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This is an excellent time of year to consider what you would like to accomplish
athletically in the upcoming New Year. As with many things, planning is
the key to accomplishment for your race season.
If you are a recreational athlete and your goal is simply to complete your
events, then you only need to train one aspect of fitness; endurance.
This entails planning enough time to slowly build your mileage to within about
10-15% of the distance of your goal race. Note that many overuse injuries
are caused by too much mileage too quickly. Do not increase your duration
more than 10% per week and take at least every fourth week as a rest and
recovery week. During a rest and recovery week, you should cut back your
mileage by at least 25%, reduce your overall training volume, and add in an
extra rest or active recovery day. If you are a runner, take a day of
non-impact cross-training in place of a run.
Competitive athletes, however, must take a different approach. A
competitive athlete, by my definition, is any athlete who sets a specific
performance goal. This may be as simple as a personal record. You
do not have to win races to be competitive. If you would like to set a
personal record or race placement goal this season, it will require more
careful planning and organization of your race events. Start by
prioritizing races into A, B, and C events.
Your "A" events are the ones you will direct your training efforts
towards. For best results, all of your A events should be similar or of
the same format (ex. sprint triathlon). These are your main goals for the
season and your training should gradually progress towards these races or
events. Put these on your calendar first. Note that A races take
time to train for. Plan on spending at least 12 weeks of specific and
directed training for an A race; this is called "peaking."
Schedule your A races in 4 week clusters or separate them by at least 10-12
weeks. Your training should ramp up in intensity and specificity as you
approach your A races. Your last workouts prior to your A race taper
should closely mimic race intensity and format.
What is a “taper?” Tapering means reducing training volume
prior to a goal race in order to facilitate total and complete recovery.
You should incorporate a taper a week or two prior to A race(s). The
length of the taper will depend on the length of your event; the longer the
event the longer the taper length. From a training stand point there is
nothing you can do the week of a goal race to physiologically increase
performance but there are many opportunities to reduce it. After
completing an A race plan on taking a week of active rest and recovery.
“B” events are training events you would like to do well at, but are
not goal races. B events are excellent warm ups for A events. They
are an opportunity to test and hone your race skills without the pressure of an
A event. B events do not have to be the same format as an A event, but
should help contribute to your A race performance. You still want to give
100% for a B event. An example would be a 10k running event prior to an
Olympic distance triathlon. You should rest or reduce your training load
a few days before a B event but do not taper as you would for an A event.
“C” events are fun events you enjoy doing, but are not goal
related. These are good events to leave the heart rate monitor at home
for. You do not have to push yourself physically during these events or
have any performance objectives. I like my athletes to schedule C events
during their base training to keep their enthusiasm up. C events can be
completely different from your A events. If you are a runner, you could
do 50-mile cycling event for charity. C events keep you active and
interested in training.
A good place to start is with a 12-month planning calendar. Put your A
races on first and proceed on to B and C events. It is important to not
schedule C events close to your goal events. This time is reserved for
more specific and directed training. Not only does prioritizing your
races help with your training, it also helps identify what you would like to
accomplish as an athlete. Don't let your races sneak up on you!
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