This month has been a very quiet one on both the training and racing front.
I am now back into my winter training and have had a solid four weeks. A question I am often asked is, “What does a regular week’s training look like?” so I thought in this blog I could describe a week for you.
In the second half of the blog I thought I could also highlight two of my sponsors, they have been super kind to me over the last few years and hopefully they continue to be so!
A typical training week:
Monday: This is always a rest day, and I try and make sure that I do rest. Throughout the day I aim to hydrate well and try and get to bed at about 9 pm. Often Monday is also a night for getting homework done and getting ahead of the game for the week ahead.
Tuesday: A typical Tuesday will see me doing a 2 to 2 ½ hour ride. This could be standing starts with 8 x 20 second starts in the hardest gear or maybe TT efforts. 5 minutes on and 5 minutes off, five or six times. This would be high zone 4 for the 5 minutes on. It’s pretty hard.
Wednesday: Wednesday nights are usually club track sessions, they could include some 3k efforts, 1k efforts or some bunch racing. Most of all it’s about track time and remaining familiar with the boards. If it is not track, then I may have 2 hours of base miles. Just riding my bike, often with my Dad and Brother.
Thursday: Thursday nights are invariably on the Turbo. I have an indoor set up at home and often put the Time Trial bike onto the Turbo trainer. I use Zwift, the online Virtual world and put my training onto this. I turn the ERG (the assistance) off and do a my session. An example would be: 15 mins @ high zone 3 (320-350w) – 5 Mins Recovery (Repeat 3x). My coach suggests that “Even if this is hurting or you drop below the power, keep the effort going for whole duration of effort”. This is working on my Time Trialling efforts; they are hot and they are hard!
Friday: Thankfully a rest day. Where possible I take the chance to go out for a meal with my Girlfriend or just have a chill evening at home with family and a film.
Saturday: This would be a race day in season, out of season generally it is a 2 to 3 hour base ride or strength session. The last one I did was staying over 300 watts for 1 ½ hours out of 2 hours.
Sunday: This is a long ride and generally base miles. 4 to 5 hours and trying to stay in Zone 2. I have to focus on eating and drinking in these rides. Drinking is particularly hard when it is colder so a reminder on my bike computer really helps.
Generally the weeks are 10 to 15 hours on the bike, which I need to fit in around 4 A–Levels, my family and my girlfriend. A pretty busy life! Genuinely I enjoy racing much more than training but I know that if I don’t train, I will not be competitive when racing, so training is a must.
Recently I have also been able to have strength and conditioning coach. This is proving to be excellent. These strength exercise can be done before a session or on their own, depending on my availability. The aim is to develop my core strength but also to ensure that I am getting as much power out of my muscles as possible. Examples of these exercises are: Glute bridge isometric – 6x20s, Single leg squat isometric – 4x12s each side. I also try and film some of these so my S&C coach can give me feedback on how to improve the quality of my movement.
A quick thank you here must go to both my coaches, they are super responsive and make a massive difference. So thank you!
Now on to my sponsors. Firstly, my bike sponsor: Highways Cycles began life in the 1970’s when they built their first cycle shop on the Enfield Highway. They are now based in Hertford and recently opened a shop in Bishop’s Stortford. Over the last few years they have improved their shops and focused on E-Bikes that have been selling exceptionally well.
It is true to say that they, ‘believe in the traditional values of excellent service and good quality products … offering the highest level of professional service, combining expertise with enthusiasm”. I can certainly echo this and remain massively impressed.
I was fortunate enough to spend time with the owner, who had a background in racing cars and when we talked about racing we hit it off straightway, racing is racing. The team at Highway have been amazing, not only getting me an absolutely superb Trek Emonda SL7 but also making sure it is regularly serviced and looked after. Thank you!
The team are not just a bike shop, they genuinely care about getting people out on bikes and living a healthy lifestyle. They support many initiatives in the local area, like helping people learn to ride, or come back to bikes and also see bikes as a real alternative to cars. The future of transport!
Highway Cycles run its own blog and this can be found at https://blog.highwaycycles.co.uk. It also contains its most recent post on yours truly!
Secondly, my general sponsor: MARS Matts Auto Repair Services. Matt is the owner of a garage in Bishop’s Stortford. A number of years ago he went to the same school as me and my Dad taught him PE, thankfully he liked PE and he liked Mr Gilbank. He is a massive sports fan with Football and Fishing being high on his list. For a number of years Matt has supported local football teams and he put out a message saying he was looking to offer sponsorship to local athletes and teams. So I put together a letter and went down to see Matt. We use his garage for our vehicles, so with the miles we put on the van we see him quite often! Matt agreed to sponsor me and it has been fantastic! His support has seen me being able to train in Mallorca and also be able to get new kit to race in. This is invaluable and is massively appreciated.
Should you want to know more you can follow the sponsor link on my website at https://gilbankracing.com/meet-the-sponsors/
Gilbank Racing 