My blood will paint the way to the future ...

Well, maybe not blood as much as sweat. Sweat and tears.

This week is the first week of the new Annual Training Plan (ATP), and it started with a good weight workout and zone 1-2 spin at the gym. The current phase of weights is the Muscle Strength, so lots of weight, small number of reps, lots of sets.

The ATP that I have is a straight progressive periodization plan, with progressive increases in training hours and Training Stress Score (TSS) during each successive week and during each successive phase (with built-in recovery and rest), until the Race week where the TSS and hours trained slides well down to allow for a final recovery before racing.

Before I get too deep into the nitty gritty (which probably should be a separate post anyway), I'd like to take a moment to examine my goals and training objectives for the 2012 cycling road racing season.

First, the goals:

• Lose weight; I'd like my specific weight by the end of the year to be around about 165 pounds (down about 55 more pounds), with a "wouldn't it be wonderful if ..." weight of about 150 pounds, which represents an additional 70 pounds lost.
• Start ten to twelve mass-start races in the current season, which will be enough to upgrade to Cat 4 for next season.
• Improve same-kind race metrics over the course of the season (i.e., TT speeds late in season should be higher mile-over-mile with similar HR/power output vs. earlier in season; crit speeds should be higher, etc.)

Second, the training objectives:

• Be able to finish my Pistol Hill training ride in about 90 minutes without pushing my HR into the 5a or higher HR zones.
• Raise LTHR by 3-5 BPM (or alternately increase power output at the same LTHR by 20-30 watts as measured on the power meter in the spinners at the gym, with a preferable wattage of 210-220 for 30 minutes at LTHR on those machines).
• Stay within about 10% of the TSS and total training volume in 90% of the weeks during the season.

Third, the pie-in-the-sky dreams:

• Win my age/cat in at least one race
• Place in the prize pool for at least 3 races
• Signup for and finish the 109-mile el Tour de Tucson in less than 5 hours, or the 94-mile Cochise County in less than 4 hours 15 minutes (thus qualifying for Platinum status for the 2013 el Tour de Tucson).
• Place in the prize pool for the Tucson Bicycle Classic

Oh, and I know everyone wants to hear about New Year's Resolutions and such. I don't do NY resolutions. I believe 100% that if you recognize that you want to change something, or do or be something different, you should get to that right away. I didn't wait for New Year's to start cycling or training or losing weight, I started it the moment it started to bother me. But if you must, consider the above my resolutions :)