From goals to the calendar: how Friel builds an annual cycling plan

A useful annual plan answers a sequence of questions: where the rider intends to arrive, what he needs to change and what resources he has for it. Distribute hours without clarifying these questions can produce an organized calendar and a preparation without direction.

Friel presents six steps to build this link. The plan is a decision guide that needs to receive information throughout the season.

The six stages

First, set competitive goals, then set training goals, then estimate annual hours, prioritize competitions, distribute periods and assign weekly hours.

The order matters. The amount of training should serve the project. Start with the largest volume possible and look for a competition that justifies it reverses the reasoning.

The book recommends few main goals and intermediate objectives that indicate if the preparation is advancing. At the end of this stage, the athlete may have three to five training goals, each with a criterion and a deadline.

Competition result and training goal

“Being competitive in a time trial” still does not identify what needs to change. The training goal should point out a measurable limiter: sustain more production in the relevant duration, improve a skill or execute a strategy.

Editorial example: a cyclist seeks to improve in a competition of forty minutes. his current record shows difficulty in sustaining production in the specific position. an intermediate objective can be to compare the quality of a reference session in this position along the block.

The deadline is also part of the goal. Developing a capacity after the event does not solve the competitive need that organized the season.

Annual hours are a budget

Friel prefers time to distance to estimate volume, including bicycle, strength and complementary activities. The terrain and the environment change the distance traveled; time helps to plan the necessary availability.

Editorial calculation example: 400 hours divided by 52 weeks give approximately 7h42 per week. This is just an accounting average. It does not mean that every week will have this duration or that the choice of 400 hours is suitable for any reader.

Weeks of recovery, transition and competition change the distribution. The accomplished history provides a better basis than the sum of all the times that, in theory, could be occupied.

The cost of competitions A, B and C

Competitions A guide the main phases. Bs receive intermediate attention. Cs can be used without abandoning priority development.

Choosing many competitions B also costs. Small repeated reductions before each one can take away important part of the training. Classification needs to change the program; writing different letters next to the events without changing the preparation does not set a real priority.

How do you review when evolution doesn't appear?

The author proposes to investigate, among other possibilities, insufficient basis, unrealistic objectives and overwork in the strengths. Each hypothesis requires a different response.

If the problem is lack of resistance to sustain construction, returning to a base phase may be more consistent than intensifying again. If expectation exceeds history and resources, it may be necessary to review the goal. If the group deviates training, change is in execution.

Lost training doesn't become debt

An interruption alters the possible plan. Resetting all sessions in fewer days increases density and can compromise the work that still needs to be done.

The helpful question is what purpose needs to be preserved and what should come out for this to happen. The plan can maintain direction even when it abandons originally foreseen tasks.

The conclusion is to build verifiable goals within a realistic budget and review its relationship with the athlete's response. The calendar organizes an evolution hypothesis; the records and evaluations show if it needs to change.

Reference: FRIEL, Joe. The Cyclist’s Training Bible. 4th ed. VeloPress, 2009. Chapter 8, “The Training Year”. Pages in the PDF file: 186–204. A selective synthesis written in our own words. Examples labeled as editorial are Enduran-se’s own examples; they are not additional cases reported by the author.

Cada um no seu ritmo. Juntos no caminho.