Build the FoundationTrain Smarter, Not Harder

The most important thing I have learned about training is to actually listen to the body. Not what the program says, but how the legs feel when I start the warm-up.

Good shape feels a certain way, and bad shape feels a certain way, and after enough years you learn to tell them apart. Choosing the right session for what the body is doing today, instead of forcing the one on the calendar, is what gets you forward.

A good program also has to fit your life. If it falls apart when work gets busy, it is the wrong program. It needs to be flexible, but still smart enough that you actually get fitter.

The last few months I have done one hard interval session a week and the rest in zone 2. I have not felt this good in years.

What I love most about cycling is exploring, and using the body. Beautiful scenery, long climbs, ideally in the mountains. A good climate and a fine summer day go a long way.

I found endurance sport early, and the bike has been a fixed part of life ever since — some periods with races, some without, but the joy has always been there.

Now with family and everything that comes with it, it matters even more that the training brings joy and fits a flexible life. I don't do sessions I don't enjoy, but I want to know that what I do actually has an effect. Two interval sessions a week, zone 2 the rest of the time, and light strength work. Short intervals I like — not the long, boring 3×20s way too hard, with the legs screaming. Most of the training should actually feel good — and when you have the energy, even the hard sessions aren't that bad. The public health recommendation of 30 minutes of daily activity is good, but maybe a touch low. A bit of structure, a bit of activity and a bit of progress doesn't hurt anyone.