As we approach the end of the winter, which I know seems a long way off at this stage it’s a good time to start thinking about the goals you have set yourself or if you haven’t yet set a goal or target event now’s the time you need to do it.
Having a goal or set of goals is really helpful for a number of reasons.
A big one is motivation, if you don’t have a target or something you are aiming for then motivation can diminish, you ask yourself why am I doing this. Setting goals also results in more self-determination, heightened task enjoyment and generally higher levels of satisfaction.
Goal setting can take many forms but a simple example might look like the following.
Main Goal – Top 10 in a key race or event where you have just fallen outside of this placing in previous attempts.
Smaller goals to help make this more achievable.
1. Be more consistent in your training. Previously you had too many days of missed training leading into the event – this time you’ll ensure you complete all your sessions.
2. Minimise the junk food in the diet, particularly a few weeks out from the event try and eat that little bit cleaner, except maybe on weekends.
3. Get 8 hours sleep a night rather than 7 – this will help with recovery and also limit your risk of falling unwell.
Obviously the above is just an example but if you tick off the smaller goals, then the chances of achieving the main goal become more likely. Also by completing these smaller goals creates self-belief and that is largely what this is all about.
So if you haven’t yet set a goal or goals start having a think, and even if you have set a goal then set some shorter and even longer term ones to help keep you motivated.
Time to start pushing harder on the pedals
Following on from that, and with a key event or target in mind use that as motivation to start pushing a little harder in those sessions that are threshold intensity or above. It’s during these sessions where you can start to explore your limits and to push yourself that little bit harder.
Obviously when I set specific sessions I don’t always know how an individual is feeling on that given day, so that individual might have some lingering fatigue or overly tight muscles which make completing a Vo2 max session harder than normal, so the thought of going harder might not be on the cards. But if they feel quite good and feel there is the capacity to do so then now would be a good time to start.
Please note I’m not saying for your endurance Z2 rides or Z3 tempo efforts that you want to be riding these harder, let your heart rate and RPE dictate the intensity for those sessions. They still need to feel easy. It’s the Z4 and Z5 sessions where you can start exploring your capabilities and looking for some new all-time high numbers.
So how should you go about attempting this, as ever there are a number of ways you can finesse this. You could take a session you’ve previously completed and turn up the intensity on Zwift or whatever platform you use from the get go, if you like using ERG mode then you can toggle the + or – to change the power.
What I would however suggest is just taking it off ERG mode and find a gear and cadence that allows you to ride that little bit harder, even if it’s just for the last interval or even part of one. Stick to what you know you can handle for the first part of the session and then start to increase the effort. This in my experience is usually the best approach rather than going into the first interval and trying to hit new all time high’s from the get go.
Below is an example of how using ERG all the time doesn’t help with progression. This athlete is able to easily complete this session for each of the 1 min efforts so in reality they can start pushing on, and my suggestion would be to do it towards the end of the session in that final block.
This is a more conservative approach to going all in too soon and then blowing up and completely messing the session up. Obviously if you are feeling really good and confident you can lift the effort from the outset then by all means try, that’s what training is for, it’s a safe place to get it wrong and learn more about yourself. But I wouldn’t advise doing it too often as it can have negative effects on the mental component – self-belief.
Your self-belief needs to be managed and nurtured, messing sessions up from time to time is all part of the process but if you do it too often the it can be a slippery slope.
The other side of the coin however is staying safe and never getting out of your comfort zone, being comfortable is fine for 70/80% of the time but to get better at anything you need to get uncomfortable.
As ever I hope you find this sort of thing helpful and if there is a topic or something you want me to try and provide guidance on then please let me know.
Also if you want help with setting goals then please do get in touch, coaching isn't just about setting sessions and creating a plan, it's also about exploring the art of the possible.
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