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It\u2019s that time of year.\u00a0 Another season has come to an end.\u00a0 You\u2019re taking a brief hiatus from structured training and soon, your thoughts will inevitably turn to base training \u2013 those long slow miles that lay the foundation upon which next year\u2019s training will be built.<\/p>\n
What if I said there might be a better way?<\/p>\n
The conventional wisdom says base training builds a base level of fitness that will allow you to perform the necessary training later in the build and peak phases\u00a0so that you may have optimal race performance.\u00a0 Customarily, the base phase consists of high volume at a relatively low intensity that is designed to force physiological adaptations that increase your aerobic capacity.\u00a0 Then, as you move through the season, you move into the build and peak phases where you add intensity and speed work.<\/p>\n
I have a couple of problems with that line of thinking.<\/p>\n
Established fitness<\/u><\/strong> \u2013 experienced long course triathletes have a base level of fitness and have likely already acclimated to a maximum training volume because they don\u2019t have additional hours available<\/em>.\u00a0 Many of those athletes have family and career commitments in addition to pursuing their triathlon goals.\u00a0 Training the same number of weekly hours (because they don\u2019t have available time to add more) at lower intensities produces a lower total weekly training stress than they have already adapted to.\u00a0 As a result, the unintended consequence can be detraining.<\/p>\n Specificity<\/u><\/strong> \u2013 the acknowledged triathlon authority Mr. Joe Friel says that specificity is the single most important principal of training.\u00a0 The specificity principal says, \u201cif you want to be good at something you must exactly and precisely train for its unique demands.\u201d\u00a0 Stated another way, the closer you get to your \u2018A\u2019 race, the more like the race your training should become.\u00a0 However, for the long course triathlete, that\u2019s exactly opposite what the traditional \u2018base, build, peak, taper\u2019 periodization model does.<\/p>\n A premise of periodization has always been that you need a substantial aerobic base before your body can handle the higher stress of more intense workouts.\u00a0 Except an experienced long-course athlete has a substantial aerobic base \u2013 why would you want to squander that by doing long slow miles that can lead to detraining?\u00a0 Wouldn\u2019t it be better to take advantage of the existing aerobic base and work on strength, speed, endurance AND increasing aerobic base?\u00a0 Recent research suggests that is possible (Burgomaster, 2008; Helgerud, 2007).<\/p>\n In the chart below, you can see in all but one category, the highest rate of physiological adaptation is forced by training at higher intensities.<\/p>\n One of the arguments against year-round structured interval training is that too much intensity can lead to overtraining.\u00a0 While in days past, that was a valid concern, we now have much better tools, analysis software, and methodologies that more accurately allow us to monitor training stress, fatigue and recovery so the risk of pushing an athlete over the edge into overtraining are much lower.<\/p>\n Ricardo is a lot like many other age-group triathletes.\u00a0 He\u2019s married with a couple of young children and a successful career.\u00a0 Training more than 12-hours a week is rarely possible and a number of times each year, his otherwise tranquil job becomes a monster that demands his time and energy for weeks at a time as the company attends various off-road shows around the country.<\/p>\n This past year, Ricardo wanted to do Oceanside 70.3 in April; his first Ironman at IM Santa Rosa in May which we designated an \u2018A\u2019 race; his first Ultra-distance marathon at the Noble Canyon 50K Ultra in September; and the Craft Classic Half-Marathon in October which was also designated as an \u2018A\u2019 race.\u00a0 The challenge?\u00a0 His two most relentless periods at work are a few weeks in mid-spring and a month around early fall \u2013 right in the middle of the build\/peak for his two \u2018A\u2019 races.\u00a0 Since we knew going into the season that training was going to be compromised during the final preparation for his \u2018A\u2019 races, we turned to an alternative form of base training as the key to a successful season.<\/p>\n When Ricardo goes in to work, he parks his car and goes into the office.\u00a0 However, a bit over two-miles on the other side of the parking lot lies Mt. San Miguel – a 2,567\u2019 mountain.\u00a0 Coincidently, Ricardo would prefer to ride his mountain bike over his road or tri bikes \u2013 the more extreme the terrain, the better.<\/p>\n Recognizing that Ricardo had a base level of fitness we decided to take advantage of that fitness.\u00a0 His modified base training consisted of regularly riding up Mt. San Miguel as well as frequent hill work up the same slopes. \u00a0On the weekend, Ricardo would ride up and over Mt. San Miguel, then around the entire base, and finally back up to the top and down.\u00a0 This wasn\u2019t long slow miles \u2013 this was hard threshold and\/or VO2 MAX work.\u00a0 We closely monitored training stress, fatigue and recovery state to avoid over-reaching.<\/p>\n As expected, training became very inconsistent during the final prep for the \u2018A\u2019 races.\u00a0 Yet, Ricardo set a PR at 70.3 Oceanside.\u00a0 He beat the projections for both IM Santa Rosa and the Noble Canyon Ultra.\u00a0 The two weeks prior to his season ending half-marathon were a study in what not to do leading up to an \u2018A\u2019 race \u2013 two workouts completed out of twelve scheduled.\u00a0 Coming off of a season of long course racing and several weeks of inconsistent training, that should have led to a DNF.\u00a0 Instead, Ricardo set a PR by over 12-minutes.<\/p>\n Was that season ending PR because I\u2019m a great coach?\u00a0 I don\u2019t think so.\u00a0 Was it because of the unconventional base work?\u00a0 Absolutely!<\/p>\n Recognizing that you are time-crunched and have likely already acclimated to a maximum training volume is the first step to re-defining base building.\u00a0 For amateur athletes, endurance blocks of two-three weeks should be incorporated into the training schedule multiple times per year.\u00a0 That is far different than a single 2-3-month block of low-intensity riding at the beginning of the season during which you\u2019ll see your FTP and pace at threshold appreciably decline.<\/p>\nA Better Way?<\/strong><\/h6>\n
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<\/p>\nCase Study in a Different Approach<\/strong><\/h6>\n
Summary<\/strong><\/h6>\n