Training Partners

I find having a regular training partner(s) with similar goals as myself extremely helpful.  It provides everyone with motivation in our downtimes and pushes each other harder when needed.  It also forces that accountability to be at your meeting place so you don't miss that 5am ride.  It's also a bonus if your training partner has different strengths so you can push each other on your weaknesses.    Everyone is different with what works for them with a training partner, but you need to have similar goals, time schedules, attitude, ability,etc.   It's not something that you can force but when it works, it works.  It'll help you ride more consistently and for longer.  Plus you'll always have that mate to blame a flat tire on when you're partner asks you why you're home 2hrs late!

A great workout for training speed is for you and your training partner to take turns doing 5 x 2-minute pulls near lactate threshold. This is not only a hard effort for the person on the front but also makes for short recovery at a high pace for the person in the draft. The total work effort for each of you is 20 minutes. This speed-endurance workout should be done when you are relatively fresh in order to get maximum results. If you do this when fatigued you can't get the power high enough or maintain the heart rate needed to simulate a race effort.  Try to do on Tuesday after having Monday as a rest day.