Sportstest #2 - The Reckoning

Alan chose the idea (to ride the Maratona) and I created the route of how we were going to get to the end goal of getting all the team to finish line of the Maratona without any major dramas during the race. Based on my previous training experience for the Etape I arranged for Dr Garry Palmer of Sportstest to assess our current condition and create tailored training programmes for us. Part of this process included a follow-up test with Garry to assess our progress. That time is now here - Alan, Simon and I will be tested this week with the other team members to follow later in the month.
I feel for me that this an opportunity to vindicate my training methods, but you can already see the results of the training programme for Alan, Simon and Gavin even without testing them. Simon has covered significantly more mileage than he has ever done before, and more comfortably. Alan has done rides over 40 miles, a huge achievement from his starting point in October. Gavin is showing signs of his previous impressive form. The impending Sportstest should show improvements in aerobic economy, increase in power at endurance pace, improvements in mechanical efficiency and reduction in body fat/weight (therefore an increase in power to weight ratio). This will give them an foundation for the next phase of training - Threshold, this phase is to increase power and improve economy near to lactate threshold which will improve their climbing ability (a vital part of the preparation for a mountainous race such as the Maratona).
You'll notice that I've only referred to three of the team members so far. This is the part where the blog starts it's controversy in earnest. One team member is struggling to find the time and self-belief to stick to his training programme but with some support is starting to turn it around, hopefully you'll hear his story first hand when he gets round to signing up for the blog. Which brings me onto the final member of the team - Nick. You've read his posts which vividly portray his disillusionment with his training programme, as I mentioned above this training method was my idea so I'm left asking myself whether I've failed Nick, should I have suggested a training method that would suit his preference to ride hard during most of training?
If I had the ability to turn back time would I have changed my suggestion based on Nick experiences since starting the training programme? The answer is no, I've read several training books and magazine articles and they all share the same fundamental approach - periodisation. Periodisation is a training approach that focuses on differing aspects of fitness dependent on the time year in relation to a target race date or the start of a race season. Winter is the best time to focus on base and endurance fitness as this is off-season and the road conditions don't lend themselves to giving it the 'beans'. As the target race gets closer it is time to increase the training intensity to ensure that you arrive at the target event at your peak and not burnt out from training on the limit all year round. There are exceptions to this rule - Eddy Merckx being one, he believed that the only thing better than lots of training miles was even more training miles. Going slow to go faster may seem counter-intuitive but it's all about managing fitness, form and fatigue and arriving at your target event with your best fitness and form with as little fatigue as possible.
Keep your eyes peeled for the results of the Sportstest this week, personally I'll be happy with an improvement in my endurance economy and my mechanical efficiency at endurance pace which means I'll be able to sustain a faster speed for longer. My average speed during my first Sportives was 16-17mph for 60 miles before I started following a structured training programme in 2010, last year I did the 200km Dragon Ride at an average of 18.5mph.