For those who don’t know Joe Friel is one of the most knowledgeable and helpful endurance coaches out there. If you are serious about your training you may well have read some of his work or used some of his techniques. Click on his name above if you want to jump to his blog. Anyway, he has just re-written his very famous work – the Cyclists Training Bible – which is now in 5th Edition. Cycling is a sport where lots of people will spend hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds on the quest for “free” speed. This book currently retails for around fifteen quid on Amazon and it may well be the best fifteen quid you spend this year, especially if you are a relative newcomer to training and racing, and you are unsure how to approach a winter of structured training. The book is split into the following sections
- Mind and Body
- Mental Performance
- Physical Performance
- Training Fundamentals
- Basic Training Concepts
- Training Intensity
- Purposeful Training
- Getting Started
- Preparing to Race
- Planning Your Season
- Planning Overview
- Planning a Week
- Planning Alternatives
- Stress and Recovery
- Training Stress
- Fatigue, Recovery and Adaptation
- The Competitive Edge
- Muscular Force Training
- Tapering to Race
- The Training Diary
As you can see it is a comprehensive training manual that will guide you through the process of planning and executing whatever training you intend to do over the off-season. I think it is a book that I will return to over and over again as it is full of useful information. I’ve already read Fast after Fifty by Joe and this is equally as good.
