WHAT HAPPENS NOW?

Hopefully you’ve had a great season of events and riding your bike, felt pretty fit and have maybe even had a few results that you’re quite proud of.

But now that the 2007 series of Merida Bikes MTB Marathons Series has come to another deserved end and because it is a few months until we open the 2008 season with the ELBNO night marathon on the 12th April ’08 or/and until you might tackle your first event in the 2008 series allow your body and mind to RECOVER. This is when you need to rest and ideally have 3-4 weeks off from structured training. This is particularly important if you’ve been following last year’s training planner and have felt like you trained harder than in previous years. You don’t have to “veg out” completely, but do take it easy. A casual game of footy with the boys, a jog or a swim is about all during this time. Keeping up the same intensity of cycling that you were doing in the summer will put you at risk of over-training.

After this rest period, start some light cycling again and also cross-training for variation. Remember that this is the time to build endurance so long slow steady rides, not short intense rides are key. Although you will not be following a programme at this stage, still try to get out and exercise 3 or 4 times a week for 30-90mins at a time in order to get your head and body back into regular activity. Remember to start slowly though

We have put together another 17-week training programme to help you through the 2008 season. Have a look again at what sort of cyclist are you? as you may find that this has changed and you’re ready to push your training to the next level. Equally, if you struggled to fit in the suggested sessions in last year’s programme, whether it was injury, illness or just other commitments that got in your way, don’t set your standards too high. Far better to choose a training programme that is manageable and fun rather than a pain in the backside!

November is a good month to have a rest if you are planning on doing Round no.1 of the Merida Bikes MTB Marathons in Wales next year. With this event being in mid April, your 17-week training programme will start in December. If your first MTB-marathon of the year isn’t until later in the summer, your training programme will begin in earnest in the New Year.

Until then –
• REST 3-4 weeks
• GRADUALLY restart some light cycling and cross-training
• PLAN when you will need to start your 2008 training programme.

You may find it useful to have a read about winter-training to help get you through these colder months.
We will see you in 2008 for another great season of MTB-marathons and road sportives.