Time to get ready for a new season of training and racing

Been a while since I had an article series here at Positive Performance Coaching and was looking over past articles to see where I could gain some inspiration. I wrote an article based on a blog post by Coach Joe Friel on writing a seasonal summary and have been thinking about it recently as my road racing season is done for the year. I need to write another seasonal summary before I start to think about my goals for the next season. It dawned on me that many of the athletes that I coach or readers that I correspond might like to understand what needs to be done to prepare for the beginning of a new season and a training plan.

In the Midwest the road-racing season is more or less over in September and many racers either start riding in charity rides or begin to train for the CX Season. I do not ride in lots of charity rides and I do not race CX instead I have chosen to Run some 5Ks, a Duathlon and some trail runs to keep some intensity going before I begin Base training in November. However I am already thinking about what I am going to need to do to get ready for next season already.

So I thought rather than having all of these thoughts rattling around in my head as to how I was going to organize all of this planning I decided to write a checklist of sorts. I am going to share the checklist with all of my athletes and readers. I am also going to cover what goes into the preparation and give you the reader an understanding of what goes into each of these tasks.

Here is what I need to be thinking about for my next season.

• Seasonal Summary
• Goals and Objectives
• Support Plans
• Mechanical Needs
• Competition Plans
• Financial Plans
• Training Plans

In the next article I will cover what goes into a seasonal summary, revisit goal setting and support plans. Until the next article take some time to think over your current year’s riding and write some notes about what you liked and didn’t like. Also take some time to think about and even list some things you want to accomplish in your next year of riding and racing. When setting goals remember performance oriented goals are better at not destroying egos over results oriented goals! Also take time to think about your current support team and how you can improve support in your cycling endeavors.

As always if all of this sounds great but your not really sure how to do this I can assist you as your coach.

Heave a great ride

Coach Rob