Following a very unusual year the transition to “winter training” may be a tricky one this year from both a physical and psychological perspective. To a great extent the transition will depend on how the 2020 season turned out for you.
Were you in the camp of riders who trained more or less as normal, despite doing very little or no racing? I work with a lot of riders who enjoy training as an end in itself (yes some riders do!). They find that the structure of a training programme motivates them. Or were you in the camp of riders at the other end of the spectrum who train simply to race? With an absence of racing for much of the year you will have perhaps found it difficult to continue structured training without specific race goals. Or you may have instead taken the opportunity to just enjoy riding your bike in an unstructured way, finding new routes and trying new activities such as gravel riding or MTB.
Obviously many riders will fall in between these two positions. Some riders have embraced online racing. Time trialling has been up and running for several weeks now, including national championships, so there has been plenty of motivation both for regular TTers and some road racers who have turned to TTs as the only form of racing available. The hill climb season has also recently started and again many racers are tackling these for the first time. So the specifics of the transition to winter training will depend largely on where along this spectrum you as a rider lie.
The main task from a psychological point of view is to maintain motivation for training through the winter months. Winter is of course generally characterised by the absence of competition (unless you’re a CX rider!). If you’ve “taken it easy” during the 2020 season this might not prove to be too much of a motivational challenge. It may, however, prove to be more difficult for those of you who have not raced very much, if at all, this season but have continued structured training. The thought of another 4-5 months of structured winter training without a race goal in sight may be hard to fathom.
Normally coaching programmes will include an end of season recovery period before winter training starts. This year mental recovery will be just as important for those who have continued training. More than ever, having a break from structured training will be important psychologically to maintain freshness and motivation. This may need to be longer than usual and might involve a complete break from cycling to focus on other enjoyable activities. Adopting such an approach means that a dip in motivation due to staleness and mental fatigue is less likely during the off season.
If you backed off training you are likely to be less in need of a “mental break”. Instead the danger for you might be overtraining, as you seek to regain any perceived or actual fitness lost during 2020. It is vital to be guided by your coach if you have one and not exceed prescribed training. If you are self-coached make sure your winter training is not trying to overcompensate for missing the 2020 season. This can be a tough mental battle if you feel you aren’t quite where you should be. It may almost seem counter-intuitive, but if you relax and have faith in the rebuild process your fitness will soon return.
A further consideration to make the transition to winter training more fruitful is to remember that this is a period for psychological as well as physical training. Particularly during indoor sessions, mental skills techniques involving maintaining concentration and focus using imagery, mindfulness techniques and positive self talk as well as skills in managing pain and discomfort can be practised to add variety and purpose to winter training.
The most important thing to remember is that winter training is as much about psychological factors as about getting fit for next season! So don’t forget to spend time focusing on mental training as well as physical training.
Check back regularly for future blog posts about mental skills training.
