As an athlete you probably know what training you will be doing tomorrow or in 2 weeks. However, who is looking at what training you will be doing in 6 months’ time?
At Optimal Endurance Coaching our athletes will often have up to 2 weeks in advance planned in Training Peaks. We then assist if required with some “micro-planning” what sessions to focus on if something needs to be missed or adjusted, taking into consideration factors that impact and influence everyone’s training; work, social events, family time and illness.
However, in the background we will be months ahead. We will have sessions and a structure in mind that will help our athletes build and develop fitness and confidence leading into their A-Race. This is where you can see real differences between athletes following off the shelf training plans or self-coaching to those who have a coach working with them on a 121 bespoke basis.
It is very hard to be disciplined and objective enough to think ahead as a self-coached athlete and take appropriate rest during your build up to ensure you adapt and absorb all the training you have been doing.
If we have an athlete throughout an off season this is how we tend to structure their training.
How to Structure Your Training
Prep/Benchmark phase
This is about 4 weeks. In this phase we establish the routine of an athlete and we do some basic testing. Not all our testing is max efforts. We want to make sure the training we set them is realistic with current fitness levels.
Base phase
This can be as long as 16 weeks but as short as 8 weeks depending on how much time we have. This phase is all about building the foundations to cope with the demand and load you wish to tolerate later in your season. We at Optimal Endurance Coaching tend to focus on Polarised training in this phase. i.e. you either are going very HARD or very EASY in the majority of your sessions.
Base phase v2
This can be a 4 week block if time allows where we start to introduce race specific intensities/demands while keeping the aerobic volume high.
Peak phase
This is a 4-6 week block of high volume, race specific intensity and probably the hardest block of training you may do in terms of accumulative fatigue. The sessions wont all be hard, but you will aim to do the most amount of hours.
Race phase
2-4 weeks depending on what races an athlete is doing they may race a few times close together. This phase includes the taper and recovery between races.
Rest or transition phase
If your race is at the end of the season this is a block of time for an athlete to have complete freedom to rest/recover and decide what the future looks like – this can be for as long as the athlete needs.
If you plan to peak twice in a season this can be a 1-2 week block of relaxed training before circling back to the peak or race phase depending on the time you have between each race block.
Some things to note:
- Each of these phases will have a structured approach tailored around the athletes fitness level, time availability, strengths and weaknesses and objectives. Factoring in appropriate rest and recovery through each phase or cycle.
- You should test and monitor fitness changes regularly to track progress/changes in zones
- If you wish to alter your diet or lose some weight we recommend you do this in the prep/initial base phase. NOT DURING PEAK PHASE!
- Fuelling and hydration during sessions – this is key throughout the year BUT you do not need to consume high volumes of carbohydrate in all phases. The main time to practice this is in the Base phase v2 or Peak phase when training volume and session durations closely mirror the demands of your main event(s).
- Consistency, in all phases is key and is what will really drive fitness gains and improvements. We don’t encourage athletes to add in additional volume without thought/reason prior.
The main takeaway should be have a plan which has clear phases/cycles focused on the demands of the race you wish to complete, is realistic and sustainable within your lifestyle and you’re able to stick to it.
If you don’t know what you should be doing in each phase of your training reach out and we can help!