Change

Change is good. Who’d want to eat the same thing every day? Change is necessary. Just ask my girlfriend – apparently wearing the same underwear for three days is not acceptable?

This winter has seen a lot of changes for me. It’s my first winter under the guidance of Jon at TrainSharp and having day to day supervision on pretty much everything training-related is novel for me. Most people know that it’s important to change your training to develop. If you did the same thing every winter you’d improve up to a point, and then stagnate. I strive for improvements; constantly, regularly, week by week and day by day. Jon has helped me to become a lot more specific in my outlook and a lot less bloody-minded. I used to be all about annihilating myself in training. I thought if I couldn’t turn the pedals, stop coughing or see properly at the end of the session then I’d nailed it.

However I’ve learnt that it’s always about tomorrow. Planning is key to making sure that you can recover quickly enough to train properly the next day, and the next day, and the next day. Training with power (correctly) has helped me to hold back when necessary. There are so many people out there with power meters who have no idea how to use them. What a waste of money! Talk to someone who knows what they’re doing, otherwise the numbers on the screen are just that – numbers.

Jon has me doing precise zone training, which admittedly involves a bit of screen staring, but it means that I know exactly what I’m achieving every session. No more ‘go until you blow’ malarkey!

He’s also changed my position on the bike fairly radically. My saddle has gone up 35mm! And my bars have also come up even more to reduce chronic back pain and increase power output. The old-school train of thought that says your bars should be as low as physically possible is outdated. I have immediately noticed an increase in power averages over long rides and find that my sprinting is more fluid with a higher front end. I can’t wait for the season to start!