In Part 2 of our lockdown athlete Q&A we talk with Cornwall based athlete Robert McPherson. Robert is part of the Saint Piran Development Team and has been working with coach Philipp Diegner during this non-competitive phase, read about his approach to training and what has kept him motivated.
Name: Robert McPherson
Age: 25
Country: Cornwall (UK)
Discipline: Road
Long term Goal: become an elite level rider.
Where have you been based during this lockdown phase and has there been any restriction which has affected your training?
Based at my mums in Cornwall, lack of a turbo until recently was a little tricky but now I’m learning how to race on Zwift which is another steep learning curve.
How have you stayed motivated & focused during this time?
Exploring new roads, on my steady roads trying to fill in as much of Cornwall’s heat map as I can.
Has there been anything new that you have incorporated into your training and routine due to restrictions which you will continue with in the future?
Going out without a route planned, Doing the occasionally stupidly long ride, occasionally doing a ride with the wahoo in a pocket not looking at numbers
What have you been focusing on in the past few months, both on and off the bike?
Increasing my 20 min power, off the bike helping with a number of team projects with Saint Piran Development
What excites you most about returning to normal routine?
Being able to pop to a shop when I have forgotten to meal prep! Having a space to stretch and do weights
How has the reliance of a coach helped you through this period?
Having Phillipp has been useful as he kept testing me which allowed me to see my progress and kept me motivated to continue seeing the progress.
Has there been any positives which you can take from the past two months which you feel has benefited you in the long term, both in sport and outside of sport?
Working from home has helped me decide to move back to Cornwall eventually. Without cycling and the beautiful countryside I would have struggled to stay sane in this tricky time.
Coaches Corner: Dig Deep Coach Philipp Diegner has worked with Robert during the winter in preparation for the race season. Here is Philipp’s 3 core areas which he focused on during the lockdown period to help Robert maintain and increase fitness and continue his passion for cycling and training.
Philipp says-
We focused on Three principals during this time
1) Focusing on aerobic development. Instead of going into a race-specific training phase, training has been more akin to a build phase going into summer. Threshold and endurance have been the key points as well as addressing individual weaknesses.
2) Allowing the athletes more freedom on the weekends. For those who want to, I have scheduled frequent ‘’race-pace“ rides. Go out and just hammer it for an hour or two. Full gas over climbs, accelerate out of corners as if you are in a race. That’s fun and provides some conditioning for unstructured efforts.
3) Zwift-Racing. Plenty of riders have finally picked up Zwift and race once or twice per week. It’s hard, its motivating and you push yourself to a point that you would not by just training, usually.
