But ummm... on second thought, six hours is not exactly nothing.
IN fact, six hours is sort of kind of .... a lot.
I rarely ride six hours a week on the bike unless I am training for something long like a half or full Ironman. Carmichael is not addressing his book to triathletes, though. He is talking to bike people, and in that context six hours isn't much, I suppose. If you are only biking and maybe doing a few plyometric exercises, six hours might actually be downright doable.
For that reason alone I would recommend this book to "the time-crunched cyclist". I would also recommend it to the time-crunched triathlete, and also the non-time-crunched cyclist or triathlete who is interested in whether he/she could actually get away with doing a lot less than he/she is currently doing. (Yep. That would be me.)
The book is well-written. The prosy parts flow, and the more conceptual parts are presented simply, articulately and without pretention. I can slog my way through just about anything if I think there might be a granule of worthiness buried within its pages. I didn't have to with this one. I read it from first page to last and I found it refreshingly enjoyable to read. It was also a relatively quick read, which I thought fitting since the book IS addressing an audience of time-crunched folks and all.
But on to what the book actually had to say.
It said this:
If you want to be really fast and fit and powerful on the bike you only need to spend six hours a week on it.
Then he tells you how to achieve this.
Here's how.
Intervals just below threshold and intervals just above threshold. Lots of 'em--and not much else.
Carmichael makes it clear that this type of fit and fast and powerful is a only a superficial layer of fit and fast and powerful. It's like a nice coat of shellac atop an otherwise lusterless pet rock. (Okay... maybe you didn't make pet rocks with your kids this week. Shellac is so cool. I love shellac.) Okay then... His program works much like a toupee, or a heavily padded bra, or a spritz of perfume when you really need a shower. It gets the job done on a superficial level, but dig deeper and you come up hairless, or flat, or smelly. Are any of these comparisons working for you? I didn't think so. Oh well.
Stated differently:
Apparently you can go through a season using his program and actually do very very well, but the program is not something you can do over and over again and get the same initial, WOW--look what I did on six hours a week effect you did the first time through. I'm not sure exactly why this is true. I think it may be like drug use. The initial hits are pretty potent, but after awhile your body is like, whatever. Give me more or I won't give you want you want. I need that bike floating through my veins, Man. (That is a bizarre image.)
At core, Carmichael is still of the more is more and more is better and more means you are more fit and fast camp. But if you have no time, like basically everyone in the free world who has a job, a family, or a really time-consuming internet life that needs to be tended to pretty much 24/7--or all three--there are short-cuts to winning that cat 5 crit, and these short-cuts can work if you execute them just so.
I really appreciated Carmichael's section on using a power meter. I've digested quite a few books on using the data a power meter provides, and this was the most straight-forward, easy-to-understand rendition of the basic concepts I have read.. He also has sections on maximizing what you've got when racing (there are a few good tips in there), a section on nutrition, a section in which he describes a few essential strength/plyometric exercises to do (even if you are time-crunched) and a section on how to incorporate more endurance miles into the program if you suddenly find yourself with time on your hands--which would likely not happen, of course, unless you got laid off or divorced or something of that nature. But those things happen, so you never know, right?
I am not time-crunched. After struggling through a mid-life crisis of Herculean proportions, I rebuilt my life so that I have the time to do the workouts and the races I want to do. Hence, I can do things the "right" way, which is to say I make sure I log my fair share of endurance miles.However, Carmichael's program has me intrigued. What about the triathlete who has a great base because of years of endurance work, but who needs to shake things up because of boredom? Or the girl who has just finished an IM , but still wants to race well and fast for the rest of the season? Could one apply this program to that situation? No more hugely long rides for a bit--just intervals balanced with significant rest for six weeks?
The program's application in this light got me completely fired up. Instead of the Time-Crunched Cyclist, the title could be The Burnt-Out Endurance Cyclist: How to Add Zip to your Endurance Diet (even if it is for only six-eight weeks).
Carmichael comes across in this book as a wise, measured and experienced coach. He made me trust him. That's saying something since I had previously believed he is a money-making tycoon who is out to exploit his coaching relationship with Lance to sell books. He still may be just that, but he is also a good writer (assuming he wrote the book and not a ghost writer) and a clear thinker. I dig clear-thinking writers. So he's in. You should read this one. I give it very high marks.
