2x rest day planned a week freaks me out!!!

Carolyn Yeo

 i always go with the attitude that if I can get up at 5am and go wu I should. who knows what tomorrow will bring. this is going to be hard for me on monday and friday. 

Carl

Just give it a few weeks and come back and revisit this post. Have faith in the plan cause oh how the fatigue builds and you may wish for 3 days off!!

John Withrow

Carolyn (and anyone else reading this who hasn't done an OS yet)-
Give the rest days as much respectas you would any other workout. Your body needs these days to absorb all of the work you will be putting into it. The first couple of weeks will seem easy, but trust me, the accumulated fatigue will build up and you we'll be feeling it in a month or two. So don't feel guilty on those rest days, embrace it and follow the plan.

I generally sleep in an extra hour on those days but I go to bed at the same time as usual the night before. If you absolutely must get up at your normal time (if you workout in the mornings) or must hit the gym during the day (if you workout later in the day) then go and hit the foam roller, get a good stretch, hit the hot tub, or a massage. If you want to do some easy-ish core stuff, that's also okay. But for me I do the core stuff immediately before or after my plan workout and keep the rest days as pure as I can as rest days. They are not there by accident, they were put there by a couple of really smart dudes that we are all paying to give us a plan that makes us faster and stronger without running us into the ground.

cgres123

or go for a swim

ezellrh

If you want to see real time the value of rest days, check out the comments in the week 10 NOS run and bike threads. No one is complaining rest days there...

rmiller

John beat me to it - treat those days like workouts, since rest days are when your body is actually able to absorb the work you've done.

Coach R says that your racing self owes it to your training self not to foul up race day by hammering the bike - well, your rest self owes it to your training self to not to disrespect the work you've done by not giving it proper time to rebuild from the stress you put on it during training.

(you probably already know all this and are just verbalizing a sentiment you are used to following )

Peter Wick

Carolyn!!! Respect the rest days! If you tested yourself and got accurate target levels for your VDOT and FTP you will soon learn what these workouts do to you. Not only will you develop some fatigue in the coming weeks but you'll also develop a need to rebuild those muscles. If you're going to be riding on a trainer, you'll find out what it means to push yourself at 95-100% FTP for 10 minutes or more. No more coasting down a hill, slowing for a stop sign or red light or even turning a corner - you keep pedaling and hold that level of exertion. Once you're done with that interval you get a few minutes of 'rest time' at 65% of your FTP (you think it's funny now...) and then you get to go back up to your FTP for another interval.

You'll be doing that on the bike twice a week and you'll be doing that on the run as well. Oh, and have you seen the VO2max bike workouts? Heh heh heh. No, I mean BWA-HA-Ha-ha-haaaaaaaaaaaaaa. If you're doing these workouts right you need the time to reestablish flexibility and let your body restore itself. This past week has kicked my butt and week 11 is even harder.

The rest is so important for loading up so you can continue to go BOOM!

Kori Martini

Seriously, listen to what everyone above has said, and add to it this: your goal for the OS is to get FASTER. If you're used to doing traditional workouts where you just train "kinda hard" for an hour everyday, but stay just about the same performance-wise....this is VERY different. You want to get BETTER. You're going to push so hard on the days you train that you'll get off your trainer with screaming legs. Do that too many days in a row, or don't include enough rest/recovery in your week, and your next session will be sub-optimal. You won't be able to hit the numbers you need to in order to improve.

I read somewhere that recovery takes confidence. In yourself, in your plan, and in your ability to commit to your next workout. We're all here to tell you that the OS plan WORKS. If, and only if, you give it a chance to work. You're going to need those rest days to let your body heal, recover, and become stronger. There is no improvement from the stress of training without recovery time to make that happen.

Don't mess up your OS by compromising the work you COULD do by letting your pre-EN workout routine dictate your rest days.

Go get you some FAST. Follow the plan.

Woody Freese

Been there... Done that... It takes as much (if not more) discipline to hold back and follow the plan. Our society subscribes to the philosophy that if a little of something is good > more is better. It is a pattern that many coaches and magazines have subscribed to for many years. Trust the information in your plan and let the magic work for you. Step out of the box and out of the comfort zone you are likely used to - and let the coaching staff guide you and your teammates support you. The season can be long - and the fatigue will build - and as others have mentioned, there may be times when you will want (beg?) for more time off! Trust... :-)

tim cronk

Posted By David McLaughlin on 07 Jan 2013 06:39 AM

or go for a swim

X2

 

William Jenks

As others have said...it's not in week 1-3 that you'll notice..it's farther down the line, like weeks 10-14.

Get the rest. Swim if you want, but even that, you have to be careful that it's not something that taxes you...that it's a day focused on recovery.

Paul Hough

You guys are scaring the crap out of me. I MUST get my run volume in over the winter before it gets too hot. It's early Jan and we will have several days at 80-82 degrees this week, so you can imagine what I'm facing in the summer. So no off days for me. But I plan on making my run(s) on those off days very very easy.

William Jenks

@Paul - Your situation is different than for many of us, with your weather. I'm in the cold, as you know. But I do plan on following the advice and making those Sunday runs about 90 minutes. I agree it is a bad idea to lose all run volume over the winter.

jdizzle

My 2 favorite things about the OS. Monday and Friday.

kimmydct

High five @ John D!

Swim, bike, run, RECOVER (Or in the case of the OS... Bike, run, recover)

Carrie Chavez

John Downey!!!! Hahaha!! I love it.

I personally take one full day off which is usually Monday and I swim on the Friday. I swim because it stretches me out and all my friends are there. I would miss seeing them if I did not at least go once a week.

Woody Freese

Had this blur of a vision of John in a Sound of Music kinda way... Spinning around in a circle, wearing a tri suit, an aero helmet and a Garmin 910 xt, singing to the tune "My Favorite Things" >>>
Folks wearing tri tops with blue EN sashes...
Sweatballs that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Mondays and Fridays in January Out Season...
These are a few of my favorite things

When my heart beats...
And the watts rise...
When I'm feeling sad...
I simply remember my favorite things
(insert whisper of Monday and Friday)
And then I don't feel so bad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikpj24WMOLw

Ok... must get back to work!

Steve Ross

Third go at OS think downstream and chronic fatigue.Think of it this way "Rest is a workout". Physiologically your body is repairing(housework) in getting things in order for you to do the next day's work.

Carrie Chavez

Woody!!!!!!! I just spit out my coffee reading that Sound of Music bit. Hahaha!! I needed that laugh!!!

Jess Withrow

OMG..... WOODY!!! THAT was AWESOME!!! Thankfully I didn't have anything in my mouth at the time or I would've had a Carrie moment x2!



Carolyn - this is my first OS. I am swimming on Mondays until my body tells me ENOUGH is ENOUGH (while I'm guessing that'll be around week 9 or 10, I have a feeling it'll be sooner - but when it happens, I am commited to respecting it!). Fridays are 100% rest and recovery via MASSAGE days!!! WHOOOOHOOO!!!

Carolyn Yeo

 oh my that was funny woody

Nate Parady

This is my 3rd OS with EN...It might sound strange, but one of my goals this OS is to not work as hard. Last year around week 15 I had to stand down for several days due to chronic fatigue. I can remember it well. Some work travel that caused some missed sleep, followed by a few VO2 sessions and a run session where I overachieved and I was smacked into the wall of fatigue. I'm also appreciating more than ever as I will be going for my 3rd IM this September that this is the time of year to not impact family, self, or emotional state of well being . I'm also more and more aware that instead of comparing myself to other triathletes and especially other EN athletes (who are pretty studly), I should take a step back and realize that by training hard with EN in the OS 5 days a week I'm doing something that about 90% of the rest of the planet is not.

Kathleen Spillane

 Very wise Nate I agree completely.  As I am entering my 19th yr in the sport, I know that all that matters is what you can do on race day, put your self out there and stay in your box.  You have no control over others and I have seen all kinds of things happen to the elites during races, from pulling up to a stop due to cramps to bike mechanicals as simple as breaking a bike chain on the first hill.

Bruce Thompson

This is my 3rd OS.   The rest days are a must.  I love going to my gym on Monday for my 1 x 20' hot tub interval.  Best workout of the week, especially while I'm watching my non-EN triathlete friends slowly dragging themselves up & down the pool "building a swimming base" in January.  I tell them I'm working hard at resting.  Most don't get it.  Ok, once in a while I will swim on Friday, but it is always just drills and form work.  Nothing that would compromise the Saturday & Sunday workouts.  Also, I make sure I sleep in on Monday & Friday, meaning I don't set my alarm & just let my body decide when to wake up, not my clock.  Only except to this is if I have a work commitment.