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Shifting an entire training season by two days?
As I think ahead to next season's possible races, and the prospect of doing my first IM in many years, one of the big obstacles in my mind is the time that training for an IM takes away from family. This past season I did run durability, followed by the Jan OS, then finally the EN Half 20 week plan. In terms of intrusiveness into family time, it was OK up until the last 8-10 weeks of the Half plan, when Sat rides/runs were pushing 4+ hours, followed by another 2-3 hours on Sunday. I'm sure that the IM plans are even more demanding time-wise than this. We have two high-school aged kids and my wife works a very stressful corporate job, which means that there's a premium on weekend family time. I'm a stay-at-home dad so I have the luxury of having some free time during school hours during the week. Therefore, I'm tempted to take the entire season and shift it by two days, i.e., Sat and Sun workouts fall on Thurs and Fri, and I'd end usually up with a recovery day on Saturday (the usual Monday) and a shorter Sunday (what would be the Tuesday workout).
Has anyone here done this? How did it work out for you? Other than shifting things back as I get closer to the taper, any other pitfalls to be aware of? Any other suggestions for how to shift things around to squeeze in the bulk of IM training into the Mon-Fri window to minimize intrusion on weekend family time?
Thanks,
Has anyone here done this? How did it work out for you? Other than shifting things back as I get closer to the taper, any other pitfalls to be aware of? Any other suggestions for how to shift things around to squeeze in the bulk of IM training into the Mon-Fri window to minimize intrusion on weekend family time?
Thanks,
John
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What I've learned...There are 2 or 3 big time sucks in the IM schedule, the Sat and Sun rides, and the long run. For the IM plan, those rides reach 5-6 hours and 3+ hours in the final months. The long run can go 2.5-3 hours, depending on your tolerance and speed. Then there is the issue of getting enough recovery after the harder, shorter workouts such as bike and run intervals, in order to handle the long stuff. The standard EN training plan is specifically designed to deal with that issue, so shifting everything forward by two days is the best bet. You'll be doing a long run on Tues, bike intervals on Monday, and run intervals on Sunday. Since Mon is usually the "easiest" day of the week, that would make Saturday the day you could expect things to be lowest priority in the training plan. And thus it would be ideal if Saturday is Prime Time for the family. Then fit in the swims and other runs when it is convenient.
Pitfalls? The temptation to scramble the entire schedule is the worst, IMO. It is very easy to get into a training hole in the three months leading up to an IM, most often about 6 >>>3 weeks before the race. Don't be tempted to jam to much work into too short a time, i.e., making up workouts you had to miss d/t other priorities. If you miss a workout, say good bye to it, it's gone, Don't try to do, say, run intervals in the morning and bike intervals in the afternoon. The next day, you'll know why. So it becomes very important to realise which workouts are the most essential, and must be honored above all others. And those are the long rides and run, along with run frequency, even if it means shortening or easing a run workout here and there. Getting your schedule mapped out several months in advance, and your family cued in to those needs are a big help. Everything before 6 weeks before an IM is "Training to Train" the Weeks 6>>>2 before an IM are where you put the finishing work into your fitness, making it IM specific - which means a lotta volume and tiredness during that month.
Training Stress Scores and the Performance management chart become your friends here. Eg, if you see your long ride/run ate up 350 TSS, and the next day's ride another 200+, take very seriously the need on the third day to do just the swim thats scheduled.