Hello Team,
While a few of you still have big races on your schedule, we're going to start to narrow the focus for the post-season. In the coming months, I will be sending out 2019 season review sheets followed by 2020 season/goal planning. Post-season objectives will be similar for everyone, but the timelines and structure will vary according to your schedules and individual strengths and weaknesses.
This phase of the season is not to be overlooked! As we get into the season and the focus has to shift to building fitness, there is much less time available to focus on these off-season objectives. While the total volume and duration will be much lower than in-season, applying extra focus and commitment to these concepts is what will set you up to have success in the upcoming season. You can't expect performance gains in the upcoming season if too much of your year is left to random sporadic training. Taking a break is important. Recovery is important. But the time that we do spend on training during this period has to be focused. Random exercise produces random results.
Here are the 4 primary objectives:
1. Strength Training: This category will encompass mobility, injury prevention (and rehab if necessary), and building durability and resilience of the muscle tissue by lifting heavy. Heavy is relative for everyone, but this is the basis upon which you maximize the yield of your endurance training as the season progresses. If you are one of my athletes that has skipped over your strength workouts in the past, I'm taking responsibility for not helping you realize that this is an integral part of the plan. Start thinking about what you'll need to be successful for making strength gains. Do you need help with technique? Let's be proactive and use strength training to our advantage.
2. Swim: We are all going to dedicate a piece of the post-season to a swim block, before we start to build volume in other areas. Following a short break at the end of your season, the role of the swim block is not only the perfect opportunity and timing to increase swim fitness and speed, but it also has the added benefit of building aerobic capacity without the strain on your musculoskeletal system. When we get back to a more well-rounded schedule, your bike and run will feel fresh. On your end, I'd like you guys to start thinking about where you have room in your schedule to make this a priority. We'll discuss how to best lay out the workouts so that it's manageable.
3. Technical Development: This is time to focus on technique as the first priority, rather than power pace, HR, etc. Let's think about how we can address swim and run analyses, whether it's with me or an outside source. For the bike, take a break from looking at your power meter, especially when the emphasis is on ILT's (I know how much you guys love those) and cadence work. Do you need to re-do your bike fit? Upgrade or change equipment? The time is now!
4. Education: Good news for you, this one is mostly on me! I'm going to start adding tips and resources to this blog, sending out emails, and digging into what each of you need individually to be successful for next season. But help me out here. What do you want or need to learn more about? Let me help direct your learning process. There is a plethora of information out there, and it's important to be able to decipher which is useful, which is outdated, and which is just made up.
