How to choose a day off from work to support my recovery

sdankert

As a beginner (IMWI 2010 will be my first IM) I have a few questions that I'd appreciate hearing from experienced IMers. I'm a 43 year old father of two girls (9 and 11), with a (great) wife, and a demanding job...I have my hands full.



I'm fortunate that I can afford some time off from work during the peak training weeks (after 20 years I've earned it). I'm planning to take a day off per week the last 5 "big weeks". My question is a)should I take a specific day of the week off (e.g. always take Wednesday off) or b)am I better of spitting it and taking two half days per week off?  Or is there even a better approach I haven't considered?  Either way I have to decide in advance so I can block my calendar.



Oh and yes, I sometimes over think things so the real answer is that it might not matter. 

Thanks for sharing your experience with me.

Michele Cellai

Steve- When I trained for my first iron with EN, I found that the long run day was the hardest. It's long and really beats you up. This is the Thursday workout. Weekends were never a problem and the swim, short runs and bikes the other days of the week never wore me out the way the run did. Only once did I take the morning off and rest before working for the afternoon. That was perfect. Wish I could do it this year, but not likely.

So my thought would be Thursday for the long run, at least that's what I would recommend.

See you at IMWI. I am part of the Cowgirl Contingency storming the race with Rich in a pink speedo.

Nemo Brauch

Were you planning on using your day off for recovery? Or were you planning to use that day off for training? Another alternative might be lumping those days together and putting together a big training week/weekend- maybe join us in Madison for the EN Rally in July!

Dave Tallo

If I could swing it, I would take Friday off completely.  No work, no cleaning the garage, no repainting the family room, no training, nothin'.   And then as much sleep as you can manage.  9, 10 nightly hours if you can.  Provided it doesn't muck up your sleep across other days of the week.  Good real food with lots of veggies + fruits.  Light stretch.  

(I like Friday because it lets you shake off the fatigue accumulated m-t ... particularly that thursday long run - and sets you up to accomplish your weekend work as solidly as possible.)

Unfortunately, the level of fatigue we start to carry over from week to week across a year of training just starts to become the New Normal by the time we're in the final stretch.  I think the day off you're thinking about is a pretty good thing to address that. 

 

 

 

sdankert

Michele, Nemo, and Dave,

Thanks for your feedback.  All of you offered great points.  I agree that Thursday will probably be my toughest day too.  Unfortunately it's the only day that I can't take off from work (I have a national call that I lead every Thursday).  I think Dave's suggestion then probably makes the most practical sense for me.  I'm sure that I'll be wiped out on Thursday night after a 2-2.5hr run and then working all day.  It makes sense then to use Friday to sleep in late, get my swim in, and rest some more.

Nemo, I'm signed up for the Madison rally, I can't wait!

Michele Cellai

Steve- Totally understand and it is great that you are making the plans now. As hard as it is to get up extra early, do it. On Thursday, get the run completed and then get your legs elevated (1' up for every 15' running) then take an ice bath. All that while sipping a recovery drink. I still have to stretch and roll at lunch time, but at least I am not miserable. Good luck and make sure that you truly rest on that day off.

Dave Tallo

And again, Steve, kudos for understanding the importance of rest / recovery at this early stage in your training season (and your IM career).   It's every bit as important as the "active" training you are doing. 

It takes many of us - including those with multiple IMs under our belts - the experience of finding outselves in a huge training crater to really 'get' this.   So, front of the class for you. 

Kitboo

Steve, I too have had the great fortune of picking a day off from work. I've found that if I took a day to do a big workout---say, Thurs to do the long run---I'd get the workout done early in the day and have the rest of the day to rest. That was the most ideal situation.
The second most ideal situation is to take a day off when you're scheduled to have a rest day (like Monday or Friday for Race Prep). The only thing about that is that you should really take it as a rest day and not spend it doing yardwork, home improvement projects, cleaning every bathroom in the house like I would be tempted to do.

What I've done this year is take Friday off and will shift my Race Prep schedule by one day so that the long run is Friday, Long Ride on Sunday, and ABP ride on Monday.

Coach Patrick

FWIW, I have taken Fridays off from work, done the big Sat ride then, ridden early Sat hard with local roadies for 40 miles (great ABP), then sunday totally off with the family for all activities....

jhansen21

Posted By Patrick McCrann on 17 Apr 2010 10:37 AM

FWIW, I have taken Fridays off from work, done the big Sat ride then, ridden early Sat hard with local roadies for 40 miles (great ABP), then sunday totally off with the family for all activities....

P - With this schedule, when do you do your long run and tempo/speed run?

 

sdankert

Great feedback from everyone. I definitely see the value of having a community of experienced athletes commenting and providing their personal perspective. I have set up my calendar for the summer to take Friday's off from work from mid July - August. I'll still do my swim and run on those days but I'll focus on sleeping in a bit. Hitting the or lake after the morning rush, and then getting a post-lunch nap. Yes this is going to mean that Thursday is a tough get 'er done day (especially because it is a tough work day for me too).

In the meantime, back to my EN IM plan - testing this week...I know my FTP is going up this week.

Thanks to RnP for offering the Beginners Open House. I look forward to seeing a whole lotta you at IMWI.