Training Blog: Andy Dolphin – January

The start of the year sees a return to a training plan.

4^th Jan was the first session, which was endurance based with 2 x 10min tempo included, 60 mins, repeated on the 6^th (although this suggested HIIT, I stayed with the schedule). 8^th Jan strayed from the plan when I had this reading, so instead went for a low endurance session but with 3 x 30 sec max efforts with 3 min recovery between (instead of the scheduled recovery session). 9^th was a club ride, 3 hours at an average of endurance pace, but included 6 solo hill intervals prior to the ride. 10^th suggested HIIT again, but considering my next scheduled session was on the 11^th, it was an endurance ride for 90 mins. Overall it was a fairly good week, with readings that allowed me to stick mostly to the scheduled sessions in the plan. Particularly happy with 3 HIIT readings, possibly a result of backing off over the Christmas period. Worth considering this in the next scheduled recovery week.

A better week overall. The 11th was the first training day of the week, carrying on with the power based plan with 3 x 10 min tempo intervals in a 65 minute endurance session, repeated again on the 13^th. The 15^th was a 45 minute low endurance session that included 4 x 30 sec max efforts with 3 mins recovery between. I expected this to send me into low recovery on the 16^th, but in fact gave me a recommended HIIT session for then. But I stuck with the plan and did 2 hours of endurance. 17^th was 90 minutes of endurance with 2 x 5min sweet spot efforts 5 minutes apart. As my reading for the 17^th was verging on low recovery, I expected this to send me into low recovery on the 18th, but again it gave me a HIIT recommendation.

This is the third week of my plan, before a weeks recovery. It’s good to see the readings towards over-reaching with it being the end of a 3 week block. 18^th was the first session, which gave me a HIIT recommendation. However I stayed on the plan with 4 x 10 min tempo efforts in a 75 minute session, 5 mins apart, other times at endurance. This was repeated on the 20^th, where my reading was less favourable. 22^nd was a 60 minute recovery/endurance cross-over session, with 4 x 10 seconds FTP bursts. 23^rd and 24^th were group rides, 2.5 hours and 1.5 hours respectively, averaging out to mid tempo. 24^th was a good ride to end on, as it was intense in parts. Interested to see how the recovery (week 4) will affect my HRV.

Profile;

I am a recreational athlete, who has around 5 to 8 hours a week to train (season dependant). I have a family with 2 young children and run a business. Therefore, the ethos of my training is to use training principles that elicit the best results in minimal time. By comparison to my cycling friends, I would class myself as average