Joe Friel Mountain Bike Training Bible

In my quest to train smarter and harder, I picked up this book.  Just about every chapter pointed out something I did wrong this past season when it came to my training. 

First big error was overtraining.  This is easily the biggest error most people make.  Not enough RR days. 

Second biggest mistake was lack of structure.  I would just get on my mountain bike and ride as fast as I could every time.  Instead, I should have done exercises that focused on speed, power, force, anaerobic endurance, muscular endurance and overall endurance. 

Now that I know my two biggest errors, here is some other things I learned:  Break training into periods so you know what exercises to do and when.  Learn to use a HRM.  Testing for LT Threshold.  Etc. 

This book also had great info on what to do the week before a race, race day and after the race.  Warm up techniques and cool down techniques.  Just about everything you need to know.

This book has re-energized my enthusiasm for the 2007 season and it's only November.  Technically I'm suppose to be in my 'transitional' period, which means you pretty much stay off the bike for awhile. I look forward to developing my new training plan.