Annual Training Plan Challenge
Dear Joe and Dirk,
I have a some teammates that are really into cyclo-cross racing. Theywill finish their last 'cross race the first week of December. The firstroad race will be in mid-February!

Of course this will not be a "A" race for them. It won't be for me either.These guys typically do not race much in July, August and September sothey can transition and prepare for 'cross. How do you set up the AnnualTraining Plan when the last "A" race is on December 5th and their first Arace for road will be mid April? Do you skip the base periods or shortenall of them leading up to the first A race? It seems to me like their ATPbegins and ends in July. Where July is the time for them to do the finaltransition and prep for the new season.
Andrew

Dear Andrew,
A transition/prep beginning in mid/late summer does sound like an optionfor your friends. This seems pretty smart to take some down time so theycan have a proper build to their December A-race. But most probably donot and tend to go from road racing into cross and then back into roadracing without a proper base period. I would not suggest this route asa plateau will occur early and the athlete's full potential will not beattained in either cross or road. A full base period of about 10-14 weeksis very important to reach one's true peak.
Joe and Dirk

Which zones for base?
Dear Joe and Dirk,
I was fortunate to be able to discuss training with a well known Americanpro recently. He said that during the winter and off season he doeslot's of riding at a hear rate below 130 in order to help develop the capillarysystem for endurance. Wow, 130 for a rider of this caliber has got to beZone 1. I know there are different systems out there but I was just curiousif there is any value in riding at this pace as apposed to Zone 2? Wouldit be useful to spend time in zone 1 during prep and base 1 for road cyclists?
Robert

Dear Robert
Yes there is value in HR Zone 1 training, but mainly to improve economyon the bike only. There is not a lot of aerobic benefits to riding in Zone1. One thing to think about in this case is a professional's race scheduleand how long the actual "base" training period is? A pro who races 60+days/year most likely has a very short base period as they start racingin February. Racing, no matter who you are, means time will be spent inheart rate Zones 1-5. Pros also stop racing late in either October or November.So, in essence they do need to stick to Zone 1 only the rest of the timeto promote recovery and just spend time working on the basics of fitness.

Pros also have a lot of race volume and opportunity to develop all oftheir systems within their 60+days of racing. Pros also tend to recoverfaster than does the typical amateur so they can handle racing within theirearly base building phase. This is unlike the rest of us who have to emphasizeall systems before we can jump into our first race. In the end I tend toagree with this pros supposed comments, but you need to analyze what isbest for you.
Good luck
Joe and Dirk Friel