As the cycling season ends you might wonder what do I do now? Hopefully you have had a successful year and achieved all your goals.
The end of season is a very important time. How its approached influences how you will perform next season. Get it wrong and you could destroy next seasons performances.
Aim for a smooth transition from the end of this cycling season to beginning training for the next one.
Here are some tips that I would strongly recommend you consider
1 Review your season
2 Take a break
A break of two to six weeks is essential after your last race. The more difficult the season has been the longer the transition period must be.
When considering the difficulty of the season you should also include studies/ exams or work demands. These will also impact on the stress levels on your body and mind.
At the end of the transition period you should be fully recovered. Its essential that all residual fatigue from this season is gone before training begins for next season.
3 Maintain some fitness with off the bike activities
Obviously you don’t want to lose all the hard earned fitness you have gained. During the break general fitness can be retained by other activities. A small amount of cycling can be included.
Activities
They should be light, relaxing non competitive type activities that you enjoy. Go mountain biking on easy (safe) courses suitable to your skill level.
Go walking /jogging on forest trails or parks. Join an Aerobics /circuit /weights or swimming class in your local gym or school. Try some of the park runs near to you.
How often?
Three sessions a week of mixed activities will retain a good level of fitness
4 Maintain healthy nutrition
Follow good nutrition habits to help recovery and control weight. Good natural foods will help with recovery and ensure you don’t put too much weight on during the break.
5 Treat yourself
There may be things that there’s no time for while training and racing. So maybe some nights out, films shows, leisure walking and biking.
Explore the new green-ways with friends Or try whatever your other passions are.
Paddy Doran level 3 Cycling coach at www.peakendurancecoaching.ie
Introduction to Cycling Booklet by Paddy Doran, Bikefit – gears and cadence – Safe Cycling – Training Programmes and much more – Buy Here
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Successful coaching for Competition and sportive cycling triathlon and endurance sports.
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