With racing starting in April, your base training should be well underway by now. Proper base training will take no less than three months. The nice thing about solid base training is that it will stay around for an extended period and lay the foundation for your race season.
In addition to base development, getting stronger and faster can be done in 6 weeks. The gains of structured threshold and Vo2max training are quick and noticeable.
Remember that your racing season's performance ceiling and longevity are determined by how broad your foundation (base) is.
Determining where you currently stand can be done best by a science-based performance test and analyzing your training data—for example, doing a lactate test.
Lactate testing is instrumental because:
· It provides a profile of aerobic and anaerobic conditioning levels. This profile tells you what has to be trained for peak performance and indicates the training to prescribe for the next training cycle.
· Test results over time show changes in this profile. These results will indicate if the training has had the desired effect or if the athlete is not adapting in the desired way.
· It indicates the training intensities and volume that an athlete can withstand to increase aerobic capacity.
· It provides an ongoing check on the athlete's training to ensure that the workouts are within the desired intensity range. In addition, it is a safeguard to ensure that no unforeseen adaptations occur and you are spending your precious time on training activities that contribute to getting stronger and faster.
· The lactate test will also provide your lactate threshold and functional threshold power, amongst others. A ramp test or a 20 minutes test on Zwift or TrainerRoad and FTP based on a lactate test is more accurate. This is because some riders do very well during an FTP test, and others do poorly. So your FTP could be too high or too low, resulting in ineffective workouts.
Please don't hesitate to reach out.
