·                     Thursday: run 20 minutes easy or run 5 minutes/walk 1 minute until complete; Time Trial workout on bike for 1:30

·                     Friday: swim; longer run (up to 30 minutes for first 3 weeks)

·                     Saturday: Long group ride of 3-4 hours (some intervals in this ride 4-5 weeks down the road)

·                     Sunday: REST....you deserve it; walk dog, play with kids, date with spouse (that might be lawn work!)

           

NOTE: properly fitted running shoes is not a suggestion, it is a necessity!  Before running one step, replace old running shoes with properly fitted shoes.  Ask the expert at a running store.

3. Align your cycling goals with your addition of multimodal pursuits

            When you add additional modes of exercise to your existing cycling only plan, consult your coach and discuss at length what you are planning to do, if you are going to add races, and new field tests in each sport.  Find a coach who not only has been a cyclist and triathlete, but who has the proper training and certifications that will lead to success in your new adventure.  An exercise physiologist may be a helpful coaching background to look for also.

4. Run for running sake, not to help cycling goals

            Wow Lisa....this seems great!  Thank goodness it will help my cycling.  STOP THERE!  The running portion of this program will not translate well in improved cycling performance BUT the cycling you are doing will indeed have a carryover performance effect on your running....how cool is that?!  Research in this crossover effect leads me to tell you that although you might not be a good runner, every walk/jogged mile has a positive roll over effect to increased power on your bike.  Hate me now, love me at your district state cycling championships or your A+ race event for 2012.

5. Triathlons (or multisport events) make cycling races more enjoyable so get ready to cat up!

            Now that you have embraced and utilize all or some of the above program, I can happily to tell you my cyclists, 73% of the time (over 200 category 1-5 men and women to date) have "catted up" within 9 months of starting the above program.  Better yet, the injury rate and over training issues many coaches experience with their athletes rarely happen to mine. My athletes are pleasantly surprised, families happy and motivated to train and race.

If you are looking for new ways to spice up your cycling performance, I would be excited and honored to help you reach those goals and take your game to the next level.

Be S.M.A.R.T. about your training this year and try something new!

Congrats to Matt Cooke!

Congrats to Matt Cooke of Boulder, Colorado on his fine mountain-top stage win today at Canada's Tour De' Beauce!

Matt won his first national caliber race in April at the Sea Otter Classic. Then he played the selfless worker at the Tour of Calif for team leader Freddy Rodriguez, who landed a podium finish on day one. Matt was then able to fully recover at home and train specifically for the Tour De Beauce with a good dose of LT surges, some long enduro days in the high moutains, and a heavier than normal dose of NP/AC workouts, due the nature of the "burgs" which are a daily reality in the Tour De' Beauce.

This is Matt's first time racing the Tour De Beauce but fortunately, having competed in the event multiple times myself, I was able to share some insight with Matt as to how he could best maximize his strengths and how to best leave a real mark on this event.  Good luck in the rest of the race Matt and congrats again on your first UCI win!

Peaks Coach: Scott Moninger

The Process of Process

The Process of Process 

by Hunter Allen

When I was in New Zealand back in April of this year teaching to the elite coaches of the New Zealand cycling and triathlon federations, I was tasked to give them a clear process by which you train with power.  They have been using power meters now for quite some time (over 4 years) and have quite a keen understanding of how to use them.  One thing that not all of the coaches have been able to do though is really understand the process by which you train with a power meter.   One of the main reasons that Dr. Coggan and I wrote the book, “Training and Racing with a Power Meter” was because we wanted to give athletes a step by step process.  So often I get the question, “How do I use this thing now that I have bought it?”  and while I love saying, “Hire a coach and they’ll teach you”, that’s not practical or wanted in many cases.   While the book has alleviated many of the questions about how to train with a power meter, there are some very clear steps that you have to take in order to do it and then when you have taken those steps, you ARE really training with a power meter.  These steps are detailed and expanded upon in the 2nd edition of “Training and Racing with a Power Meter” book released this past May, but  let’s review them here and that way you can get started quickly.

Step 1: Testing and Data Collection.

The first thing that you have to do when you get a power meter is start doing some basic tests to understand exactly where your fitness is currently.   Testing your FTP as you begin using a power meter will be one of the most important steps you take and I recommend that you do a 20 minute time trial to see what is your best average power for the 20 minutes.  Take 5% off of this number and most likely that’s close to what you would average for an hour long time trial as well and your best wattage for an hour is what we call your functional threshold power or FTP. This will define the intensity of all your training from here out. As you gather ride data over your local routes and races, you’ll learn even more about what it means when you ride at a particular wattage during particular types of rides and knowing your FTP will help you to understand how your rides and efforts relate to this gold standard of training.. Remember to repeat this test every six to eight weeks, or whenever you think your fitness has changed.

Step 2: Training levels

Once you know your threshold power, then you can put the threshold power number into Dr. Coggan’s power training levels schema and understand how to train each different energy system.  One thing that so many people have a hard time grasping is that there is a relationship between intensity and the time spent at that intensity.  If I want to improve my power at VO2 max, then I have to ride between 106-120% of my FTP and I have to do it for a minimum of 3 minutes and maximum of 8 minutes.  To improve my threshold power, I need to do intervals between 10 and 60 minutes with an intensity of 91-105% of FTP.   If I do an effort for 4 minutes but only ride at 100% of FTP, then I am not training intensely enough to elicit enough stress on my Vo2 max system and at the same time I am not training long enough to stress the lactate threshold system for it to improve.  Be smart about your training and make sure that you are training in the right zone and then long enough to make a difference.

Figure 1

Step 3: Determine Your Strengths and Weaknesses

Yup, that means more testing!  First you need to test your “POWER PROFILE”, which are your best efforts a  5seconds(level 7), 1 minute(Level 6) and 5 minutes(Level 5) .    Once you have this information, you can use the chart in our book (or use the TrainingPeaks WKO+ software) to see how you stack up against the world’s best and to figure out your true strengths and weaknesses.  Are you a sprinter?  Are you a good hill climber or possibly an even better time trialist?   How you define your strengths and weaknesses will also be a guiding factor in your training and you will learn even more precisely the physiological systems that you need to train. The next step in learning your strengths and weaknesses is called “The Fatigue Profile” and this helps you to understand within each system what is the strongest part of that energy system.   For example, let’s say you are a sprinter.  What kind of a sprinter are you?  Are you a sprinter that has an explosive jump and has to wait until the last 100 meters of the race to pop out from behind a wheel and then sprint to the line?  Or are you a sprinter that needs to drag race to the line from 350meters out?  The Fatigue Profile can help you figure this out.

Figure 2

Step 4: Define your workouts and go train!

Just sticking a power meter on your bike is not going to make you faster.  You have to push on the pedals and do the work.  You are going to have to dig deep in those anaerobic capacity intervals and learn to love the burn, and you are going to have to grit your teeth and drive the pedals down all the way to the end of that threshold interval set.  It’s not easy, but the work must be done.  Review the power training levels and create workouts that address your own fitness needs and goals, and that are aimed at specific power levels.  For example,  a great workout that is focused on improving your anaerobic capacity is this one: 

 Warm-up: 20 minutes at 56-70% of FTP

Main Set: Then do (6) x 2 minutes striving for 135% of your FTP with 2 minutes rest between each,

Then 5 minutes easy,

Then 6 x 1 minute efforts, striving for 150% of FTP  with 1 minute rest,

Then 5 minutes easy

and finish with 6 x 30 seconds ALL out(over 150% of FTP) with 1 minute rest…..

CD: Cool down for 15 minutes of easy spinning.

In designing your workouts, you want to think about the energy system that you want to improve, look at the intensity that is needed in order to challenge that energy system and then make sure you are doing the effort for the right time period so that you create enough stress for adaptation and improvement.

Step 5: Data Analysis

Once you have completed the workout, then you need to download it and spend a few minutes analyzing it.  Ask yourself these questions:  Did I complete the workout in the correct zones? Did I accumulate enough training stress?  Did I do enough intervals? How does this ride fit with all my other rides?  Were there any personal bests?  How does this impact my fatigue for the week?  For the month?   It’s important that you download every ride, every race, every time do a recovery ride.  Each ride is important no matter how hard or easy. Your data is important, and interpreting it correctly will help you to make the right decisions about the next day’s training, the next month’s training, and even the next year’s training.  In many of my past column’s I have written extensively about how to analyze the data.  If you have missed these columns, get some of the back issues or check out “Training and Racing with a Power Meter” book.  Either way, one thing is for sure: You need to spend some time analyzing and understanding how your power meter data can help you.

Step 6: Learn Analysis Tools for better and more complete understanding.

What does Quadrant Analysis mean and what exactly is a Performance Manager chart? What is a Training Stress Score?   How can my Normalized power increase?   What are all these advanced tools that I can use to help me and how can they help define the demands of my events and shed light on the additional factors that are necessary for success. Cycling is an incredibly complicated sport with many “unknowns,” and the more unknowns you can eliminate, the better your chance of success.

Step 7: Define the demands of your events

What are the exact demands of your events?  You know that you have to ride 60 miles in the race and there are 5 significant hills in the race, but what about all the smaller hills and the attacks by your competitors or what if there is a big cross-wind section?   By racing with your power meter you can learn exactly the demands of your events and your best data will come from races, your best efforts will come in races, and you stand to learn the most from your race data.  Reviewing your race data is critical to future success.  Once you know how many efforts you need to do in order to just finish the race, then you can start focusing your training on what it takes to be successful in the race. Defining the demands of the event applies to every discipline within cycling whether its track cycling, mountain biking or road cycling, so even if you are just starting with a power meter, complete the previous steps and then begin defining the demands of your event.   And…. contrary to what you might think, some of the very best data will come from your failures. If you can figure out exactly why you failed, then you’ll be able to take steps to avoid making the same mistakes again.

Step 8: Make Changes to Achieve Your Goals

Guess what?  You are now training with a power meter!   If you have completed all the previous steps, then you are doing it. You see, it wasn’t so hard!   The secret’s out!   Now, you have to start making decisions about your training though.   Do you change your training?  What do you change?  If you haven’t improved, then you have to make some changes.  If you are continuing to improve, then stay the course.  Many times once we start doing something we fear a change as we fear the unknown.   Will my wheels fall off if I do more intervals at Vo2 max than I ever have?  Will I get stronger if I start doing some big gear bursts?  How sore is sore?   Can I push one more day and make it a productive training day? Training with a power meter is about results. It is worth doing only if you have a clear understanding of what needs to be done. Now that you have a good working knowledge of what needs to be done, you must be ready and willing to change. So, based on what you’ve learned in taking the steps listed above, go ahead and make the needed changes, and watch your cycling improve.

Some Final Thoughts

While training and racing with your power meter, avoid the “paralysis by analysis” syndrome. Training with a power meter can be very easy to do, but sometimes your power meter may seem to be more of a hassle than it’s worth. Remember to keep an eye on the big picture. Each training day fits into an overall set of objectives and sometimes you may want to download your ride, keep it in your database, and not even look at the actual workout file. Keep looking at the long-term graphs to get a sense of how all your systems are improving. If you feel like you are getting lost along the path, then come back to these steps and repeat them again.   Testing, training zones, strengths and weaknesses and defining the demands of the event are all key components to a successful training plan.  However you decide to use your power meter make sure that you turn it into a tool and not just an expensive speedometer…

The Tenets of TRI Tapering

The Tenets of TRI Tapering

By Hunter Allen 

The sun beats down on you, you make sure you have enough water in your bottle to make it home, and you are all alone with that satisfied feeling only endurance athletes understand. It’s  made up of sweat in your eyes, salt crusted shorts, smelly cycling gloves, chain grease, tired soles of your feet and most importantly…..strength at the end of a long workout. It’s the pride, the sense of self-worth, the accomplishment and feeling of superiority that you have come to know, love and search for on every ride.  It’s that race fitness that you have fought for and won, right before your event.  It’s the knowledge that you are still strong after all those miles on that final BIG ride. You are ready. 

But, a question remains in your mind.  The easier part (in some ways) is the tough training and daily dedication you put into each workout….multiple times a day.  It’s a question that you have asked before and the answer is elusive as that missing bike tool you have been looking for and just can’t seem to find.  It’s bothersome because you are used to the training, your body is used to the sweat, the heat and your mind is used to the focus.   Now….you are telling me to rest?  Really?  How long will this last?  Why can’t I keep training and sweating and pushing myself?  I don’t understand why I can’t go long today.  The taper in the final two weeks is a departure from the normal and after all those early mornings at the pool, the lunch time runs, and the long bike rides on the weekend, the abrupt change is quite dis-concerting.  Your mind questions the length of rest, you fear that your body will quickly back into its lazy, slob mode and you just want to make sure you do the right thing so that when race day comes you kill it.  You need the confidence that the taper, the rest week is timed right.   You need to know for certain that you are resting just enough to create freshness, but not so much that you lose your hard won fitness.

A properly executed taper does just that.  It allows your body to rest, to recover and achieve the final fitness adaptation that you have been waiting not so patiently for in order to race your best. This is the first tenet that you have to accept and trust: Rest will make you stronger AFTER a hard training block.   Once you accept this, you are that much closer to success.  The second tenet is: Some shorter and intense workouts will keep your ‘trained’ feeling, so that come race day, you’ll feel light and quick.  If you rest too much in the two weeks before and allow that lazy slob to come out, then you’ll feel slower, the legs won’t move so fluidly and you will probably go slower as well.   Shorter workouts will give you the reduction in overall training volume that allows your body to recover, while sharpening the blade so to speak.  The third and final tenet of tapering is: Your muscles and body will start to become highly energized in the three to four days before your race.  Many people mistake this feeling for the nervousness that they feel before an event.  The feeling I am writing about though is when the muscles start to feel ‘twitchy’, the mind becomes frustrated with that lack of fatigue in the body and you want to just take off running down the road.  This is the feeling you will have when you have tapered and rested properly.  Embrace it.  Know with 100% confidence that it means you ARE ready.   

Using your power meter helps contain your training during a taper and you are going to use it as a governor and set limits on your intensity, so that you don’t use up that precious energy in the two weeks before your “A” event.  Similar to when you put a ceiling on your wattage when you do a recovery ride, you are going to keep yourself under control and use your power meter to help you do that.  Two weeks before your event is your rest week and by taking the rest week two weeks before, it will allow you to fully realize the additional fitness gains that occur when you rest.  Many triathletes will only taper the week before their event and while it might work if you are ‘behind’ in your fitness, you won’t need to ‘cram for the final exam’ and will use the week before to hone that blade to a razor edge.   The week before is when you will shorten your workouts, nail some high wattage, shorter efforts and come home every day feeling like you didn’t really even do a workout.  During this week, you won’t be your normal tired self after a workout (you better not be!), which will again confirm you are on the right track for the perfect taper. As a triathlete, balance is always an issue between the three sports and I recommend less running, than riding and swimming the week before.  This keeps the skeletal load to a minimum, which helps with the recovery/adaptation process along with preserving important muscle glycogen.   Below is your two week taper which assumes the race is on a Saturday. If it happens to be on a Sunday, then just add in an additional easy ride day on the Thursday before the race and do your ‘tune-up’ workout on Saturday.

Day 12 –Mon. – Take today completely off. No exercise, except for some light stretching/yoga for 30-45minutes.  Eat extra complex carbs today, have a nice steak (and/or be sure to take your iron supplements today if you are a vegetarian and take extra iron till the race.).  Schedule a massage with your favorite therapist for Thursday or Friday this week.

Day 11- Tues. – Easy ride today for an hour and half.  Keep your wattage below 60% of your functional threshold power (FTP). Eat super clean today, light and easy to digest foods with an emphasis on complex carbs and veggies.

Day 10- Wed. - Easy Swim today, 30-45 minutes of continuous swimming, no drills, no efforts, just flow through the water.  Focus on your protein intake today, getting in some extra protein at each meal, preferably high quality red meat if you can.

Day 9- Thur.- Easy Run today, 45-60 minutes maximum.  Stay at your endurance pace, be light on your feet and make sure take a yoga class or stretch tonight.  Go to bed early tonight and do your best to get extra sleep.

Day 8- Fri. – Take today completely off.  No exercise, except for some light/stretching/yoga for 30-40 minutes. Take your spouse, friend out to a nice dinner tonight.  Eat some great tasting and fattening foods with plenty of dessert and reward yourself for adhering to a solid rest week.  Leave restaurant stuffed.

Day 7- Sat.- Brick today.  Plan for a super short transition, matter of fact, make this a dress rehearsal for your race.  Get all your gear out just like you want it for the race next weekend.  Plan it out perfectly and make a short check list once you have it all set up.  Your transition is going to be less than 2 minutes, so when you get back from your ride, make it quick and focus. Today’s ride is a 2 hour bike ride, with wattages below 75% of your FTP.  Do a burst (10-15 seconds) of high cadence (over 120rpm) every 5 minutes to keep the legs moving and light.  No high wattages, focus on leg speed.  When you get back from the ride, make that transition perfect and then head out for a 5-8k run.  The first 2k are quick and at your Olympic distance race pace to remind your legs what it feels like to transition off the bike.  After that, dial it back and just run at endurance pace.   Eat normally today, and make sure you have a recovery shake after your run, whether you feel like you need it or not.

Day 6- Sun.- Swim long today.   At least 80% of your race distance. After your warm-up, focus on some 25, 50 and 75 yard drills.  Make your rests complete after each, so your heart rate comes down and you are ready to go full out again on the next one. Do at least 15 total, so maybe a combination like (8) 25’s, (4) 50’s, and (3) 75’s.  The rest of the swim is just getting in the distance and keeping your pace at a moderate pace.  Eat normally today and high quality foods, with plenty of veggies.

Day 5- Mon.- Bike ride of 2.0 hours and doing short, but intense intervals.   Do (3) 2 minute efforts all out, pushing yourself at your highest wattage you can (probably around 135-150% of your FTP), with 2 minute rest between each.  Ride for 10 minutes at endurance pace (56-75% of FTP) and then do (2) 8 minute time trials.   Each of these is done at 100-105% of your FTP, with 4 minutes rest between each. Keep your cadence at 90+ rpm on all intervals today.   Stretching is important today along with a eating some extra complex carbs and a nice steak or high quality protein source.

Day 4- Tues. Swim and Run today.  For your swim, make sure you swim at least 50% of the race distance, but no more than 65%.  Do (5) 100 yard sprints today, with big rests between each.  The rest of the swim is practicing your stroke and finish with a fast 50 for a good end to the workout.   Your run is focused on doing some pick-ups and (3) 400 yard sprints and (3) 600 yard sprints.  Make sure you really recover between each with some walking and then slow running. The run is no longer than 45 minutes total and in the last 10 minutes, pick up your pace to your 10k pace and push a little bit.   Stretching is key today and eating some easily digestible light foods.  Don’t overeat today!

Day 3- Wed.- Bike- Your Ride is an hour and half today, and a few more little short efforts.   After your warm-up, do (10) x 1 minute fast pedaling drills with your cadence at 120rpm and focus on leg speed and not high wattages, with only one minute easy spinning at 80rpm between each. Ride for 20 minutes at endurance pace 56-75% of your FTP.  Finish with (1) 20 minute effort at your sweet-spot wattage (88-93% of FTP), keeping your cadence at 90-100rpm, so your leg speed is quick.   Stretching and good sleep is important tonight.

Day 2- Thurs. – Your choice today.  Do whichever you feel like you need a little bit of to keep you sane.  Promise me that you’ll only do it at endurance pace though and go easy today.  Eat plenty of complex carbs and a have a recovery shake today as well.  Great sleep.  Flawless preparation.

Day 1- Friday- Tune-up today with whichever discipline you want.  Do an hour to hour and half today. Keep it light, do some bursts or pick-ups and eat good foods that are easy to digest.  YOU ARE READY!

Day 0- Saturday- RACE Day- GO FOR IT!!!

This article was reprinted from TRI magazine, on online magazine that Hunter Allen is a contributing author.