Turning airborne, contagious lemons into lemonade: A Time for Experiments
@Al Truscott's thread title in the Forums - 'WTF is Happening' - is very much the question for our times.
And for those of us who plan our calendars around a big IM event or two every year, it's very much of a scrhondinger's cat of a response, with "nothing TF at all" and "very much TF lots."
With my usual critical path to a few big dates being washed away, but knowing how I'm wired and what I want to accomplish, I'm finding this is giving some extra room for considering new stuff.
So is anyone out there taking this as a time to experiment? I mean, really taking some risks that have a equal chance of breaking a massive plateau, and being a complete flop? I see this is the best time ever to do this. Low risk (you don't booger your A race because you decided to become a 5-minute-power-champion), low-cost (aside from your time), and a very different value on opportunity cost than any other time in our usual season-to-season progression.
A few things I have tried or might try, and would be happy to have fail:
-MAF running. Sensing that this year might be a washout, I put in four legit months between January - March to this approach. Not enough for a deep dive, but I can now say it's a tried, tested and inappropriate approach for me. (I emerged from the experiment with my 2020 LT pace = 30s per mile slower than my previous z1 pace).
-WKO4 thinking / current EN fitness building in bike. I adopted 2009 as the high-water mark for what works for me in OS, and how I respond to bike work. last year @Rich Stanbaugh patiently endured my view of 'FTP is the only thing that matters" and tried to educate me. With EN having very much applied his thought leadership on how to build a better athlete (as it pertains to bike work) to the OS as they are now written, in the spirit of the 2020 experiment, I'm giving that a try.
-single sport block. This is next. or is next, and then repeated again like a College track/cross country season. Probably the one that requires the most courage for me as I'm seeing this as two prolonged 'no-exception, just run' periods, and really worry about having a year that doesn't include between 20 and 30 five-hour rides in my legs by September, but keeping an open mind.
I get that these aren't radical. You could easily point out that a REAL experiment is taking up a racquet sport, or riding a gravel whatever, or becoming the M 50-55 pickleball champ. still, these are pretty interesting, and for someone who has done the same thing, year in year out, a good departure.
What's your experiment?
Comments
More forced by circumstance, but I am giving indoor riding another try, and finding Zwift races may be the trick. In the past I avoided riding indoors whenever possible, because my RPE would be out of whack with my effort level, making it hard to get in a quality ride. Zwift races seem to work for me mentally. I am hitting the power I would expect if riding outside right now, and seeing heart rates I didn't know I could reach on the bike.
To go with that, I am keeping my running really easy, focused on frequency for run durability. I'm including some hills and strides, but really not looking at my pace (I'm too busy playing Frogger with everyone else on the street!). If our local races happen in late summer (a big if), I'm confident I can get my speed back by cutting back on bike intensity.
This is a great conversation starter. I am exploring an early season boost in my running volume.
This time of year I typically am doing some kind of training camp where I walk away from the back of the run and spend plenty of time on the bike. But there's no way I'm gonna do that much mileage on Zwift, which I know a surprise as many of you. 🤣 Even I have limits!
Essentially I'm trying to use the extra time I have to strategically increase run durability and lay a better foundation for performance in the fall, assuming that there will be races then. If not, I will have some great run fitness and will be ready to crush next season as well. Maybe I'll even mess around with a run event in the fall of some kind if the triathlon season doesn't materialize.
I'm working on my biggest limiter: humility. I've always been a frustrated underachiever. With no races, and being retired, I have to find new ways to keep score...
As to "training", I'm going back to my roots. 15-20 years ago, I thought training so I could be able to pop into a half ironman on two weeks' notice was probably a good balance between sloth and fanaticism. My current goal is to slowly get up to 100 CTL bike + run. By then I hope some races or events will re-appear and I can start to add some specificity to my workouts. For now, just trying to keep the machine ticking over, joints well-lubricated, and not feel too fatigued when I wake up in the morning.
It's also a good opportunity to continue allowing my ravaged right knee continued space and time for healing. For 20 years, I averaged 20 mpw, @ 8:30-8:55 min/mi. Now, @ about 10-15 mpw, no long or hard runs, my legs feel better than they have since 2014.
Swimming? I'm not worried. I've been swimming since age 11, competitively for much of that time. Give me four weeks, and I'll be back up to speed. Lakes are nearing 60F here...