Mid-December Winter Training Update

So I've been back on the Isle of Wight a week now, and had some great rides already.
Last Saturday I rode for the first time with the Wightlink RT boys that I hope to race with next year; they are a great group of lads, and I think it will be a fun season, hopefully with a good number of wins as well!

Throughout the week I've been for some pretty awesome rides, both on and off-road. Last Sunday I clocked up some serious climbing and some big miles on the mountain bike in a very strong South-westerly gale - that made the legs hurt a bit!

Tuesday was a long, and rather damp road bike ride, racking up another good 50 miles or so.
Then Thursday saw another mountain bike epic - with some big climbs and some fantastic views thanks to the clear skies and strong winds that were bringing some impressive surf in off the Atlantic as I rode down the South-west of the Island.

So what is winter training about for me?
Here's a typical week when I'm at home:

• Saturday - Team Road Bike Ride - 3/4hrs
• Sunday - Mountain Bike Ride - 3.5hrs
• Monday - Rest Day - Maybe a few upper body weights to stop me getting fidgety 
• Tuesday - Long Steady Road Bike Ride - 3.5hrs
• Wednesday - Power and Agility Session in Gym and 45mins of intervals on the bike
• Thursday - Long Hilly Mountain Bike Ride - 3hrs
• Friday - Sprint Intervals on the bike - 1hr max

I'm going to do some separate posts about interval session ideas and what I do in my "Power and Agility" sessions, but this is typically how a week plans out - as you can see it is mostly long, fairly easy miles to build aerobic fitness and a few interval sessions to help improve power and anaerobic performance.

Here are my month-to-date stats for December (click to enlarge)