The “secret” to making your self stronger is to systematically overload your system.  There are many ways to go about this overload, and not every way works for everybody.  I have found out for myself, through lot’s of trial and error, that if I emphasize big work blocks and follow the blocks with lot’s of recovery, then I have the greatest positive response.  This pattern allows me to train hard 2 times per week, and then use the rest of the time for recovery.  As of 12:15 today I entered a recovery period.  This was preceded by a large block of training that included:

• @ 8:30 P.M. I started a 2:00 indoor ride with tempo and threshold efforts.  These efforts were ~45:00 in total.
• @ 10:45 P.M. I started an intensive resistance training session for the lower body
• @ 10:00 A.M. the following morning I started what would be a 2:15 endurance pace roll on the fat bike

The full nights sleep between the lifting and the endurance roll allowed for a partial recovery, but nowhere near a full recovery.  To then get back on the bike was hard on the legs, but I know this type of overload effort has proven itself to be effective in stimulating my system to respond.  Do you know what works for you?

-Jason