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Understanding Intensity - Part Three
No compression socks in this week's photo! Makes a change, eh? Part One discussed different ways to look at appropriate training zones -- heart rate, power, metabolic function, lactate profile. Hopefully, it also gave you a practical example about how you should be wary of using another athlete's tolerance to decide your own. Part Two stripped out all the technical stuff and made the point that, ultimately, you should judge your training by what you can repeat. This week I will offer some ideas to consider when assessing why, what, when and how... to ramp your training load. Remember that load is a function of frequency, duration and relative intensity. You don't have to "go hard" to make your program a lot more challenging. That is probably the greatest misconception with regards to specific preparation -- if you choose to deviate from your base preparations then you should do so in a manner that is SPECIFIC to you needs and likely race performance. +++ Let's start by asking questions. I'll use myself as an example. I am preparing for a Half Ironman race. If training goes well then that would be an LT power/pace and Threshold effort/HR event for me. I know that because I have demonstrated my ability to achieve that performance. TIP - via Master Coach Jack Daniels - if you want to train faster than prove it by racing faster. I'm stepping down in distance and recent testing showed weak aerobic development, despite this being a past strength. TIP - our capacity to absorb challenging training is directly impacted by the depth of our base. Right now, "doing my week" is close to my limit. I have not missed any sessions BUT I have really needed my easy days. If I was missing sessions, getting ill or developing overuse injuries then it would be crazy to add to my training load. TIP - be wary of adding load prior to proving you can deliver performance at your current load. +++ There are a couple of benchmarks that I like to use to assess stamina. Weekly Core Volume relative to Event Duration Looking at my public log, I see weekly averages of:
...but I know some of that is commuting, warming up and cooling down. I'm also going to place my strength training to one side as, I view it, as a special type of training. So I get to 3 hours of swimming; 6 hours of cycling and 3 hours of running. Backing those out by my average pace for those sessions we get 11,300 meters of swimming; 120 miles of cycling and 24 miles of running. Now let's do some analysis...
While it is tempting to conclude that I am swimming "too much" -- I have done Swim/Bike sessions where my bike performance TOTALLY decoupled from my fresh cycling performance. So improving my swimming is a fundamental requirement for being able to ride well in my race. Also, I have found that I can swim well; the day after a challenging brick -- AND -- my early week key swim doesn't impair my long run. So I doubt my ability to successfully replace swim training with more lower body work. Another consideration is Minimal Training Load - the minimum load required for you to improve. TIP - it takes a lot less to get back to a previous level than attain it for the first time. A practical example is Lance coming back in this year's Tour as well as my own third place at IM Canada in 2006. Minimum Training Load is an important consideration because, as working triathletes, we can be at the lower end of the training load required to improve. This is also why the key workouts that you see in the Endurance Corner Library are pretty tough! If you have three sports spread across five key workouts per week... then the workouts will have to be focused and challenging (in a tri-specific sense). +++ Are you starting to see where I might be taking this? What if your Weekly Core Volume is 10 hours (gross) and 6 hours (net, of easy training). Well if you are training for an Olympic distance race that you might be in the same, relative, position to me. However, as you develop, you might come to a point where your Training Load is insufficient to improve. For example, 3x45 minutes per week might get you through your triathlon swim leg. However, unless you were previously an expert, that level of volume is unlikely to get you to the front of the bunch AND, most importantly, if you seek to compensate with intensity, you will lack the base to absorb the increased workload. By the way, this is where stress fractures, ITB syndrome, shin splints, plantar fasciitis, piriformis syndrome... come from. The application of excessive training load in the absence of appropriate base fitness. So before you seek to increase load via the three key variables (frequency, duration, intensity) assess the Core Volume in your week as well as your Key Endurance Day. To keep with the case study format -- my Key Endurance Day is presently in the 3-4 hour range (60-80% of event duration). When I was a top Ironman athlete, my long days were consistently 100% of my race duration and, in Specific Preparation, I could complete a broken Ironman between 7AM Saturday and Noon on Sunday. Given the realities of my life (and perhaps your own), that sort of training is no longer possible. If I signed up for an Ironman then I would have to acknowledge that I was going to be doing an "event" rather than seeking to "race". If this is true for a former Ultraman Champion then you might want to consider what it means for you. Let's put that another way, if you are choosing events that are well beyond your Daily and Weekly endurance envelope then you are unlikely to be able to access your "speed" in any definition of the word. So you'll do well to focus on developing your economy and stamina. TIP - the further your event from your Core Volume, the greater the emphasis you'll want to place on aerobic stamina and economy. +++ Looks like we're going to need a Part Four. In that I will share some ideas on how, and when, to step-it up in your program. Back Next Week,
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