Summer Flux.   How to train between events 

Who is this for?

Our assumptions:

The majority of our readers are endurance athletes who participate in cycling, triathlon, running, long walks and/or hiking.  Sport is your recreation and social activity.  Some of you are also competitive in your age group and still want to improve and beat their friends!  The last assumption is that you participate in off-season training over the winter months that includes a weekly interval workout, strength and other cross training.  

No-man's Land

Big 360 view

Bump my FTP?

Forget it!  That ship has sailed.  We are in your in-season or competition phase.  Now is the time to go long and get outside.   Think of just holding onto your threshold (FTP, LT2) or about 95% of what you achieved over the off-season.  That will be suffice.  Trainer and treadmill intervals should be minimal.  Maybe once per week.  You don't need to increase your FTP, you need to work on your durability.

Your focus should be centred around aerobic efforts, not threshold.  Plan out your pacing strategies for the long day.  Zone 2 (aerobic) is still work, it's not recovery pace, so you need to get yourself used to those long workouts.  The aerobic Zone 2 workouts are your key performing well in your upcoming event.

What areas can I make an Impact?

Here are some areas that can you change and improve:

• Nutrition.  Do you have your nutrition dialled in for the long events?  A lot of athletes do not do well because of a poor nutrition strategy.  How many calories per hour are you going to eat?  
  • Do you need some help?  We can help you with our VO2-Glycogen Calculator test.  We'll tell you how many calories you need based of your effort and individual metabolism.  What people often read is based off elite athletes who have metabolisms that are 2-3X that of a normal active person.
    
    
• Hydration and Electrolyte.  We are all different.  Some of us need a lot of fluid and some do not.  Are you a big sweater or do you cramp up?  This can be addressed with proper hydration and electrolyte dosage. 
  • Precision Nutrition has a wide range of electrolyte dosages that can help people with different needs.

• Altitude.  3 reasons to incorporate high altitude hiking, cycling and/or running in our Altitude Chamber:
  • You will breathe easier at high altitude events
  • Exercising at your home's altitude becomes easier.  You will be faster!
  • Your fitness improves with less intensity.  You don't need to go hard.

Sleep!

Sleep over-rides any supplement.  Taking time to get in a consistent and good sleeps prior to your event will do wonders.   Your body will fire on all cylinders if you are regenerated and rested.  It's amazing how many athletes cram their work and chores leading right up to their event.  The hope is that if they complete their "to-do list," they will be fresh the next day for the race.  That usually does not work!  

I have worked with few Olympians over the years and had conversations about how their week was structured.  Many people think they perform well because they are young and genetically gifted.  Yes, there is some truth to that but what has always impressed me is the time they take to regenerate between workouts and making sleep a priority.  Here's a typical day for a high-end athlete: 

1. AM workout
2. Breakfast
3. Work/school
4. Afternoon workout and lunch
5. Rest/Nap/Yoga/Meditate
6. Supper and plan for next day
7. Sleep

• Most of these athletes are about half of the age of our readers yet they sleep more than most!  It should be the other way around!   The older we get, the more we should prioritize sleep.  When was the last time you took a nap?  So, the key is to be aware that sleep affects performance and cramming everything before your event is not the best approach.

5 Tips so you can Rip!

1. Prioritize your aerobic workouts over the hard ones.
2. Dial in your nutrition and hydration plan. 
3. Dust off that roller in your basement!
4. Save your hard efforts for race day.  Don't worry, your legs will know how to hammer when needed. 
5. Sleep baby Sleep! This will give you wings on race day.