Today is the first day of November and
I'm officially starting to work my way back into training. Naturally
you might assume that means that I'm building my mileage back up and
getting ready to do lots of aerobic work and put in some foundational
miles. Surprise! I plan on doing no such thing this winter. The next
four or so months I'll be focused on technique work and low mileage
with a lot of speed. This probably seems counter-intuitive, especially
if you're used to the standard periodization model that most coaches
and online programs prescribe. But I think most people are making a
big mistake spending their off-season slogging through lots of
mileage. So I've cobbled together this semi-rambling, pseudo-coaching
slash training philosophy post to give you some food for thought.
Caveat #1: Taking an extended break
after your season is a good thing.
How long did you take off after your
last season? A couple days? Maybe two weeks of light training? I've
never taken more than two weeks of training lightly after a season
before starting to get back into the groove. This year, because of
travelling, I took an entire month completely off from training. I
didn't run a mile, swim a yard or pedal a bike for over 4 weeks.
Initially I was nervous about it, after all I just spent the last
year working to get faster, I didn't want to sacrifice all that work
just so I could have some fun (I literally held this mindset and
realizing I did was a good wake-up call to relax a little...). Then I
recently read this article from The Wall Street Journal about Bernard
Lagat: 'The Secret to Running: Not Running'
You should read the article. But if you
don't have time here's a synopsis: Bernard Lagat is one of the
fastest mile/5k runners ever. He has run a 3:47 mile and a 12:53
5,000 meters. He also takes 4 weeks completely off after every season
during which time he purposely puts on weight and doesn't run a step.
Being naïve about foreign training
regimens, I commented on the “peculiarity” of Lagat's post
season routine to fellow Gear West employee Sean Mulheron (peculiar
in quotations because it's not actually peculiar). Sean quickly
corrected me. Sean rubbed elbows with a few Kenyans during his days
as a distance runner at Iowa State, a school notorious for importing
fast Kenyans, and this extended rest is the norm for them.
So what's secret here? Well in Lagat's
case I think the need for long rest has a lot to do with being a
runner, as distance running just tears on your body. For triathletes
however I think a long period of complete rest can be just as
important to relax. Triathlon is a very time intensive sport and many
of us spend every waking minute trying to squeeze in training
sessions into the time we have. If you've ever ended a season happy
to just be done with training, you know what I mean.
As for me, I've never felt so good
starting back into training as I do this year, thank God for forced
downtime.
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| Downtime on the Mediterranean Was Gorgeous |
Caveat #2: Technique Trumps Strength
If you don't come from a swimming
background, like me, and you've ever gone to the pool and watched an
out of shape swimmer jump in the water and cruise up and down the
lane faster than you can swim with a smile on their face, you may
have been frustrated. How does he, or even worse she!, do it? Of
course it's just superior technique.
The problem with working on your
technique is that because you are trying to introduce new movement
patterns that are unfamiliar you may actually slow down
before getting faster. I'll leave the science of it up to exercise
physiologists, but in a nutshell muscle memory or motor learning is
how someone moves from unable to play a chord on the piano to playing
Fur Elise without having to consciously think about the fingering. So
if you try to improve your technique in a sport, say by keeping your
elbow high during your pull instead of allowing it to drop, you are
forcing your muscles to move in a new, non-memorized pattern. As a
result, you feel choppy and awkward and slow. This can be unsettling
for us Type-A triathletes. The LAST thing I want to do is take a step
backward and get slower. But like eating broccoli, improving
technique is good for you in the long run.
The easiest way to
deal with this problem? Focus on technique in the off-season when you
don't need to worry about being fast for an upcoming race. Disregard
time and distance when working on technique so that you can focus on
the changes you're making. After committing the new patterns to
memory you'll be swimming/biking/running easy just like that out of
shape veteran I was so envious of.
Some
Good Sites I've Found:
Bicycling Magazine: The Perfect Pedal Stroke
Gary Hall's The Race Club
Caveat #3: Speed
Work Makes You Fast
I think this can be
taken for granted: Speed work makes you fast. I suppose you could
argue that a sufficient amount of slow aerobic training would provide
the engine needed to go fast, but it seems like you're just arguing
for the fun of it, which is a jerk move. But speed work is a double
edged sword. Doing speed work will make you faster, but done
incorrectly you're almost guaranteed to get injured.
During the season
speed work is difficult to get right because of fatigue from mileage.
Looking back at the conventional periodization model, you're supposed
to focus on speed work in the final phase of your training year when
you cut back on mileage, that way you are rested and fast for your
big race. The problem I see with this is that speed work is very
destructive. As a result, even though I might be tapering by
decreasing mileage, my training workload maintains or increases
because I introduce speed work. Instead of recovering and getting
sharp, I carry my overall fatigue into championship season or
possibly get injured just before the big race. How many times have
you or someone you've known had to make big concessions in their
training just before their “A” race of the year because a nagging
injury blew up into a full blown disaster?
My mileage will
already be low during any days of the week that I work on technique.
To take advantage of this low workload I'll throw in some speed work
two or so times a week. Speedwork has also been shown to improve
economy better than any other workout, as well as acting as a type of
strength work.
So for me, training
this winter will buck the trend, go against the grain, fly in the
face of common sense and other such heroic sounding idioms.
My goal for this
winter isn't to build a foundation for next season. My goal is to
fully recover from last season (already done), and use consistently
low, low mileage to improve technique and get back a little of my
college days speed. Hopefully once spring rolls around I'll be ready
to transfer both into some reasonable mileage. At the end of the day
I might not be as strong as I could, but I'm betting that better
miles per gallon technique and some cayenne pepper of speed makes up
the difference.
But will it work?
I'll tell you next September.
Additional
Off-Season Strategies:
Grow a beard for
Samson-like strength.
Harnass the power
of positive aka wishful thinking.
Bench press and
bicep curls for increased start line intimidation.
Destitution:
“Nothing hones your mind and your instincts like necessity” -
Reese Bobby.
