Before reading this it’s worth noting that I am not a lifestyle coach. I’m not qualified in any way to coach anyone in lifestyle. This Part 1 on goal setting is to provide context, or a “why”, for how I set my own performance goals in cycling. Over the years I’ve shared this idea with maybe 20-40% of the clients I coach one-to-one. Some people have very clear ideas about their own life and how it should operate and they tell me how cycling, running, sport, health and fitness fits within their framework. Those people should skip straight to PART 2 (coming soon) Others seek guidance, ask for my opinion, or are curious to know how my personal framework is constructed. This is offered in that context but many people will not need to read this PART 1 blog on goal setting.

Part 4: Food for Thought.

In 1687 Sir Issac Newton published his book Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica and in it were his three laws of motion. The second law as he defined it stated: that the net force acting on an object is equal to the product of its mass and acceleration, or F = ma. This law can be used to explain how an object's motion changes when an unbalanced force acts on it. When it comes to cycling these days there is a great deal of focus on that force, or as many of us have come to know it “power”. The formula for power is Force x Angular Velocity = Power and in actual fact our power meter doesn’t “measure” power, rather it measures Force and Angular Velocity and then multiplies one by the other. In cycling however power, or the force we act out against an object, is not the entire story when it comes to the control we have over this particular law or equation. We also have control over the Mass upon which the force is going to be applied, and in many cases in today’s endurance environment it is manipulation of the amount of this mass that offers the greatest radical improvement in performance for the majority of participants in a mass start race like the Marji Gesick.

Part 3: Moving, Stopping and free speed (AKA pacing part 2)

In the early 2000s long distance mountain biking started to boom in my country. Races were well attended, attracted massive fields, and the prize purses were quite frankly ridiculous. A good 24 hour racer could win more prize money in one race than he’d previously won in a season. I entered my first 12 hour in 2003 and to my surprise I won the race against some of the already established names in the game. I went into 2004, and the biggest 24 hour in Europe expecting good things but came out somewhat dejected with 5th position and with an empty wallet. Racers I’d beat in the 12 hour a year previous had finished miles ahead just a year later in the longer race. In 2005 I went back to Mountain Mayhem and again came home empty handed, this time finishing in 8th, but had made a powerful discovery and just 3 months later I put that discovery to work. I won my age group at the 24 hour World Championships, finished top age grouper, and 11th overall amongst the top ultra mountain bike pro riders of the day. My fitness had not changed but I had discovered something that elevated me from also-ran to top of the box. That discovery gave me the most golden years of my racing career, and later when I began to focus on coaching helped a lot of my athletes elevate their times without having to train harder or longer.

PART 1 can be found HERE if you missed it. This blog is part 2 of a 4 part series...

2. Pacing

So we have the baseline endurance ability in place. Now we have to take the first step to make this baseline ability work ON THE DAY. If I have trained properly for endurance the majority of my training will have been aerobic, because endurance is aerobic and the majority of endurance training is aerobic in nature. What this means in practice that I do the majority of my training in zones 1 and 2, with a nicely balanced proportion in zones 3 and 4, a smattering of Zone 5 and the anaerobic portion is probably a low percentage of the overall. In truth it may change for each individual and the other races or goals they have throughout the year, but for the sake of simplicity I'll focus on the Marji being the core objective. This is the detail of a plan, it takes place before the race, but on race day it does inform us as to how we should ride an endurance race: in an endurance style. Here is my race file with a heart rate zones overlay: