Project: To mountain bike for Team GB

Luke Peyton, Project Management Apprentice at BAE Systems, races cross-country mountain bikes and represented Britain at the Mountain Bike Marathon World Championships.

Following a strong 2021 season, I was given an Elite mountain biking race licence by British Cycling. This meant that I would be racing in the hardest category in cross‑country (XC) mountain biking in 2022. The step up from second‑tier racing is huge and I concluded that managing my training like a project would give me the best chance of being competitive.

XC mountain biking emphasises both climbing and descending across a wide variety of terrain. The races are mass‑start events with riders completing a set number of laps of a technical and often hilly circuit. XC Olympic (XCO) races take place on a relatively short and technically demanding course, with races typically consisting of 7.5km laps and taking around 1hr 45min to complete. XC marathon races are much longer, at around 100km and five hours in duration. They also take place on a longer and less technically demanding course.

Many techniques are similar to project controls

When I started looking into writing my own training plan, I felt overwhelmed, but the more I understood about the core theory and training principles, the more similarities I started to see with project management – specifically, the techniques for planning, monitoring and controlling training.

Before planning anything, I had to establish which training tools I was going to use. The first was a power meter, which measures the power output of a rider and allows for training rides to be precisely focused to meet pre‑planned power targets designed to maximise training benefit. I also used a heart rate monitor to better understand my body’s response to the training, as well as a Garmin head unit to display this data on my handlebars. Finally, I used coaching software to plan and monitor my training – I chose to use Today’s Plan.

Choosing the right metrics

When using training software there are a few key metrics that are crucial to understand as they form the basis of training scheduling and monitoring. The first and most important of these is Training Stress Score (TSS). TSS uses power meter data to precisely calculate and forecast the training stress of a ride by accounting for both duration and intensity. It is a bit like how earned value is used to measure the actual value of the work performed against the budgeted value of the work scheduled. For instance, it is difficult to objectively measure the training stress of a five‑hour endurance ride just based on how it felt. Therefore, you can instead use the TSS from a ride to accurately measure the actual training impact of a ride. TSS forms the basis of three aggregate training metrics:

• Chronic training load (CTL): A measure of your average daily TSS score over a long period of time. This shows your long‑term training load/fitness level.
• Acute training load (ATL): A measure of your average daily TSS score over a short period of time. This shows your current short‑term training load.
• Training stress balance (TSB): This compares your CTL to your ATL to give a freshness score. A negative number shows that you are gaining fitness, while a positive number shows that you are well recovered and will likely lose fitness if you maintain this training load in the long term.

Planning the work and working the plan

As with any project, I first had to set objectives before writing my training schedule. The first of these was my endurance and overall fitness, which I would develop through lots of long, low‑intensity rides. However, training at high intensities does have its place for developing specific adaptations for racing. The three objectives I targeted through high‑intensity training were:

• Aerobic threshold power: This is the maximal amount of power that is sustainable for an extended period before lactate production begins to exceed the rate of lactate clearance. I would target this through 20‑minute intervals at threshold power.
• V02 Max Power: This is the highest rate of power at which oxygen can be taken up, delivered to and utilised by the muscles. I targeted this through maximal four‑minute V02 Max efforts.
• Microburst repeatability: This is the ability to repeatedly go above threshold and recover quickly. I targeted this through blocks of 15 30‑second on/off intervals.

With these objectives in mind, I set about populating my schedule with training activities. I wrote my schedule using four‑week blocks, with three weeks of focused training followed by a week’s recovery.

Benefits realisation

I then set to work completing all of the training activities. With the first race of the season in March, this meant training 15 to 20 hours a week through the winter. Aside from when it’s cold, dark and raining, I love spending time training on the bike both solo and with friends. I appreciate the downtime it gives me in the evenings when it’s just me, the bike and the peaceful rolling hills of the Chilterns.

Come March, all my numbers suggested that I was in great form and substantially fitter than the year before. However, would the successful completion of my schedule result in the benefits being realised? For the first round of the National XCO series, I was gridded 31st and last. “Oh well, at least the only way is up,” I thought. After navigating a chaotic start, I settled into a good race pace and started picking up places. I eventually came home 17th, which I was really pleased with for my first attempt at an Elite national event. It set a precedent for the rest of the year as I managed to pick up a top 20 finish at every round of the national series.

Towards the end of the season, I took part in the National Marathon XC Championships and managed to surprise myself by finishing 11th. This resulted in me being offered a place on the British team at the World Marathon XC Championships in Denmark. It is something I never thought was possible, let alone while working a full‑time job. Thankfully, BAE Systems kindly granted me special leave straight away. I think it is fair to say I felt a bit out of my depth racing in national colours among a world‑class field, but I managed a respectable 102nd out of 144 starters. With this year’s World Championships taking place in Scotland, I am training hard again to try and qualify for them. I would love to be a part of it.

 

Discover more project management articles in THE SPRING 2023 ISSUE OF PROJECT JOURNAL, FREE FOR APM MEMBERS.