Coached Bike Training: Getting Started

Last year (2018) was my fourth year of what I would call “serious cycling.” And like many 3-5 year cyclists, I found myself searching for motivation in my training.

In my first few years of riding the gains were steady and noticeable, with Strava PRs popping regularly and a steadily-increasing ability to hang with stronger local riders. But around the middle of my third season and into my fourth I didn’t see the same gains.

This is to be expected, of course: I had reached the point in my training where doing what I had always done wasn’t going to be good enough. The problem was, I wasn’t sure what to do next.

My training wasn’t helped by me deciding to set aside outdoor crit racing last year. It just wasn’t worth it for me: the 4 hours of driving, the entry fees, and most of all knowing that eventually some idiot was going to crash and take me out with him. I decided the bulk of my racing would be done on Zwift, with perhaps an occasional outdoor road race thrown in.

New Year, Who Dis?

I came into 2019 with that backstory, but I didn’t want to coast through another year of riding. I wanted to see real gains, to achieve new things, and to perform better in whatever races I was doing.

On top of this, I discovered some losses I needed target: specifically my body fat. I hadn’t measured body fat percentage for a year or more, but when I did so in January 2019 I was surprised to see I was moving toward what I would call “skinny fat.” My body fat had been between 12-15% a year earlier, and even though I hadn’t gained weight it was now at 18-18.5%. How did that happen?

I’ll tell you how: I’m stronger than ever, but through many hours of cycling my body has become remarkably efficient at processing and using energy. I simply don’t need the calories I used to need, but my diet hasn’t changed to reflect this new truth.

So I decided in early January that I would find a coach who could help me progress in my cycling fitness while also advising me on diet/nutrition concerns.

Meet Shayne Gaffney

Shayne is the head coach at GC Coaching, LLC. He holds a bachelors degree in Health Science in Professional Development and Advanced Patient Care, is a licensed physical therapy assistant in Massachusetts, a USA Cycling Level 1 (expert level) certified Coach, a USA Cycling Power Based Training certified Coach, and a Precision Nutrition Level 1 certified Coach… among other things.

He’s also created workout content for Zwift HQ , including the “Build Me Up” Flexible Training Plan and more training plans/workouts soon to come.

I had been communicating with Shayne Gaffney on various Zwift/coaching related topics for over a year, and I had always been impressed with his ability to articulate concepts. He seemed like a detail-oriented guy, plus I knew he was very familiar with Zwift and had a strong knowledge of nutrition. It seemed like a natural fit, so I reached out to Shayne and before I knew it we were on a “new client” call and getting ready for my first training block.

Setting Goals

In my initial talks with Shayne we discussed goals. I explained what I was shooting for:

• Lose some body fat–get back to the 12-15% range
• Perform better in competitive rides on Zwift and outdoors (including our local Tuesday Night worlds)
• Be in peak shape for a fondo I have planned in Girona in June
• Regularly see data that shows me getting stronger (I like numbers)

After agreeing on a coaching plan and start date Shayne took a look at my training history and came back with this (I’ve added my comments):

Hey Eric – Just looking over your data for the past year and wanted to share some interesting things with you.

1. Too much Zone 1 / 2 training time for being slightly time-crunched. Like we spoke on the phone, ideally for aerobic capacity increases on a time-crunch, you should be maximizing time in Z4/5.
   This wasn’t particularly surprising to me–I had been doing a lot of Z2 fasted riding on Zwift in the last few months. I knew it wasn’t doing much for my fitness, but I enjoyed riding and figured it was probably burning fat nicely.
2. Your CTL (fitness) has been in a plateau since November… 
   I hadn’t changed much up since November, that’s for sure. Riding almost exclusively on Zwift, a couple of races per week, a long ride on Saturday, and fairly easy efforts apart from that.
3. Anaerobic POWER is your biggest weakness currently. Capacity is the size of the engine, versus power is the amount of energy it can deliver in a set time frame. Your anaerobic capacity is decent, but your ability to hold that power for >30 seconds is not. Something we’ll work on indoors for sure.
   I definitely struggle with responding to repeated attacks in races and holding high power for 1-2 minutes. My ZwiftPower ratings for 1-minute power confirm this as my weakest area. So I’m excited about working to improve here!
4. Your sprint is excellent which shows a well developed creatine-phosphate system (0-15 seconds) #sprintapalooza. However, as 1 of the 3 metabolic systems becomes stronger, the other 2 tend to become weaker. So, we may have to sacrifice a bit of that sprint to improve your anaerobic and aerobic capacities.
   I’ve always had a strong sprint, so this didn’t surprise me either. My problem is hanging with the front group until the final sprint!

Here are some images Shayne sent over after his initial review of my data:

Given those findings, Shayne summarized our training goals:

In a nutshell, we need to cut out the ‘junk’ miles at Z1 and increase the time spent at Z4/5 (SST / VO2 Max), as well as increase your ability to sustain your anaerobic metabolic system production. However, you’ll still have some fun and ‘loose’ rides in the DIRT rides + weekends.

So that’s the plan. As I write this I’ve already completed my first 4-week training block, and the gains we’re seeing are solid so I’m excited.

Coming Next

Over the coming months, I’ll be posting updates on my progress, with another post coming in the next week or two now that I’ve wrapped up my first training block. Follow those posts to learn about the workouts and nutritional advice coach Shayne has been giving me to help me reach my goals.

Along the way you and I will both learn a whole lot about training and nutrition–it’s all such fascinating science, and while I’ve known the basics for quite a while there is nothing like digging in and doing it yourself.

Recommended Reading

Looking to learn more about the art and science of training as a cyclist in today’s time-crunched, power meter driven world? Here are three highly recommended books (support this site by purchasing through these links):

Chime In

Got questions, comments, or inspiration for me? Post below!

The Peak Form Project 3: Working Hard and Hoping

To the outside observer it might seem that if someone actually has the will, desire and the requisite pinch of insanity to take on a 1200km bike race, that should be sufficient to earn an entry. How could an event of such grueling proportions afford to turn away participants? How many people could actually be beating down the door to toe the line in Paris for the longest ride anyone has ever heard of? The answers are surprising and show the true stature of the Paris Brest Paris. The Brevet is only run every four years and entries come at a premium demand. Due to logistics, there are limited fields in each “time-goal-group” meaning that a rider may be forced to ride for an 84-hour cutoff instead of the base 90-hour cutoff if slots fill up.

A prospective rider like Peak Form athlete Connie Swinson must deal with the anxious and uncertain entry process while still undertaking full-on preparation and completing the 200, 300, 400 and 600km qualifying events. The nature of the process meant that even as we put in week after week of hard training and knocked off events we weren’t even sure if PBP would even happen for Connie or if she might be fighting a much harder battle with the time limit. It is a true testament to Connie’s work ethic that she kept putting in the hard yards despite this uncertainty. We would just have to wait and see how the pre-registration numbers played out on the Feb 24th selection date.

Continued Progress

Watching the wattage increase workout after workout and the average speeds of long rides creep up, I gained confidence that Connie could do the job in Paris even if she had only 84 hours to do it. Since Connie’s successful outing at her 200km qualifier we began to shift from fundamental strength and cadence work to a more tempo/sweetspot-themed block of training.

The general focus in this period is to push Connie’s aerobic capacity and FTP up “from below” with lots of zone 2 and 3 work. This type of work is going to be a centerpiece all the way until the event in August because it is very specific to the PBP goal. Connie will need to be able to ride steady and strong between 50-80% of her FTP on the hilly parcours (uphill efforts are somewhat exaggerated on a recumbent) without breaking down or depleting glycogen too rapidly. This block is meant to be the jump-start to a long adaptation process to raise Connie’s “all day pace.”

In this period I aimed to include many different styles of Z3-centered session while still including some peak power and variation as mentioned in the last article. For an older athlete especially, doing sprints and accelerations is key to preserve a well-rounded power profile through the aging process.

Connie seems to be thriving on this type of work both physically and mentally. Pushing it to the limit once in awhile in training with a workout goal in mind can be a rush and gives you an opportunity to build toughness and resilience. Connie may not be doing any sprinting in PBP but she can sure use those two qualities in a large supply.

What I’ve Learned: Recumbent Riders are Cyclists Like the Rest of Us

I am truly blown away by the progress Connie and I have made so far in terms of all-around fitness–no hyperbole required. The main takeaway so far is that riding a recumbent is an aerobic endurance sport just like all road cycling is. Connie uses different muscle firing patterns in her riding position but the adaptations are the same. This is a big relief to me as a coach and gives me some assurance that my usual methods will work for recumbent riders like Connie with some small tweaks. The Peak Form Coaching Recumbent Performance Division is open for business!

Another One Bites the Dust

As we began to scratch the surface on this newest training phase we met our biggest challenge yet: the 300km qualifier. Connie had only covered this distance once before and it represented a big step up from the 200km event mentally. The result was a resounding success. Connie conquered the course in personal record time and finished strong. Analyzing the file, she spent much of the effort at 28-29km/h, which is a full 4kmh faster than her base pace for long rides when we started in January. That kind of moving speed affords a comfortable margin for rest stops and mishaps in an event like PBP and is a sign that things are moving in the right direction.

We Are In!

After a little recovery block it is already time for the 400km this weekend, which is uncharted territory for Connie (and me!). From the 400km onwards, the events will stretch beyond the daylight hours and bring on the challenges of night riding. We have done some planning and for this and continued to refine pacing and nutrition plans for more hours in the saddle and thousands more calories burnt. I think the progression is there and we are right on track for another PR.

As we made final preparations, we got the news we wanted and Connie received a spot in the 90-hour group for Paris-Brest-Paris. All she needs to do now is complete the 400 and 600km qualifiers and show up in Paris in the form of her life. It isn’t quite a dream come true yet, but it means we have the puzzle pieces we need to put the dream together and make it a reality.