Reflecting

VC10 members have had a fantastic summer season of sport. Under the inspirational gaze of Dave Johnson from AspireHolistic, people have competed in Iron Man Triathlons, produced Pb’s at 10, 25 and 50 mile TT’s, raced across the length of Portugal in a MTB race and achieved average speeds in club rides they could have only dreamt of a few years, or even months, ago.

As winter approaches it is time to reflect on how good these achievements are and let the body and mind recover. Despite many successes you can hear people saying “I am glad the season is over”. It is easy to lose motivation and get in a downward trend.

Reflecting on 2011, I can see the seeds of success were, in fact, sown in October of 2010 when we started our excellent Core Training on Thursday nights. The Monday night swimming club soon followed on, and then running was added to the agenda. VC10’s ever popular track sessions at Newport and Calshot guaranteed high quality training on the bike despite one of the coldest winters since 1963.

We arrived in Majorca for the spring training camp with good core strength and suppleness. Plus we had still managed to maintain excellent base fitness. The Majorca trip provided a spring board into a higher level of fitness just as the weather in the UK turned to a warm and dry April and early May. 

Recuperating

Painful but very effective. Sports massage is not a beauty treatment.

Your 2012 season starts in the middle of October. The next few weeks are an opportunity to take a step back and recover from weeks of hard training and riding. It’s a time to try different sports out like swimming or a local Yoga or Pilates class.

Some members take time to revisit other sports they enjoy playing or dust off the cross bike or MTB bike and try a different discipline of cycling. 

It is important to let the body recover and, more importantly, let the mind get motivated for the long winter months ahead. It is all too easy to let things get in the way of training: Bad weather, having to work a few evenings later than expected and so on.

This recuperation period is also a good time to start thinking about what you would really like to achieve in 2012. It may be a European Sportive, Lands End to John-O-Groats, Road Racing or a Triathlon.  

Having decided your goals for next year. You have then  to plan on how you are going to achieve them.

Rebuilding

Having slowed down and rested for a couple of weeks or a month, most people will think they have turned into lard buckets and lost all their fitness. This is unlikely. However, it is now time to rebuild and refocus. Listed below are some pointers which worked for VC10 people in the off-season 2010/2011.

1)      Get a coach

2)      Get a proper bike fit

3)      Look at your nutrition

4)      Check out what local sports clubs are offering to help you through the long winter months

5)      Get out and ride plenty of steady miles.

Where does VC10 fit into all of the above?

Getting a coach

Dave Johnson is one of VC10’s founders and races TT’s at a National level. Dave also runs AspireHolistic  and is club coach.

Dave has written a few words for this article:

As summer turns gold, and minds turn towards a rest, ways to do things better, differently and more enjoyably, it’s a great time to take stock and look at where we succeeded, and where we could have done things better. Now’s the time to think about what our aims, goals and dreams are and how we might set out a road map of how to reach them. AspireHolistic is here for you to help with the transition from aim to achievement. Among our clients are Ironmen, National Championship competitors, first time racers, mums, businessmen and beginners.

You can choose to pick a bundle or two of six turbo sessions focussed on what your aims might be – only £12 a bundle. You might like to do your own training, and use the Athlete Support Program to help with all those other things, from massage to diet to stress-busting. You might want a module of training to get you through the winter in the best condition of your life. And you might want to start the full 24/7 coaching to get you to your targets in the best possible condition. 24/7 coaching costs just £300 – only £25 a month. About the same as your entry fees.

Get enthused, get ready, get fast.

http://www.aspireholistic.com/aspire/

AspireHolistic.

Most people in the club who are coached use Dave. However, talk to club members and ask them about their own experiences. There’s certainly no commitment to use AspireHolistic

Bike Fit

Top time trial rider Pete Lawrence felt he had an issue with his comfort on the bike and wanted to explore getting a proper bike fitment. VC10 has traditionally suggested people use the Specialized body geometry system available to us via Sigma.

However, after doing some research Pete felt he wanted to go up a level and have a fit done using the Retul technology. After a few recommendations Pete went for a fit at Twenty3c at Stony Stratford near Milton Keynes. Alan, one of the partners in the Twenty3C business, took Pete through the bike fit process and using Retul was able to refine Pete’s position both for comfort and aerodynamics. So impressed was Pete that he recommend Alan to other club members.

So far in 2011 over 15 people from VC10 have visited Alan and without fail, all have seen an improvement in performance and comfort.

We still have access to the Body Geometry product via Rick Fetherston at the Specialized store in Ruislip or Sigma Sport.

Diet

A number of club members have spent time working on perfecting their diet for exercise.

Robin Smith recently presented his thoughts on the Paleo Diet for althletes at club night. See the following link for more details:

http://thepaleodiet.com/store/the-paleo-diet-for-athletes/

Robin has been using the diet for 6 months now and believes he has achieved significant health and performance benefits from it.

Other good tips have been found in Dr David Servan Schreiber’s book The anti-cancer diet.

Surprising the Daily Mail carry a good article about the books contents:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-1025497/The-anti-cancer-diet–introducing-healthy-new-way-life.html

Again your coach can be a good source of guidance on nutrition both day to day and  on race day.

Local Clubs

As part of the plan for 2012 it seems we have identified the following areas:

Core Strength and Suppleness

Endurance Miles or Block Training

Motivation and Variety

Most cycling clubs offer a good winter programme of core training. VC10’s sessions are on a Thursday night at the village hall in Longwick.

Again most clubs will be doing plenty of club rides and track sessions over the winter. VC10 posts all rides on the club forum and facebook pages, so there are plenty of opportunities to get out and ride with other people and keep motivated.

However, other areas to consider are martial arts clubs, Yoga and Pilates classes. Both offer excellent core training and suppleness work and access to new skills.

There are also VC10’s swimming and running divisions.

Miles and Miles

However, all the above is no good unless you build a high quality base of endurance miles over the winter. The secret to this is finding out the right effort for you to be riding at. We are talking about lower and middle Zone 2. Many club cyclists think that taking part in the club run each week will be a good place to get this base mileage.

This is true if the group rides at your required pace. This is unlikely, so you may have to face the fact that quite a number of your miles will be done on your own this winter or in smaller groups with people who are of a similar ability to you. Find training partners who are of a similar standard to you and do as much riding with them as you can. If you do go out with others of differing standards, work on the front, or hide from the wind to help compensate.

Thursday Nights: Road Rides or Core Training

My legs ached all winter. Fantastic. Bigger hall this winter?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is what a typical winter Thursday night  holds install for someone attending training at Longwick Village Hall with VC10.

Road Rides start at 7.15pm. They normally last two hours with tea and cake awaiting you at the village hall on your return.

Greg Lewis takes the road group. The rides are in the region of 34 miles taking in some of the best roads in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire for car free cycling.

Dave Johnson runs a weekly Core Training session in the hall. These sessions are designed to work on most cyclists area of weakness core and upper body strength. Dave finishes the session with a stretching session.

All groups then enjoy a chat and a cup of tea.

Make Thursday evening the start of something exciting!!

See you there (Longwick Village Hall)